Events company SBC has revealed the five startups that have been selected as finalists for the SBC First Pitch competition, which will be part of the upcoming SBC Summit this September.
The competition, sponsored by Soft2Bet Invest (headline sponsor) and White Swan Data (premium sponsor), is scheduled for Tuesday, 24th September, and will be part of the 'Global Leadership' track, hosted at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa.
The finalists will present their products and offerings in a 3-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A session, in front of a live audience that includes a judging panel of industry leaders and investment experts.
Match Hype: Match Hype scales sports video content creation by transforming raw data into engaging and informative videos. Covering all games and betting tips, the content is available in over 30 languages.
Random State: Innovating immersive iLottery and bingo games, Random State combines the excitement of hypercasual gaming with the rewarding unpredictability of lottery-style experiences.
SavageTech: SavageTech, a B2B SaaS company, has created "the world's first true gamified retention engine for the gambling industry," where users receive avatars and battle monsters with every bet or casino activity.
StatX Sports: StatX Sports provides essential odds and data products to sports leagues, teams, betting operators, and media companies, supporting critical decision-making across the sports industry.
To select the winner, SBC says that it has assembled a distinguished panel of judges, each bringing extensive expertise in sports betting, gambling, and venture capital investments.
The expert panel features Adam Krejcik (Principal, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC), Javier Altamirano (Head of Startups, Sportradar), Mark Blandford (Partner, Burlywood Capital), Martin Collins (Chief Business Development Officer, Soft2Bet) and Paris Smith (Founder, Life Winning).
Jesse Learmonth, the host of the Betting Startups podcast, will once again moderate the event.
Sue Schneider, SBC's VP of Growth & Strategy for the Americas, commented: "Since launching our First Pitch competition, the industry's response has been overwhelmingly positive, as evidenced by the growing number of applications. This year we had applicants from 18 countries! With the addition of a dedicated StartUpSphere, the SBC Summit is truly showcasing the immense potential of startup companies.
"This year's edition is undoubtedly our most competitive yet, with each of the five shortlisted companies offering innovative solutions that come to fill some gaps in the industry. I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the sponsors contributing to the prize fund and to the panel of judges who will help us select this year's winner."
The winning startup will receive a prize package valued at over €118,000 ($131,085) to support its development and expansion, including:
Last year's competition saw SnapOdds, a company that uses mobile camera technology to identify live sports events on TV and streaming and redirect users to options like live wagering markets, odds comparisons, and picks, emerge victorious.
All SBC Summit attendees will have the opportunity to follow the SBC First Pitch competition.