Smarkets appoints first marketing chief

European betting exchange Smarkets has appointed Alexander Wheldon as the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). The new role was created to expand on Smarkets’s growth over the past year and support development of its primary UK customer base and help the business enter new markets.

Smarkets has grown considerably over the past year, showing 400% YOY growth. With pre-tax profit estimates of £6mm for 2015, the company valuation has swelled to over £100mm on its way to a possible IPO.  The growth has been reflected in active traders, which has quadrupled from the same period last year.

Wheldon will work between Smarkets’s offices in London and Malta, overseeing all facets of Smarkets’s marketing initiatives.

Commenting on the appointment, Wheldon indicated that Smarkets’s drive for customer experience and data-driven initiatives is what attracted him to the position. He said: “Jason Trost and the leadership team at Smarkets have done a tremendous job, by continuously innovating the best exchange product in the market and leading the way with data-based decision making.  I look forward to carrying the torch into various growth initiatives to come.”

Wheldon has served as an executive and founder across the iGaming and advertising markets for his entire career.  Prior to Smarkets, Wheldon was founder and CEO of advertising technology company Kanary. A demand-side and data-management platform for brands and marketing agencies, it was acquired last year by San Francisco-based Gravity4.  He was also a pioneer in mobile gaming as co-founder of Toronto-based Vegas Wireless Entertainment, creators of one of the world’s first mobile gambling platforms.