SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Gaming Innovation Group (GIG) have recruited Mikael Ångman as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company effective from 1 September. Furthermore, Katja Laaksonen has been appointed as Managing Director of Guts.Com.
Following a period of strong growth in all segments, GIG has initiated a process of establishing Group executive management, which will be responsible for the individual managements within the groups three business areas; Gaming, Digital marketing and Cloud Services.
Mikael Ångman is currently the CEO and Chairman of Mobile Sports betting technology provider, Mobenga, a Playtech subsidiary which he joined as COO in 2011. He has leadership experience from previous employments with BRIO AB, Dometic and Electrolux.
Katja Laaksonen is currently the Chief Marketing Officer of Guts, having joined the company in 2014. Previous to her role with Guts, Ms. Laaksonen served as Director of Digital Marketing and CRM with Nokia and then Director of CRM at Betsson Group.
Katja will take on the responsibility at Guts.com with immediate effect. Robin Reed has been acting as Managing Director of Guts.com, but will now focus solely on his role as the Group CEO at GIG.
Robin Reed, Group CEO at GIG, commented: “GIG has undergone transformational change as we have evolved from an affiliate, to an operator and ultimately the technology firm we are today. In this process, we have grown from a dozen employees to now exceeding 160.
Crucial to our continued expansion is to couple the drive and innovation in which GIG is known, with operational excellence. Katja and Mikael have a proven track record and both represent the key qualities we are looking for in our top management”.
Mr. Ångman, the new COO, said: “I am looking forward to working with Robin and his team at GIG. GIG is the most promising player on the market and I’m super excited to join. With my strong experience from Mobenga and Playtech, I am confident to deliver structure and growth to further strengthen the group.”
