Mfuse targets B2C bingo market following acquisition
Mobile-first developer plans three product launches later this year " will retain B2B offering through Nektan
Mfuse will launch new products in three verticals before the end of the year as it winds down its sportsbook business and shifts towards a B2C strategy for the first time.
Following its acquisition by Nektan announced yesterday, Mfuse CEO Geoff Read told eGaming Review the deal is a “perfect match” to accelerate the firm’s growth into new markets.
Read said the company will launch its first B2C mobile bingo product in the autumn which will also be available on Facebook, followed by two more new releases in different verticals later in the year.
B2B supplier Nektan, whose most successful products include online slot games and scratch cards, completed the deal this week after concluding a £5m funding round.
The acquisition will also see Mfuse offer its new products as a B2B offering to Nektan’s existing and future clients.
The company has been phasing out its mobile sportsbook business over the past 12 months having lost several clients including Betfred and Sportingbet. Ladbrokes is its final remaining client in this space, with six months remaining on its contract and a switch to Playtech-owned Mobenga likely.
“We were dying in sportsbook so we had to change our strategy,” Read said. “The sportsbook business is very low margin and as soon as you reach a certain size, clients do the maths and work out it’s more economical to do it in-house.”
Mfuse’s London office, which currently hold 40 developers compared to Netkan’s core team of six in Gibraltar, will become the main development base for the two companies.
Read said: “I was in touch with [Nektan CEO] Gary Shaw when they began moving to a mobile-first strategy, and it became obvious they needed a London development hub and that we were very complementary businesses.
“In September last year we changed our strategy towards B2C and social games and the Nektan deal will help accelerate what we can do it that space.”
Read said it had not yet been decided which brand the two companies’ B2B offering would operate under.