ZEAL Network SE celebrates 25 years as Germany’s online lottery pioneer

German online lottery provider ZEAL Network SE is marking its 25th anniversary with a celebration of its evolution from a two-person start-up to a market leader. Founded in 1999 as Tipp24, the company has played a key role in digitizing Germany's lottery industry and now serves over 1.3 million monthly customers.  

“We are very proud of a quarter century of ZEAL,” said Helmut Becker, CEO of ZEAL. “What began 25 years ago as a two-man start-up in Hamburg has now developed into a group of companies with more than 250 employees."

"We are more successful than ever in our core business of lottery brokerage and are continuously expanding our market share and our business model. In doing so, we are staying true to our motto: we define the future of lottery.”  

ZEAL was one of the first companies to introduce internet-based lottery participation in Germany. After its IPO in 2005, the company expanded internationally, rebranded to ZEAL Network SE, and temporarily relocated its headquarters to London. Returning to Hamburg in 2019, ZEAL acquired LOTTO24 AG, cementing its status as Germany's largest lottery broker.  

Reflecting on the journey, co-founder and Supervisory Board member Jens Schumann said: “When we founded the company, we printed out the lottery tickets that our customers played online and handed them in at the kiosk around the corner. A lot has happened since then.

"Today, ZEAL is one of Germany's leading e-commerce companies. It gives me great pleasure to have been so closely involved in its development to date.”  

ZEAL’s core business remains the brokerage of state and charity lotteries, but the company has diversified significantly. Its recent initiatives include:  

• Dream House Raffle (Traumhausverlosung): Germany’s first property raffle launched in summer 2024.  
• freiheit+: A charity lottery targeting younger audiences.
• Online Gaming Expansion: Since launching in 2023, ZEAL’s online gaming portfolio has grown steadily. 
• International Presence: ZEAL manages the online operations of Spain’s ONCE charity lottery and invests in industry-specific start-ups through ZEAL Ventures.