BARCELONA — ExoGroup has announced its acquisition of social gaming platform Playfulbet.com for an undisclosed sum.
ExoGroup is the digital technology enterprise business group behind powerhouse brands such as innovative ad company ExoClick.
According to the company, Playfulbet is a free-to-play social gaming sports platform with 8 million users. Founded by former professional poker player Pol Ruiz in 2012, players are given free virtual coins to use to bet on the outcome of a range of sports match verticals: football, basketball, tennis, e-sports, baseball, and rugby.
Players receive coins each time they win a bet, and when they have accumulated a sufficient number of coins, these coins can be cashed out for prizes, including a range of electronic devices such as gaming consoles, smart TVs, smartphones, video games, and more.
Playfulbet is available for the desktop and mobile web, and via iOS and Android apps, with a reported 2 million installs.
The social element to Playfulbet allows registered players to create their own profiles, follow and make friends with other players on the platform, as well as seeing rankings of the biggest betters for matches, collecting badges, etc. Players can also join together in “pools,” where they can bet on the outcomes of sports matches as a group.
Playfulbet targets males 18-35 years old, with Spain its largest market with 4 million users, followed by 3.2 million across Latin American countries, with the remainder, spread across Europe and beyond.
Playfulbet generates income from a range of advertising revenue streams, including a banner display and native advertising (CPM), with advertisers such as online gambling websites, video games, electronic devices and user retargeted advertising sources such as Amazon Affiliate for sports betting platforms and video game app installations (CPI). Players can win extra virtual coins for joining sports betting platforms, installing apps, completing surveys, and watching promoted videos, etc.
“We welcome Playfulbet to our group of companies to join ExoClick, EXADS, AdSecure, and MobileCashout,” says ExoGroup CEO Benjamin Fonzé. “I was very impressed with Playfulbet’s great product offering, market positioning, and talented team. The company is a great fit for us as a group because Playfulbet generates its income from online advertising, which is a business we know inside and out.”
Fonzé notes that EXADS and ExoClick have the technology and publishing/advertising sales experience to help Playfulbet really ramp up its traffic in existing and new geos, and boost its ad inventory value by helping it reach a global network of advertisers.
“MobileCashout provides a range of sports related entertainment content for mobile that can be integrated into Playfulbet’s revenue model [while] AdSecure will monitor all the advertising displayed on the Playfulbet platform to ensure advertising compliance,” Fonzé explains.
“Through our intercompany synergies, we can ensure Playfulbet grows into a highly profitable global sports betting platform.”
The founder continues in the company while Christian Khoury has been named as its new CEO.
“I have known Benjamin Fonzé for more than 15 years, in fact, I was ExoClick’s very first publishing client when Benjamin started the ad network back in 2006,” Khoury says. “I have a deep respect for him because he understands all of the different phases necessary to create, launch, adapt and successfully grow companies in the online business space.”
Playfulbet currently has eight employees and is poised for growth.
“Benjamin sees huge potential in Playfulbet and ExoGroup will inject at least 1M Euros into the product over the next 18 months. The high-level strategy is to heavily invest in the team (based in Barcelona), and develop the platform’s technology for both desktop and new versions of the iOS and Android apps,” Khoury reveals. “From a marketing perspective, we will increase our market share in existing markets and enter into new markets and drive user acquisition through media campaigns on YouTube and social networks.”
The company has set a goal of growing the number of registered users globally over the next 24 months to 100M, and 200M by the end of 2021.
“ExoGroup and its companies have a deep understanding of traffic acquisition, monetization, and business intelligence, all backed up with its own technology,” Marketing Director Pol Ruiz concludes. “With additional sales, marketing, human resources and financial support we can now really scale up our business globally.”
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