Alexandre Tomic, Alea: “Operators don’t only need more games, they need the right ones”

As Alea prepares for iGB L!VE 2026 in London, Founder Alexandre Tomic discusses the company’s priorities for the event, the evolution of game aggregation, and why technology, localisation and operational reliability have become more important than simply expanding content portfolios.

Exclusive interview.- Ahead of iGB L!VE 2026, Focus Gaming News spoke with Alexandre Tomic, founder of Alea, about the company’s plans for one of the industry’s most anticipated gatherings. From the continued expansion of its aggregation platform to the growing momentum behind the Alea Jackpot and the emerging opportunities in the sweepstakes sector, Tomic shares his perspective on the trends shaping the market and the strategic priorities that will guide Alea through the remainder of the year.

What are your primary objectives for iGB L!VE 2026?

A large part of our network will be in London. Clients, providers, partners. That’s always a good reason to be there.

We’re also hosting a side event at Tower Bridge. These events bring a lot of the people we work with into the same city at the same time, so it felt like a good opportunity to spend some time together outside the exhibition halls as well.

On the product side, we’ll continue showcasing the Alea Jackpot. It’s been a major focus for us this year, and the response so far has been very positive.

Alea is already a well-established presence at major industry events. What makes this edition of iGB L!VE a significant moment for the company compared to previous ones?

The timing is a big part of it.

By July, you’ve got six months of real data behind you. The plans, the forecasts, the big ambitions from January, they’ve all met reality. By then, you know what’s working, what’s not, and where you want to focus for the rest of the year.

iGB L!VE is also happening in London, which remains one of the industry’s main hubs. A huge part of the sector is based there, and Clarion has been organising gaming events for decades, so you know the quality of the show, and the people attending will be there.

“By July, you’ve got six months of real data behind you. The plans, the forecasts, the big ambitions from January, they’ve all met reality.”

Alexandre Tomic, founder of Alea.

Alea connects operators with over 23,000 games from more than 170 certified providers. In a market where everyone is competing to expand their catalogue, how do you help operators to navigate that abundance rather than simply accumulating it?

The number itself isn’t that interesting. Having 23,000 games doesn’t help much if you don’t know which ones are right for your market.

What’s successful in Brazil won’t necessarily be successful in Germany or CIS. For that, you need experience and local knowledge. Not everything shows up in the data.

The other side of the conversation is the technology behind it. Operators spend a lot of time looking at game catalogues and not enough time looking at how those games are actually integrated.

We’ve seen operators lose significant amounts of money because of rollback failures, or transaction errors that went unnoticed for months. In this industry, money is moving in and out in real time, so those things matter.

That’s one of the reasons we built a reverse integration model. Providers learn our APIs, not the other way around.

In the end, operators don’t only need more games. They need the right ones, and they need them to work properly.

“Having 23,000 games doesn’t help much if you don’t know which ones are right for your market.”

Alexandre Tomic, founder of Alea.

Looking beyond iGB L!VE 2026, what are Alea’s strategic priorities for the coming months?

The jackpot remains a major focus. What we built is, honestly, the best agnostic jackpot I’ve seen on the market. Most products in this space are tied to a specific studio. We approached it differently and built something that sits above every game and provider on the Alea platform. The operator is in control. They decide how it’s structured, how contributions work, how players are segmented, and when it falls. That’s a very different approach from what most of the market offers today.

Sweepstakes is another major focus. We’ve spent the last two years analysing data across roughly 1.5 million sweepstakes players. The more data we collect, the more convinced I am that this vertical is here to stay. It’s a very unique market from traditional igaming, and every time we look at the numbers, new patterns emerge.

We’re also continuing to expand our aggregation offering. There are a few things in development that should be reaching the market before the end of the year. We’re keeping ourselves busy.