The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has granted sports tech start-up PickGuru a licence, as the enterprise also hired Olly Roland-Jones as CEO.
The company underlined that it has reached a ‘critical regulatory hurdle’ in a bid to transform interactions between real-money wagering and live sports audiences.
The launch of PickGuru also sees former Stats Perform and DAZN Co-Founder Oliver Slipper return to betting circles, on a mission to ‘crack live sports gaming conundrum’.
Slipper noted: “We can move to the next phase on our journey after securing our UKGC licence and closing our £2.6m seed round last month.
“I’m delighted to welcome Olly Roland-Jones to lead the business as our CEO. Olly brings a wealth of experience in both fantasy games and social media, which we feel will be vital to the success of this business.”
The new CEO, Roland-Jones, is a former TikTok Executiveand previous Co-Founder of the OnSport media network and a General Manager of sports game studio Clever Games.
Roland-Jones explained that when the enterprise first approached him about the concept, he was instantly drawn, describing PickGuru as a ‘game-changer’.
Additionally, Sportstech heavyweights Paul Cobley and former Sportsquake and Stats Perform financial lead, Paul Watkins, have joined Slipper’s team as CTO and COO.
“Securing a UKGC licence marks a significant step in the company’s history. We’re excited to bring our platform to market in early 2022,” Watkins shared on PickGuru’s early developments.
“Our platform incorporates a number of elements around gaming, social interaction and betting. We really try to emphasise the skill aspect of our games whilst keeping a firm eye on responsibility. We’re really excited to welcome users onboard and we’re confident they will love the experience.”
