The Betting Startups Podcast
Meet the people building the most promising startups competing for a piece of the multi-billion dollar real-money gaming industry. Presented by Optimove.
Episodes
Ep. 202 features Cal Spears, founder of Gambly, returning to the Betting Startups Podcast to share an update on the company’s progress since launch, insights from the NEXT Summit in New York, and a major milestone for the business.
Hear them discuss:
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Cal’s return to the podcast and what has changed at Gambly since its launch in October 2024
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Key takeaways from the NEXT.io Summit in New York and why prediction markets domi...
Ep. 201 features Taylor Caby, Co-Founder of Establish The Run, sharing the story behind building the evolution of betting content, the business of premium sports analysis, and why high-quality information products continue to thrive in an increasingly crowded sports betting ecosystem.
Hear them discuss:
- Taylor’s background in poker, daily fantasy sports, and the path that led to launching Establish The Run
- How the DFS boom h...
Ep. 200 marks a major milestone for the Betting Startups Podcast, featuring a special conversation between Jesse Learmonth and longtime industry leader Paris Smith to celebrate the 200th episode and announce a major new chapter for the platform.
Hear them discuss:
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Jesse and Paris’s shared history at Pinnacle, how a startup acquisition led to a six-year partnership, and the full-circle moment that brings them back together
- ...
Ep. 199 features Michael, Evan and Chris from Feen, to discuss building a next-generation betting product, navigating early-stage product decisions, and finding differentiation in an increasingly crowded wagering landscape. The conversation explores Feen’s origin story, early traction, and how the founders think about product focus, user behavior, and long-term scalability. Hear them discuss:
- The founding story behind Feen an...
Ep. 198 features Pierre Lindh, founder of NEXT.io, returning for his fourth appearance on the Betting Startups Podcast. Pierre reflects on NEXT.io’s breakout year, the transition from scrappy startup to growth-stage business, the role of investigative journalism in iGaming media, and why emerging betting products may go global in 2026.
Hear them discuss:
- How 2025 became a “12-year overnight success” after more than a decade ...
Ep. 197 features Benson Bleier and Daniel Prior, Co-Founders of Regen, an automated savings platform built specifically for sports bettors. break down how Regen helps bettors automatically save money on every bet — win or lose — and why they believe savings and investing can become a core part of sustainable gaming.
Hear them discuss:
- Benson and Daniel’s paths from consulting, VC, and professional poker into building a betti...
Ep. 196 features Javier Troncoso and Cristian Barbosa, Co-Founders of InsightPlay.ai, an AI-powered engagement platform using autonomous agents to help operators acquire, retain, and reactivate players at scale.
Fresh off a busy ICE Barcelona and a newly announced seed round, Javier and Cristian join Jesse Learmonth to break down how Insight Play is redefining player engagement through conversational AI and what it takes to build ...
Ep. 195 features Jonathan Baxandall and Gavin Puszczalowskyi, Co-Founders of Bettortainment, for a deep dive into live betting watch-alongs, sportsbook retention, and why most operators still underinvest in in-play engagement.
Hear them discuss:
- Jonathan’s decade-long career in iGaming, B2B data and acquisition teams
- Gavin’s 20+ years in radio broadcasting and early in-play content work with William Hill
- The origins of Betto...
Ep. 194 features Noah Fulk, Founder and CEO of EWagers, for a deep dive into building compliant, skill-based wagering infrastructure and the hard lessons learned from pivoting a gaming startup from B2C to B2B.
Hear him discuss:
- Noah’s background as a lifelong gamer and the early inspiration behind Ewagers
- The original B2C vision for peer-to-peer wagering and why the model ultimately failed
- The pivotal decision to pivot from ...
Ep. 193 features Scott and Warren, founders of PokerLab, for a deep dive into the evolution of online poker and how PokerLab is positioning itself as a modern “Poker as a Service” platform built for today’s operators and players.
Hear them discuss:
- PokerLab’s origin story and the founders’ decades-long careers in poker and iGaming
- What “Poker as a Service” really means and how PokerLab differs from legacy poker platforms
- Why...
Ep. 192 features Jesse Learmonth in a special "Ask Me Anything" edition of the Betting Startups Podcast, where he flips the script and answers questions from founders, operators, and builders across the gaming ecosystem. Hear him discuss:
- The biggest lessons from nearly 200 podcast episodes, including why industry experience and distribution matter more than ever for startup success
- What surprised him most in 2025: prediction...
Ep. 191 features Joshua Swerdlow, from ChatBet AI, an AI-powered sports betting platform built to deliver smarter, more personalized betting experiences through data and conversational technology.
Hear him discuss:
- Josh’s background and the leap he took moving from England to Tel Aviv
- What ChatBet is and how he is using AI to reshape the sports betting experience
- What his go-to-market strategy was and major lessons from lau...
Ep. 190 features Irakli “Marcus” Davarashvili, Founder & CEO of Promofy, for a deep dive into the global rise of AI-powered gamification and how operators are rethinking loyalty, engagement, and retention.
Hear him discuss:
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His 13-year journey across advertising, brand building, and iGaming leadership and how operational pain points at scale inspired him to build Promofy
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What Promofy is: an AI-driven, no-code gamifica...
Ep. 189 features the three co-founders of Golden Camel, Artie, Ben, and Ryan, for a lively deep dive into building a sports-betting lifestyle app rooted in community, fun, and authenticity.
Hear them discuss:
- How a series of career pivots led them to partner up on Golden Camel a number of years after the original idea was sparked
- Why Golden Camel rejects “beat the house” culture, instead leaning into fun and community - whil...
Ep. 188 features James King, CEO & Co-Founder of Flows, for a deep dive into building a no-code automation platform powering some of the biggest operators in global gaming.
Hear him discuss:
- His 16-year industry journey across iGB Affiliate, Clarion Events, and Gaming Innovation Group and how industry-wide tech frustration inspired the founding of Flows
- What Flows actually is: a no-code automation layer that ingests real...
- The origins and findings of Project Beacon, and what the research reveals about younger and c...
The Gamble & The Glory showcases founders that built their companies into category leaders in the betting and gaming industry.
In S2 E2, we speak with John Levy, founder and former CEO of theScore. John shares the remarkable 25+ year journey behind one of Canada’s most iconic sports media and betting brands from its roots in cable television to becoming a digital powerhouse and ultimately exiting for over $2 billion. Hear h...Ep. 187 features Jake Benzaquen, Co-Founder and CEO of ProphetX, for a deep dive into the company’s latest evolution from regulated exchange to sweepstakes model, to now filing with the CFTC to operate as a fully regulated marketplace for sports event contracts. Hear him discuss:
- The journey from launching in New Jersey as an OSB to building a national presence under the sweepstakes model
- Why Prophe...
Ep. 186 features Marek Suchar, Co-founder and Managing Director at Oddin.gg, a leading B2B provider of end-to-end esports betting solutions for global bookmakers.
Hear him discuss:
- His journey from nearly a decade in finance at Citibank to co-founding one of the industry’s fastest-growing esports betting platforms
- How an early pivot from B2C to B2B set Oddin.gg on the path to success
- Why esports audiences are fundamentally d...
Ep. 185 features Adam Rosenberg, co-founder of HandiGraphs, a betting analytics platform built by and for baseball fans.
Hear him discuss:
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His journey from political fundraising and brand strategy to PR and marketing in the sports betting industry
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How a friendship in the Outlier Discord led to co-founding HandiGraphs with CJ Buskey
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Why baseball’s intimidating data landscape inspired the creation of a simpler, more visua...
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