Founder and CEO of BeyondPlay, Karolina Pelc has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Gaming Innovation Group (GiG).
I am very happy to share I am joining the Board of Directors at Gaming Innovation Group. This is a very exciting time for the company with big vision and plans for the future, and I am humbled to be given this opportunity to work alongside a group of established industry thought leaders and add value with my expertise gained over the years, working in various leadership roles in Gaming.” Karolina Pelc, New Director of the Board – Gaming Innovation Group
Karolina Pelc’s career trajectory has been extraordinary from croupier to CEO, thought leader to industry innovator and influencer.
Her first break was with Betsson
She started her career in gaming dealing at cruise ship tables almost two decades ago and she is today the founder and CEO of BeyondPlay, an online gaming consultancy whose clients include the biggest names in the industry. SiGMA asks Karolina if she ever wakes up and wonders how she got to where she is now. ‘’My dad was a casino inspector in Poland, and I followed him joining the industry almost straight after school, first as a croupier in Poland and
then on cruise ships. I moved to London to study during the dot.com boom of 2008.
I was keen to work online, but with no experience, I failed to break through in the industry. So I left and went to work in the Philippines. Asian players are different, and I learned a lot about casinos and value my land-based experience. For me, it is not about the end user; it is about a real person whom I can easily visualise because of my land-based experience. Bricks-and-mortar venues exposed me to real players and their behaviours, eventually contributing to my success online. What drives players is entertainment’’.
Pelc’s break came when the Betsson CEO hired her as a junior VIP poker manager. Karolina says she never intended to follow the online sector as a career. Nevertheless, she became one of the few women to climb to the top of the industry ladder, having started on the bottom rung. Moving to Malta, she spent seven years with Betsson, then three years at LeoVegas, collaborating directly with the founders. She was very much involved in building LeoVegas and
bringing ‘first to market’ important features. The arrival of her son prompted a move back to London, where she was offered a C-Suite position, but instead she chose to start her own consultancy business. With 15 years of sector experience and keen to carry on, she founded BeyondPlay. The function of the consultancy would transform solo game sessions into engaging multiplayer entertainment experiences.
Backed by LeoVegas
In the first round of financing, she raised 1.7 million Euros from private investment and backing from LeoVegas. The second round of funding happened recently and attracted some very prominent investors and was oversubscribed. What is remarkable about this success is that not many investors are interested in this niche sector with its challenging regulatory aspects and requirements. Grants exclude the gaming industry and crowdfunding is not allowed. Karolina concurs and admits to the difficulty of raising money. ‘’You must build complex integration layers, and the costs are high. Despite these hurdles, we have the investment and, as of December, we now hold an MGA licence’’.
Karolina has been very public about her journey. She says she wants to empower people and share expectations with others who want to go down the same path.
Background
Gaming Innovation Group is a leading iGaming technology company, providing solutions, products and services to iGaming Operators. Founded in 2012, Gaming Innovation Group’s vision is ‘To be the industry-leading platform and media provider delivering world-class solutions” to the iGaming sector. GIG operates out of Malta and is dual-listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GIG and on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker symbol GIGSEK.
Gaming Innovation Group is trading at (SEK)26.40 (-0.25)
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