Emerging markets are understandably on the lips of many a company looking to see their business grow ever further and it really wouldn’t surprise you if someone were to try and crack the planet Mars!
One company that has been at the forefront of expansion into the zaniest markets that you can possibly imagine is OffsideGaming. CEO Matt Jellicoe earlier today took questions from a floor full of those who were interested in the emerging markets into which his company has already expanded aggressively over the past few years.
If there was someone on the ground on Mars who was opening betting shops and taking bets on the first time that they reach the great mass of cheese that is the moon you can imagine that Jellicoe would jump at the chance to be involved.
Markets in Asia and Latin America have long been identified here on the tablog as places that you really ought to be looking at for expansion, and Jellicoe is no different. The other markets into which he’s expanding are most interesting and give indications of where the most dangerous markets are.
Jellicoe told of past experience that has taught him countries in the CIS are “very risky as you have no idea how long the license will be valid for,” with a £300k license in the Ukraine rendered almost worthless overnight.
Working on the ground with partners who are thinking increasingly outside the box has meant that knowledge of new emerging markets is never far from Jellicoe’s reach. This is down to Jellicoe’s view that “local entrepreneurs outperform everyone else.”
Africa is currently on Offside’s radar and in particular the success Forex companies are having in that area, which he said was “growing massively.”
One place that is still fragmented is the Caribbean in no large part, down to the fact that there are so many islands. Jellicoe was quite clear with his view on how it will end up though, and said, “sooner or later, someone going’s to do it and they’ll get it right.”
As for something to look out for in the future, payments were again highlighted as a major driver for success and Jellicoe finished off by saying, “we haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg with pre-paid cards.”
Whether that iceberg will be a titanic moment for the gaming industry, it remains to be seen. But right now, it doesn’t look like breaching the hull is in the slightest.
