GMB – Lotus iGaming sponsored the SBC Leaders. What were your goals in also being present at the Lisbon expo?
Ivo Doroteia – We sponsored the Leaders, a very important event for us because it always takes place one day before the real show, the big SBC. This gave the brand great exposure. It’s the second year we have positioned ourselves as one of the main suppliers and sponsors in the industry. That’s very interesting for us.
How has the search for new partners for Lotus’ platform been at the expo?
Very interesting. I think the Brazilian market has undergone serious changes, and we have observed that in recent months. It’s a new market since it basically reset in January. There is a lot of demand right now. They are looking for platforms like ours, which already operates with regulated operators. That gives them the confidence that they can enter an extremely competitive market like Brazil with some guarantees of success. We had very interesting meetings and enriching conversations with operators.
What has it been like to offer a platform with unique features, since there are many platform providers in the market?
The most interesting point is that our team brings a lot of knowledge of both the market and the product. This, combined with the innovation we have in-house — especially in our São Paulo office, which is fully committed to innovation — has been a very strong differentiator, not only in developing new products but also in improving existing ones. Our team is currently working on gamification features, which we showcased at SBC.
We presented this showcase at SBC, and the product proved to be an excellent tool. It’s a mix with other tools available in the market, which are also very good. The innovation coming from our offices in Brazil is way ahead.
Innovation is a buzzword in the iGaming sector. How do you stay updated and up to date?
By talking to people like you, to our clients, and trying to understand market trends to learn a bit. From everyone, we learn something. Our strategy has been: whatever we can incorporate from this learning, we do so by visiting events like SiGMA and SBC. That’s it. I think we try our best to incorporate into our development roadmap the operators’ pain points and the opportunities they see when working with a platform like ours.
You just mentioned the regulation that started in Brazil in January. How do you see the regulated Brazilian market eight months in?
I see it very optimistically. I think it has been an important learning process, with innovation in some areas that are usually pain points, as we say here in Europe. Brazilian operators have reacted very positively. As a tech company, we always try to stay one step ahead. We began developing KYC certification tools, working with partners, as early as 2023 and the beginning of 2024.
So, for us, it was about being prepared for what is happening now. I know challenges will come, and our active work has mainly been, through our account management, compliance, risk, and fraud teams, to raise awareness among our operators about situations that may arise in the future. There’s been an ongoing process of learning, knowledge sharing, and exchange that has been crucial to the success of the operators working with us.
And with new countries regulating in Latin America — Peru is moving fast, and then there’s Chile — how are you preparing for these markets beyond Brazil?
As my grandmother used to say: “You can’t put all your eggs in one basket.” We began this work, and today it’s very rewarding to say that we already have operators active in these markets. We also launched with an operator about two or three weeks ago in El Salvador.
It’s not usually the first market that comes to mind — people typically mention Mexico, Peru... — but El Salvador has been extremely interesting because it brought us the challenge of regulated crypto. It’s a country where you have fiat, which we already work with in all markets, but you also have regulated crypto. That created additional challenges for the team and was extremely interesting. Today we can say: we’re present in yet another market. We’re well represented and equipped with technologies and solutions to help our operators grow.
Was it challenging to present a platform with a currency other than the conventional one?
We already had crypto integrations in place, and we were waiting for the perfect client, who — thank God — came along. They came with this license and the regulated aspect, and so now, in fact, we can explore what I believe will be a major market trend in the coming years. It’s already happening, but we’re going to see — especially given the developments in the United States in recent years — that the system is absorbing crypto as part of mainstream currency.
I believe we’ll see more markets replicate what El Salvador has done. We are ahead of the curve, and that makes me very happy, because I think we are creating the conditions for new innovations and new markets for us.
What are Lotus’ short- and medium-term plans for the Latin American market, and specifically for Brazil?
Brazil will always be our priority. It’s where we were born, where we’ve had and continue to have very large brands, and it’s very rewarding to work in this market that we know so well. It has continental dimensions, which in itself is a very complex challenge, and it will remain our main focus.
I believe operators — both local, regional, and even from Europe and the United States — can turn to us as specialists with boots on the ground. But expansion is inevitable. At the moment, we’re active in LatAm markets, but we’re also present in Africa, with three ongoing projects. These are reassuring markets for us because they’re emerging, and that’s where the future lies.
Source: Exclusive GMB
