SBC Interviews SMarkets CEO Jason Trost

jasonTSmarkets is an online betting exchange platform challenging the bigger exchanges in the igaming market with its financial trading technology.

Jason, a graduate of Computer Science at Northwestern University and a background in financial trading, has built the business and its platform from scratch over the past 5 years. Smarkets has been listed as one of the European Start-ups to look out for by The Wall Street Journal.

SBC caught up with Jason to talk about setting up an igaming venture from scratch and the Challenges his business faces.

SBC: Jason please tell our readers more about Smarkets and how the business came to being formed?

Jason: I first started thinking about Smarkets while I worked as a trader in the financial services industry in Chicago. At that time there was a website that offered trading on elections and NFL games, which I felt was a good idea but in this case was not well implemented: their interface felt counter-intuitive and the journey through the site was burdensome. I thought that with the right technology and infrastructure there was an opportunity to build a smart product that brings the sophistication of financial markets to sports betting. So my co-founder and I started to raise funds and write code. We soon set up an office in London and having obtained regulatory approval we launched to the public two years later.

SBC:  Smarkets has been funded by VC investments, was this investment hard to achieve since you were tackling a sector that has a very high saturation level?

Jason: I would be lying if I said that it was a walk in the park to close our series A funding. It is true that a lot of VC firms are no longer excited about making investments in ventures in the gaming industry. What has however helped us is that we are not a traditional gaming company but a technology business. Smarkets is a financial trading technology applied to the betting industry. We are not in the business of traditional gaming features such as casino games or other games of chance, glossy promotions or the ‘playing for fun’ factor.

This positioning helped us in securing investment from T Venture, the venture capital company of Deutsche Telekom, who are a technology-centric business themselves, and as such we seek partnerships with businesses that find smart ways to apply technology as a means of pushing the boundaries in their industries.

SBC:  How do you think Smarkets can compete with the quasi-monopoly Betfair has in the exchange industry?

Jason: First of all, Smarkets is not looking to compete head on with Betfair. We are approaching the sports betting market from a financial trading perspective as opposed to a gaming perspective. That means we focus 100% of our energy on building a technologically advanced exchange platform, creating a sleek trading experience for professionals with features that they’ll really value. We don’t offer a casino or other gaming that you might expect a traditional igaming operator to branch out into.

Secondly, Smarkets has technological expertise coupled with a solid understanding of financial trading principles, a small, nimble team who can respond quickly to customer demands (we for example release new software code daily) and closeness to our customers (we hold regular Open House events to talk to our customers in person in addition to our support channels of live chat, email and phone).

And then there is of course our focus on financial value with competitive odds and our industry-low flat commission of 2%.

This focused approach is already paying off.

SBC: For any budding igaming Entrepreneurs what key advice do you give them before they start their own ventures?

Jason: iGaming is a very crowded space and competition for loyal customers and funds is fierce. Think hard what makes your product different from existing offerings. What user problem are you solving and why would a customer need your product? If you have a strong proposition then answering that question in a way that makes friends, colleagues or potential business partners see the benefit of your venture should be a straightforward task.

Check Also

SBC News Kambi: 2023 laid the foundations for ‘a more prosperous future’

Kambi: 2023 laid the foundations for ‘a more prosperous future’

Anders Ström, Kambi Chair, and Kristian Nylén, Group CEO, have reflected on a year of …

SBC News Bragg looks at strategic alternatives post-2023 financial report

Bragg looks at strategic alternatives post-2023 financial report

On the backdrop of a revenue slowdown in Q4 ‘23, igaming company Bragg has assembled …

SBC News UKGC to impose LCCP quarterly returns from 1 July

UKGC to impose LCCP quarterly returns from 1 July

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has confirmed that all licence holders must submit regulatory returns …