Kaizen Gaming Co-Founder and CEO George Daskalakis used a fireside chat at the Panathēnea festival in Athens to detail the company’s journey from a 20-person Greek startup to a global operator active across 20 regulated markets, and named a single ambition: make Betano the world’s most trusted iGaming brand.
Founded on €700,000
Kaizen Gaming launched in 2012 with a team of 20 people and €700,000 in initial investment. The company entered the Greek market under the Stoiximan brand, which was progressively acquired by retail monopoly OPAP — now part of Allwyn — from 2018 onwards. Proceeds were reinvested into technology, talent and the development of Betano, the company’s international brand.
Kaizen Gaming now operates across 20 regulated markets in Europe, the Americas and Africa, employing approximately 3,000 people. Daskalakis described the result as a “decacorn” — a company valued in excess of $10bn — built from those early foundations.
“With just 20 people and a €700k investment, we managed to build a decacorn from Greece.” — George Daskalakis, Co-Founder and CEO, Kaizen Gaming
Two crises, two recoveries
Two events came close to breaking the business. The first was in 2015, when Greek capital controls and bank closures cut off 93% of Kaizen’s customer deposit channels almost overnight, according to Daskalakis. Rather than contract, the company doubled down on the domestic market while international operators pulled back, and emerged among the biggest beneficiaries as conditions normalised.
The second came in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic suspended live sport globally and erased roughly half of the company’s revenues, Daskalakis said. Drawing on lessons from 2015, the leadership team moved quickly and, again, converted the disruption into a period of growth.
Poland, Romania and a repeatable formula
International expansion was not without failure. Daskalakis acknowledged a first attempt in Poland that ended within a year, the result of poor market entry decisions, recruitment mistakes and insufficient localisation. The company closed that operation and revised its approach.
The Romanian market provided the correction. A more disciplined entry produced results and shaped a formula Kaizen has since replicated across multiple markets. Ghana became its 20th regulated market. The Gameplai acquisition deepened the company’s sports trading capabilities.
“When we first expanded, we were building for Greece and not for the world. My advice to B2C founders is: Start locally but keep a global mindset in the way you build from day one, especially in the era of AI.” — George Daskalakis, Co-Founder and CEO, Kaizen Gaming
Daskalakis also cautioned founders on ownership and funding, pointing to Co-Founder Dimitris Maris as a central figure in the company’s development.
“Stay in control of your company if you can or otherwise choose carefully who you bring into it as a partner; you might be better off rejecting a bigger ticket now in order not to pay the price down the road.” — George Daskalakis, Co-Founder and CEO, Kaizen Gaming
The brand ambition
Daskalakis was direct about the company’s goals. Profit, he said, is “the applause” — not the purpose. The purpose is building a brand that endures. Betano was named Operator of the Year at both the EGR Operator Awards 2025 and the SBC Awards 2025.
With Betano now active across a European market that generated €123.4bn in GGR in 2024, along with positions in the Americas and Africa, Daskalakis set out the target plainly.
“Our vision is for Betano to become the number one, most trusted brand in the world in our industry.” — George Daskalakis, Co-Founder and CEO, Kaizen Gaming
FIFA World Cup 2026 and the road ahead
Betano is an Official Tournament Supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026 for Europe and South America, with brand campaigns already running including backing for Argentina. The partnership is the third FIFA agreement Betano has signed.
In 2022, Betano became the first sports betting operator to sign as an Official Regional Supporter at a World Cup, partnering with FIFA for the Qatar tournament covering Europe. The company subsequently signed as an Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 for South America.
Kaizen Gaming enters the second half of 2026 with 20 regulated markets, double-digit brand recognition across multiple continents, and a commercial platform — the world’s most-watched football tournament — designed to test whether the number one ambition can become reality.
Source: Kaizen Gaming
