

Latest News
“Developed in Ukraine”: Parimatch Tech co-CEO Web Summit 2021 Speech
After the pandemic-related switch to an online-only format last year, Web Summit 2021 returned to Lisbon and welcomed guests from across the world once again. For the first time ever, Ukraine hosted a pavilion at the world’s largest digital tech conference as the synergy of government institutions and businesses.
Parimatch Tech, an international product company that provides tech and marketing solutions in the entertainment and betting industry, was honoured to represent Ukraine as the country’s leading IT market player. Maksym Liashko, Parimatch Tech’s co-CEO, held a panel discussion and shared his thoughts about Ukraine’s promising future in tech.
“The phrase “Made in China” is not surprising to anyone nowadays, considering the impressive global expansion of the Chinese market, touching almost every industry. In a few years, the phrase “Developed in Ukraine” will become as widespread. And it won’t be surprising for anyone working in the IT industry, keeping in mind Ukraine’s explosive growth in terms of startups, “unicorns”, and hundreds of thousands of absolutely incredible talented developers, project managers, creators emerging.” — Maksym started.
Parimatch Tech, operating in 14 countries, was born in Ukraine, continues to grow and develop in Ukraine, and plans to continue its global expansion from Ukraine. The company’s largest product is one of the most popular and advanced betting platforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and as of today, the platform holds over 1400 transactions per minute, Maksym pointed out. As the company successfully operating in multiple countries, Parimatch Tech believe that Ukraine is one of the best places to develop and run a global IT business.
“Despite Parimatch Tech’s global presence, the company’s largest R&D office is based in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Why? The professional environment, high standards of tech education, and adaptive business approaches make Ukraine one of the best places to develop business globally. Ukraine is a unique country where working and living is equally pleasant.”
Ukraine becomes more and more visible on the world’s map each year, and it’s booming IT sector is one of the reasons, Maksym believes. It is easy to relocate in Ukraine, and it is easy to do business, and the reason behind this is Ukrainians’ high professional adaptability — it’s as easy for us to work with locals as it is to host foreigners.
“It’s easy to work from Ukraine and establish global partnerships. Being a Ukrainian company, Parimatch Tech has managed to sign contracts with some of the biggest global sports companies, including Juventus FC, Leicester FC, Everton FC, Chelsea FC, and UFC. So, it’s only a matter of time till “Developed in Ukraine” becomes another benchmark in the IT industry.” — Maksym Liashko concluded.
Ukrainian IT sector overview
It is hard not to notice how thriving the Ukrainian IT sector is: its yearly growth is five times faster (25%) than the global average (4-6%), and there seems to be no sign of slowing down in the future. Here are some numbers to back it up:
There are over 5,000 IT companies operating in Ukraine.
250,000 developers are working at Ukrainian IT companies, including almost 1,000 Parimatch Tech employees.
Ukraine is home to five unicorns.
Over the last 6 years, Ukrainian startups raised $2 billion in VC investments.
By 2025, the industry is projected to generate $10 billion
Web Summit 2021 Facts and Numbers
Ukraine’s Web Summit 2021 pavilion featured a number of startups, IT companies, foundations, and innovations. Aside from Parimatch Tech, Ukraine was represented by the Ukrainian Startup Fund, The Ministry of Digital Transformation, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Embassy of Ukraine in Portugal, Sigma Software Group, Ukrainian Hub, European Business Association, and iplace digital agency, as well as participants — Digital Future, Kyivstar, Rocket, Fondy, Avenga, ISSP, Concord Fintech Solutions, UNIT.City, and IT EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT.
Web Summit 2021 attracted some of the world’s most prominent speakers, journalists, and businesses. According to the report published by the Web Summit team, The event has connected over 42,000 people from 128 countries, proving to be a truly unifying global experience for tech enthusiasts, media, and businesses from across the globe. The event provided the visitors with an incredible opportunity to choose from hundreds of speakers who held a cumulative 1,333 talks in its four-day program.
Parimatch Tech also welcomes Web Summit’s commitment to making the event more diverse. According to the event organizers, over half of Web Summit’s attendees (50.5%) were women for the first time in the event’s history. This year’s Web Summit was supported by 211 partners, representing both local Portugal-based businesses and global tech giants alike. Parimatch Tech was proud and delighted to support the event and represent Ukraine’s thriving IT sector at the world’s largest tech conference.
BMM
BMM TESTLABS PROMOTES SACHA MCLAUGHLIN TO VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL QUALITY ASSURANCE

BMM Testlabs, the world’s original gaming test lab renowned for exceptional product compliance and certification services, today announced the promotion of Sacha McLaughlin to Vice President of Global Quality Assurance.
BMM’s President of Land-Based Gaming & Inspections, Kirk White, said, “Sacha has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, operational excellence, and a customer-first attitude. Her experience and passion will be critical as we continue to grow our QA services to meet the always-evolving needs of the global gaming industry.”
With over 18 years of experience in software implementation and seven years in the gaming industry, McLaughlin brings extensive knowledge of both agile and waterfall development methodologies, test planning, project management, and cross-regional team leadership. She is recognized for her ability to build and scale QA organizations that deliver quality, speed, and value to customers.
McLaughlin joined BMM in 2018 and has held roles of increasing responsibility within the Company, most recently serving as Senior Director of Quality Assurance. Throughout her tenure, she has been instrumental in expanding BMM’s QA capabilities and helping customers launch products into the global gaming market more quickly, with a focus on regulatory compliance, functionality, fairness, and security.
The post BMM TESTLABS PROMOTES SACHA MCLAUGHLIN TO VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL QUALITY ASSURANCE appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Eastern Europe
Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating

“We weren’t just present — we were participants of Runfest. And that’s one of the most important aspects,” said Artak Ashkhatoyan, Deputy CEO of Totogaming.
On July 6, Totogaming joined the Cernica Pantelimon Runfest in Romania, once again emphasizing the importance of promoting amateur sports and a healthy lifestyle.
“Supporting such initiatives is a priority for TotoGaming. First, 50% of the proceeds from RunFest will be donated to the CLOVES Romania Foundation, supporting children affected by CLOVES Syndrome. And second, we’ve always believed in showing our passion for sports through actions, not just words. Have you noticed how we’re constantly rushing through life, yet when we look back, it often feels like we haven’t moved at all? It’s important for us to lead by example and show the importance of participation. This is exactly the message we’re promoting through our team’s active involvement in the marathon. After all, there can never be too much sport in our lives,” said TotoGaming’s Deputy CEO, Artak Ashkhatoyan.
A Simple Concept, a Powerful Impact
The concept of this sports event is straightforward: choose a distance between 1 to 21 kilometers and run. The goal? Make sport an integral part of everyday life. The crowd certainly embraced that, gathering as early as 8:30 a.m. — on a Sunday morning.
Totogaming contributed in two distinct capacities: as an official sponsor and as an active participant. A dedicated team of 13 employees represented the company at the Cernica Pantelimon RunFest, with 7 of them proudly taking part as runners.
More Than Just a Run
It wasn’t an easy challenge — especially because among Totogaming’s runners were people for whom running isn’t a daily habit, or even part of their life at all. Yet they couldn’t miss the opportunity, not least from the perspective of corporate responsibility.
“We just finished the 7.5-kilometer race!” shared Petrut-Adrian Toea from the Totogaming team.
“It was amazing, honestly. Around the 2-kilometer mark, I had this little battle with myself — I told myself I had to finish the race, no matter what. And I did it! I came in around 60th place out of over 100 runners, which for me is a really good result.”
“I see my participation as a small contribution toward promoting a healthy lifestyle. In my close circle, everyone knows I’m not exactly the sporty type. I’m not athletic, and I usually prefer having fun in other ways. But showing up here, early in the morning, in this intense heat, and completing almost 8 kilometers with just one short break — I think it set a good example.”
“I hope seeing someone like me finish this challenge motivates my friends to try something similar for their own health. I believe that’s a meaningful contribution”, – added Petrut-Andrea.
Totogaming also made it possible for every attendee to bring sport into their lives — quite literally. At the Totogaming tent, participants could ride stationary bikes and receive prizes based on the number of points they earned through their efforts.
Whether they were running, cycling, or simply cheering for friends, the goal for everyone was the same: to reach the destination of champions — by bringing sport into everyday life.
The post Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
AI
Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps

Major findings from the newly launched report include playable ads having the potential to deliver impression-to-install rates 16 times that of non-playable formats for emerging gaming apps and a 20% increase in spending on interactive ads year over year.
Liftoff, a leading AI-enabled growth platform for the mobile app economy, has published its seventh annual Mobile Ad Creative Index. The report explores top creative trends that are attracting and scaling in ad spend across consumer apps and games. It also highlights the expanding role of AI in creative production, testing, and optimization.
This year’s Mobile Ad Creative Index specifically analyzes creative concepts that have excelled in scale for Liftoff’s highest-spending advertisers over the past 12 to 48 months. It is based on findings from over 4.7 trillion impressions, 263 billion clicks, and 1.1 billion installs between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025.
Highlights from the report include:
Top consumer apps are investing in interactive ads to compete for engagement
In 2024, the share of spend on interactive ads for top apps increased by 20% year over year. The share of spend increased by 2% for spenders outside the top tier. Top-spending apps differentiate their campaigns by adding innovations to evergreen concepts such as social scrollers, carousels, and scratch-offs.
Playable ads deliver returns across ad budgets for mobile game advertisers
In 2024, the share of spend on playable ads for top games averaged 35% higher than other games. Across all ad budgets, however, playable ads delivered higher conversion rates. Impression-to-install rates were 8 times that of non-playable formats for top spenders and 16 times that of non-playable formats for other game advertisers.
Tailoring “metaplay” elements to motivations can improve performance
“Metaplay” elements—gameplay that diverges from an app’s core design to appeal to a broader audience—are widespread, but top games gain an edge by tailoring their metaplay ads to the publisher audience. The report found that aligning “metaplay” creative with publisher audiences resulted in a 93% increase in installs-per-mille.
UGC is becoming a key differentiator in driving scale for consumer apps
The share of spend on user-generated content (UGC) increased 11% for top-spending apps, with social and utility apps seeing the most significant jump of nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024.
Widespread adoption of Gen AI leads to more customized ad experiences
Creative teams increasingly leverage AI to enhance top-performing assets with 3D and motion and to create and test variations. Top advertisers also use AI to recombine their assets in customized ad experiences that break away from standard video to playable formats.
Yann Zeller, Chief of Staff, Creative at Liftoff, said: “Today’s creative landscape is shaped by a single, powerful truth: attention is the commodity, and brands, games, and influencers are all vying for it. Great mobile ad experiences can earn attention by aligning context with behavior. As ad formats become richer and AI expands our ability to personalize and adapt creatives at scale, we’re able to unlock new insights into user behavior and motivation. We see users spend meaningful stretches with the right content, sometimes 60 to 90 seconds when the ad feels personal or prompts meaningful participation. This isn’t just a better way to advertise—it’s a better way to tell stories and the most exciting brief we’ve had in years.”
Soren Steelquist, Director of Creative Production, said: “The proof is in the data—more and more consumer apps are incorporating UGC into every stage of their marketing, and programmatic is no different. UGC works because it’s authentic and relatable, and users are more likely to be influenced by ad when it’s coming from a trustworthy source. To see higher impact from UGC creatives, work with a partner that can match the right creator with your brand and develop winning concepts that resonate with audiences.”
The post Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
-
gaming3 years ago
ODIN by 4Players: Immersive, state-of-the-art in-game audio launches into the next generation of gaming
-
EEG iGaming Directory8 years ago
iSoftBet continues to grow with new release Forest Mania
-
News7 years ago
Softbroke collaborates with Asia Live Tech for the expansion of the service line in the igaming market
-
News6 years ago
Super Bowl LIII: NFL Fans Can Bet on the #1 Sportsbook Review Site Betting-Super-Bowl.com, Providing Free Unbiased and Trusted News, Picks and Predictions
-
iGaming Industry7 years ago
Rick Meitzler appointed to the Indian Gaming Magazine Advisory Board for 2018
-
News6 years ago
REVEALED: Top eSports players set to earn $3.2 million in 2019
-
iGaming Industry8 years ago
French Senator raises Loot Boxes to France’s Gambling Regulator
-
News7 years ago
Exclusive Interview with Miklos Handa (Founder of the email marketing solutions, “MailMike.net”), speaker at Vienna International Gaming Expo 2018