SBC News Carla Maree Vella - Optimizer Invest: Finding enterprise opportunity within sector consolidation

Carla Maree Vella – Optimizer Invest: Finding enterprise opportunity within sector consolidation

CarlaMaree
Carla Maree Vella

SBC begins the week by speaking to Carla Maree Vella, Chief Executive of Malta-based technology fund Optimizer Invest regarding new venture and enterprise opportunities within the igaming and betting sectors.

Leading Optimizer Invest operations, a fund that has made numerous enterprise investments within the sector, Maree Vella details that even with tougher market conditions and further saturation, igaming and betting are still attractive industries for investment and innovation opportunities.

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Carla thanks for the interview, SBC readers will know you from managing Betsson.com operations, why have you chosen to join Malta based technology investment fund Optimizer Invest?

Carla Maree Vella: Optimiser Invest is a much broader organisation and an agile environment due to being a fully founder funded business. At Betsson Group I was responsible for the flag ship brand betsson.com and whilst I can honestly say that this experience has been a positive and enlightening one, after 3 years in several roles within the brand, I was looking for an executive leadership role in an organisation that offer more variety, agility and opportunity to tap into my diverse digital background.

Prior to Betsson, I had not worked in igaming for four years and during this period I learned so much about digital outside gaming, these learnings and observations were priceless. I believe that the opportunity for me to share my learnings and learn from all the amazing people within the holding companies is limitless.

SBC: Assessing igaming/betting’s current value chain, where does Optimizer Invest see the greatest potential for new venture investment that may impact the market?

CMV: We see the greatest potential for new venture investment within companies that dare to be different by proving clever solutions that address what is missing in current brands. We see opportunity in content driven propositions because we believe in driving value to customers and obviously we can’t ignore the importance of mobile facing technologies along with the social interaction that is driven via social and gamification.

SBC: Operators and suppliers are now faced with increasing costs and further regulatory impacts/restrictions. Facing these conditions, do the igaming/betting sectors still offer growth and ROI for investors and stakeholders?

CMV: Of course, there is still an opportunity for growth and ROI within the gaming section. I think the future is bright! Regulations and costs shouldn’t make companies feel threatened or worried about ROI; I think they should see it is an opportunity to be that little more out of the box and clever about their offering, be it product or marketing. I think brands who prioritise customer centricity will grow irrespective of limitations. Every month I see new brands emerge and it always impresses me that gaming (given its regulations) inspires so much creativity.

SBC: 2015 was a year of mass consolidation in the sector, as a technology fund with a core focus in igaming/betting ventures, do you fear that the industry may be becoming a ‘closed field for giant operators’.

CMV: I am fearless when if comes to conglomeration/consolidation matters within the gaming industry. Every industry experiences some form of conglomeration at one point or another but there is always room for other players. Optimiser Invest sees this factor as an opportunity. Our size, diversity and agility

Our size, diversity and agility gives us a competitive edge. Customers want choice, and solutions provided by ‘giants’ are often branded skins of the same technical platform which is a huge limitation in terms of customer facing functionality and time to market when it comes to innovative solutions. Often it is the small-medium size operations that can react quicker and push out technology enhancements much quicker than the larger companies, keeping their customers happy and loyal.

SBC: Leading Optimizer Invest, how do you see the role of your fund in advising enterprises/ventures with regards to market research, product development, user testing, scaling and further venture financing?

CMV: The optimiser Invest management team all come from different backgrounds which allow us to support all the companies within our holding, be it market research, product dev, user testing, scaling or preparing for IPO. We have a highly experienced team of specialised professionals. Given that we are a fully founder funded company that doesn’t seek external funding from 3rd parties we can also make very quick decisions to further support these companies. We have always had a ‘hands on, always available approach’ and as the CEO of Optimiser Invest, I will grow my team so we can offer even more support. I will also work on driving knowledge sharing between companies within our holding. I consider myself the ambassador of Optimiser Invest which is a smart organisation that values its employees, supports them and enables them.

SBC: Finally assessing current industry conditions, what advice would you give to sector ventures seeking investment/capital in 2016. What values, capabilities and core factors should enterprise stakeholders prioritise?

CMV: There is no magic formula for what we look for in companies that are seeking investment but we do hold a couple of values, capabilities and core factors at heart. Primarily we invest in awesome people with great ideas. If you love your business and are working at it like your life depends on it and further to that are enjoying every minute of it, then you are bound for success and bound to spark our interest.
We love passionate people, with great products, companies and ideas!

We love passionate people, with great products, companies and ideas!

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Carla Maree Vella – CEO – Optimizer Invest

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