SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The international CoLab programme of Sky Betting and Gaming, which aims to scout and invest in new ideas from start ups across the globe, has made its first investment in a project from and in-house team based in Yorkshire.
The first idea to get the green light just six weeks after CoLab launched, is a product specific to the betting and gaming industry, that could see the company benefit from a £11m per annum reduction in customer churn.
Tom Murgatroyd, Head of Product and CoLab Programme Lead, commented: “Sky Betting & Gaming is one of the fastest growing tech giants in the North because people join us knowing their best ideas are valued and supported to make a real impact on what we do. #RequestABet has already disrupted the online betting industry with personalised social betting. CoLab should help us continue to build on those kinds of breakthroughs.”
16 start-ups applied for the programme with a higher than average number expected to have productive outcomes, including further commercial discussions and a second innovation day to refine plans. Overall, eight projects came from the UK, five from Europe, with the remaining from the USA, Israel and Brazil.
CoLabs has not only opened up resources to early state start-ups from across the globe to apply, but also to internal work groups who have a clear route to seeing their ideas made a reality.
