Altenar: 'Betting, Italy is our new frontier'

The Altenar company, skilled in sports betting mangement systems, focuses on the Italian gaming market.

  A new actor is preparing to play a leading role in the Italian betting market, under the spotlight in view of the tender notice for physical ones, that should be issued by the end of September and taking into account that is open for the 120 new concessions for online gaming. We talk about the Altenar company, whose commercial director, Domenico Mazzola, explains: "Altenar’s history goes back to 2009 when a team of software developers with an entrepreneurial spirit embarked on a journey to build a new sportsbook software. Without the use of any institutional investors and employing own time and resources, the software had seen its first commercial use in 2011, when BetInAction Software Limited was incorporated, at that time offering a software-only product. In 2014 a more competitive sportsbook product had been created, along with the establishment of a new Altenar brand that went on to replace BetInAction on the market. Altenar started offering a fully managed sports betting solution via the Software as a Service model, which instantly became popular and accelerated the ongoing organic growth tremendously. Today we count on 62 people working with us from our three offices in Malta, Athens, and Moscow". How important is online betting market for Altenar and how is it approaching to that? "Altenar has focused on the regulated markets and being Italian; it represents a beautiful environment! We firmly believe that to succeed in a regulated market, acquiring knowledge by cementing strategic partnerships can help with the obstacles that are commonly faced. We have a solid understanding of issues relating to legislation, which allow us to successfully work in countries such as Colombia, where we are supplying our solution to the first regulated operator and market leader. Additionally, we support clients in Belgium, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Greece and Bulgaria. Having such an extensive portfolio of international clients, as well as access to regulated markets, has provided us with a firm base which we believe will facilitate further growth". Do you think that online sports betting will be penalized in Italy, as turnover, by the fact that the Italian National football team has been excluded from the World Cup? "As a sporty person and football lover, Italy’s missed qualification was a significant loss, not only for us but for the whole competition. However, the great thing about the Fifa World Cup is that you have the opportunity to watch the best players in the world and all the national teams play their part during the event. This exciting mix provides bettors with different market coverage and betting possibilities. It’s not just the football that’s making news in the iGaming business though. We’re so proud to share that we’re Gold Partner Certified with BetRadar and our last deal with BetGenius as odds providers, certainly raises the bar leaving our Italian competitors behind!" What are your expectations for the tender notice for the 120 new gaming concessions? "Altenar is ready for the Italian market, we’ve gained trust and retained a loyal client base because we have delivered and exceeded expectations. Our Sportsbook product is a solution that our partners can count on to make their business more efficient, profitable and agile. We are the difference that our clients wanted to see. Our established presence in other jurisdictions and the forthcoming release of the Psqf 4.0 protocol will revolutionize and streamline workflows. Whilst the anticipated ‘Cash Out’ feature is perfectly suited to the requirements and challenges of today’s demanding markets. We will be at the anticipated Rimini Expo to share further details about our latest developments and how we can help new and existing operators to maximize their potentials". What cards must be played to win in the competitive online betting market? "If I had to summarize my answer in two words, I would say stability and flexibility. It seems too easy, but often the operators are obliged to follow their provider trying to get a stable and usable product that can permit them to run their business fighting often against a closed system. This is translated into less time and fewer resources for Operator main job. Promote, online and through all the other different channels, their brand. Work on their players, retaining them and giving them an unforgettable user experience. Using the full power of all the available marketing tool the market can offer today using specific campaigns to a particular and single player, studying new functionalities that can set the next step forward against their competitors. Too often we can see same websites. Why should a player decide to play in one of them? Guarantying stability and permitting to the operator to be focused on the already described aspects, it will be natural for the player to go and play in a trusted website where he will know that he will not face downtime, when he will be treated based on his own needs and not based on someone else’s ones, finding from time to time, new attractive features waiting for him". How important is gaming safety, both from the point of view of player protection and certainty of payments and compliance with the rules? "Protecting players is a must today and essential for this industry, as it is also vital respecting the dedicated laws. On the other side is also important to give the right tools to the operators where they can manage the risk of their business checking players’ activities in real time. Giving them the possibility to create and manage different players’ segments applying different soft and hard limits, with customer support 24/7, permit to monitor and manage in the shortest available amount of time. Minimizing risks and maximizing profits".