Collaborative spirit at ICE Totally Gaming 2016

Consolidation was the buzzword of 2015 in the gambling industry, and many industry figures are expecting more of the same this year. Four companies though are aiming to make collaboration the buzzword of this year’s ICE.

Four innovative young companies have banded together to exhibit at ICE Totally Gaming 2016: allPay, BlockEx, Gamevy and W2 Global Data. Each of these are entirely different in terms of size, maturity level and the sector of the industry in which they operate but they share an understanding of the considerable potential that ICE has for companies if utilised properly.

The costs of exhibiting at ICE can reach six figures when all promotional and brand building costs are considered, an amount which is simply out of reach for many companies. It was for this reason that these four opted to work together to reduce costs and enhance coverage.

The four companies will be present at stand N2-320, in a prime position in the North hall and will be dividing the space between them as well as sharing meeting areas.

Martin Pashley CCO at W2 Data explained the decision: “By joining together, the four of us can get a far better position and more space. If we were on our own our costs would be higher – and we’d be tucked away at the back of the hall with far lower traffic.”

Aleks Nowak, one of the founders at Blockex added: “As a start-up, we know the value of being visible to our customers. Yet we also have to be prudent with our capital. This way we can launch our Digital Asset Exchange Platformat ICE with all the fanfare it deserves!”

As with any ambitious collaborative projects this was not without its hiccups, as Helen Walton Marketing Director at Gamevy, explained: “W2 and Gamevy booked the space – and then started looking for others to share with us. Plenty of companies we contacted treated us with outright suspicion – as if we were proposing something really dubious!”

Katy Lawrie, Business Development & Product Manager at AllPay said: “We knew we wanted a stripped back and high impact design and we made the little compromises really quickly. In many ways, there’s nothing like strict budgets to force you to think creatively! Emerging into new markets is always challenging but to collaborate at a high impact event with three other innovative companies has made that goal much more achievable.”

All four companies believe that this is just the start of a more collaborative way of working between non-competing companies and even between start-ups in the same space striving to get established.

Make time to visit stand N2-320 to learn more about their products and services, and to play some games!