Member Article

Startups encouraged to join betting industry’s first accelerator

William Hill, one of the world’s leading digital and land-based gambling companies, is delighted with the level and quality of applications to join its accelerator programme, but time is running out for other startups wanting to take part.

Crispin Nieboer, Director of Corporate Development and Innovation in William Hill’s Shoreditch office, and executive sponsor for the initiative, said: “The response so far has been excellent. It’s great to hear from so many startups with ideas on how we can deliver a better gambling experience for customers. We’ve had over 200 entries so far from all over the world, from Australia to Ireland. The most popular category is New and Relevant Gaming Products with over 40% of applications. With one week to go I would really encourage any startups, from across the world, that offer something relevant to William Hill, to get in touch and see if we can help you grow faster. The team and I are getting the place ready to welcome the startups into our offices in early September.”

Stuart Marks, technology entrepreneur, said: “The standard of applications so far is exceeding our expectations and we, with the support of industry mentors and William Hill leadership, have a fascinating and tough task ahead to come to a shortlist. Six days left to get your application in!”

This industry first technology accelerator at ‘WHLabs’ is a new partnership between William Hill and technology entrepreneur Stuart Marks’ investment fund L Marks. The purpose of WHLabs is to identify and develop technology innovations for the gambling industry, with customers’ needs at the core of each idea.

WHLabs is offering up to eight tech startups a place on a 12-week accelerator programme from September to December 2015. Each startup will be supported by an initial investment of £25,000 and office space for the duration of the programme in either William Hill’s digital innovation hub in Shoreditch, East London, or in its Tel Aviv office, a marketing services hub for William Hill’s global activities. Also included are:

- Access to the William Hill APIs;

- Mentorship from William Hill leaders and top third-party entrepreneurs;

- An “exchange week“ between William Hill’s Shoreditch and Tel Aviv digital offices; and

- The opportunity to win a further up to £150,000 investment.

Applications are open to startups at any stage of development. There are six different entry categories, each inspired by William Hill’s core business priorities.

Thrill of the ride: new technology that enhances the “thrill of the ride” from when a customer places a bet through to it being settled and that brings real entertainment value to the betting and gaming experience. 1.) Omni channel: innovations that harness William Hill’s digital and land-based assets to deliver its customers an even better experience and service, and give them a more consistent William Hill experience whenever and however they want to bet. 2.) Technical efficiencies: Big Data technology solutions that can improve how William Hill manages its huge volumes of transactions, volatility of pricing and a multitude of data feeds, as well as take advantage of the explosion of data that are available to analyse. 3.) Player Funnel: businesses that can offer break-through technology solutions in marketing areas such as Pay Per Click (PPC) or social media, or innovations in segmentation, business intelligence, CRM, loyalty and responsible gaming.

4.) New products: new betting or gaming products that appeal to William Hill’s core customers, offer something differentiated and entertaining, and utilise emerging high-growth technologies or devices. Surprise Us: innovations that are so out of this world they are hard to classify.

If you want the opportunity to be a part of WHLabs, then apply on www.williamhilllabs.com until 26 July 2015.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Crispin Nieboer .