- One of the few pure-play names in the esports betting market
- Luckbox subsidiary offers legal, real-money betting, live streams and statistics on 13 esports on desktop and mobile
- Isle of Man gaming licence, one of the best from a player-protection perspective
What Real Luck Goup does:
Real Luck Group Ltd (CVE:LUCK) (OTCMKTS:LCKKF) which trades as Luckbox, offers legal, real-money betting, live streams and statistics on 13 esports on desktop and mobile and is one of the first movers in the esports betting market and one of the few pure-play names.
Luckbox was built from scratch by a team now led by chief executive Quentin Martin, a former top-ranking professional cardplayer and esports gamer in the UK and Canada. He and two ex-colleagues from Canada’s Pokerstars together co-founded Luckbox in 2018 and soft-launched a live product in spring 2019.
The esports betting website and app are licensed by the Isle of Man, which from a player-protection perspective is one of the best gaming licences in the world, and currently accepts customers from about 80 territories globally.
With Generation Z more likely to watch computer games than traditional sports, esports is becoming ever more mainstream and even before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was predicted to be facing the highest growth potential of any sport.
Luckbox has seen first-hand the spike in players moving from betting on sports to betting on esports in 2020 and has managed to lock up around 75% of its customer gains.
Martin says esports betting, which uses the same licensing and infrastructure as the existing traditional sports betting industry, offers the potential for higher profits and has barriers to entry from the betting models.
Real Luck Group listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange In December 2020, which followed on from a CA$6mln funding round from investors in the summer of that year.
How is it doing:
Since listing at the end of 2020, Real Luck Grou[ has made a busy start to the new year, not least in the board room.
On January 8, Real Luck unveiled a flurry of leadership additions that followed on from its merger with Elephant Hill Capital Inc the previous month.
The company named Ran Kaspi as its new CFO. The former CFO of drone safety company ParaZero Ltd, Kaspi has also served as finance director of Global-e, a European provider of international e-commerce solutions. He also brings substantial online gaming experience following almost six years at 888.com, an online casino and poker company, where he led the economic and performance team.
Real Luck also added three new independent directors to its board: Drew Green, CEO of custom men’s dress clothes company Indochino, will serve as Real Luck’s chairman; Maruf Raza, the national director of public companies at the accountancy firm MNP LLP; and Lloyd Melnick, general manager at VGW Holdings Ltd and non-executive director at Blackstone-owned Murka Games. The company also named Jo-Anne Archibald as its new corporate secretary.
Then on February 8, Real Luck announced the appointment of Thomas Rosander as its new chief customer officer (CCO). Rosander is an experienced igaming executive and former Engagement Director and Business Intelligence Director at game developer Electronic Arts Inc.
And on February 22, the company said it had appointed Nevzat Ucar as its new head of content. Before joining Real Luck, Ucar served as head of content for Red Bull and has also held roles as head of video and broadcast for Riot Games and art director for FOX International Channels.
Real Luck also moved to add significantly to its coffers in February via an offering of 12,500,000 special warrants at a price of $1.20 each for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $15 million. The fund-rise had been tripled from its original size due to strong investor demand. The group said the net proceeds of the offering are expected to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.
On the operational front, on February 3, the company revealed that it had expanded its partnership with B2B software company EveryMatrix Ltd to add a sports betting functionality to its Luckbox platform ahead of the 2021 Super Bowl weekend.
The betting specialist said the agreement would allow Luckbox to expand its reach to over 105 traditional sports, while each month, players will be able to enjoy 85,000 pre-match events, 70,000 live events, and 450 types of bets, as well as key features, including bet builder and cash out.
Then on February 19, Real Luck revealed that it had signed agreements with four leading payment processing partners, Skrill, NETELLER, ecoPayz, and Trustly, allowing it to will offer a broad range of payment options, including Visa, Mastercard, ApplePay, and Google Pay, to customers in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Skrill and NETELLER are part of the Paysafe Group, a leading integrated payments platform, while ecoPayz is an FCA regulated global payment solutions provider based in London, and Trustly is a global leader in online banking payments.
Real Luck has also welcomed a number of new gaming initiatives over the past few months. On February 18, the company praised Canada’s House of Commons for advancing bills that would legalize single-event sports betting in the country. Private Members Bill C-218 passed in the House on its second reading on a 303-15 vote and the bill now heads to potentially a final round of hearings with the Justice Committee.
Another piece of legislation, Bill C-13, was previously introduced by the federal government and would also legalize single-event sports betting by modifying the federal Criminal Code. Earlier in February, Real Luck had applauded support for single-event wagering in Canada from Alberta’s Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis regulator. The company said it had previously submitted an application to join the Canadian Gaming Association, in anticipation of the legalization.
And Real Luck also welcomed news that gambling apps will be available for download in the Google Play Store in 15 additional countries, starting on March 1. In-app gambling is currently available through the Google Play Store in Brazil, France, Ireland, and the UK.
Inflection points:
- Legalization of single-event sports betting federally in Canada
- Boost to in-app gambling from Google Play initiative
- Further payment processing partners
What the boss says:
In a statement announcing the payment processing partners deal in February, Real Luck chief executive Quentin Martin said: “These partners are highly trusted and will help the company offer a frictionless onboarding process for new players, as well as an improved user experience for our existing players.”
“We were able to negotiate these new partnerships in a short span of time because of the anti-money laundering and consumer protection requirements associated with our Isle of Man gaming license. The company is exploring other potential payment partnerships and will provide updates should we choose to engage other parties,” he added.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
Read More: Real Luck Group offering the chance to get into esports betting at level-one
