Betty Gaming (Malta) Limited launched in the UK on 1 June, bringing the decentralised franchise model developed in Ontario to its first international market.
The operator holds a casino remote licence from the UK Gambling Commission, confirmed on the regulator’s public register as active from 1 April 2026. Group CEO Justin Park confirmed the go-live via LinkedIn, crediting the UK team for executing “phenomenally.”
Betty targets casual female slot players, a segment the company treats as underserved by generalist operators. In Ontario, the brand retains women at a rate three times higher than male players.
Ontario track record and the franchise model
Betty was founded in 2022 by Justin Park and Chavdar Dimitrov. Dimitrov had spent nearly nine years at Bede Gaming, now a subsidiary of Merkur Group, before co-founding the business. Betty took its first wager in Ontario in February 2023.
The Ontario operation grew quickly. Net revenue expanded from C$9.4m to C$27.3m across 2025, with the active player base rising from 45,000 to 134,000 over the same period.
In 2025, Betty rebranded its Ontario operation as Betty Canada and formalised a franchise structure. Under the model, each territory operates as a standalone business with dedicated leadership, its own technology stack, player acquisition tools and start-up capital. Dimitrov was appointed CEO of Betty Canada under this structure. Park has previously signalled Betty USA and Betty LATAM as longer-term franchise targets.
UK team and market context
Betty UK is led by Adele Baker, formerly Managing Director at 15 Marketing, the Super Group-owned affiliate and media business. Park highlighted Baker in his Q1 investor update as having set “the bar extremely high for talent.”
Zhasmina Draganova serves as Betty UK’s chief technology officer. She joined Betty’s Sofia office in 2022, having previously worked at Bede Gaming.
Park addressed the UK team directly at launch:
“Let’s expect lots of things to go wrong in the beginning. Let’s stay connected with each other and, most importantly, the customer.”
Betty enters a market under considerable pressure. The remote gaming duty increase from 21% to 40%, effective from April 2026, has squeezed margins across the sector, forcing established operators to restructure cost bases built at the lower rate. Great Britain’s online gambling revenue fell 2% to £1.5bn in Q4 2025, before the duty change took full effect.
Park has publicly argued the opposite dynamic: a 40% rate disadvantages incumbents burdened with legacy costs more than it does new entrants designing operations around the higher duty from day one. He set that position out in Betty’s Q1 investor update.
Alberta next on the roadmap
Betty Canada is preparing a parallel launch. Dimitrov confirmed the operator is on track to enter Alberta when the province’s regulated iGaming market opens on 13 July 2026. The confirmed operator field for that market already includes DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and Betway.
In Ontario, Betty recently expanded beyond slots with an online bingo product, built on in-house technology following the acquisition of Kirkland Lake Bingo Hall and operating within the province’s charitable gaming framework.
Betty has also invested in 23 Broadway, a player acquisition technology supplier the operator relies on in Ontario. Betty UK’s medium-term growth plan centres on reaching sufficient scale to unlock additional growth capital from 23 Broadway.
With the UK franchise now live and Alberta opening in six weeks, Betty faces its first operational test of whether the franchise model holds up across multiple regulated jurisdictions simultaneously.
Source: iGaming Republic
