Antonis Karakousis, Altenar: “SBC Summit Lisbon is a valuable opportunity to understand what operators are prioritising as they plan for the next stage of growth” 

Altenar’s Director of Operations reviews the company’s recent milestones, outlines its strategy for SBC Summit Lisbon, and addresses the challenges of an increasingly complex and regulated European gaming market.

Exclusive interview.- In the following exclusive interview with Focus Gaming News, Antonis Karakousis, director of operations at Altenar, breaks down the company’s performance and strategy following a highly productive first half of the year marked by international growth, new strategic integrations, and major industry recognition. 

Ahead of SBC Summit Lisbon, Karakousis discusses how Altenar is tackling key industry challenges, such as dynamic player expectations and a fragmented European regulatory environment, by offering flexible, scalable technology. He also highlights core product innovations and outlines how Altenar plans to build on its momentum through data gathered from peak events like the FIFA World Cup to deliver faster, smarter, and more adaptable sportsbook solutions.

What are your main objectives for this year’s SBC Summit Lisbon?

For us, SBC Summit Lisbon is a valuable opportunity to meet our existing partners, strengthen relationships with new prospects and, most importantly, understand what operators are prioritising as they plan for the next stage of growth.

We are entering the event at an interesting point for the industry. Operators are dealing with increasingly complex markets, tighter regulation and much higher expectations around the sportsbook experience. At the same time, they need to grow efficiently and move quickly.

So one of our key objectives is to engage with operators on the challenges shaping the market and demonstrate how the right technology strategy can help them navigate complexity, scale efficiently and create new opportunities for growth.

Of course, we will also be showcasing the latest developments across our sportsbook, but the most valuable outcome for us will be taking those conversations back to our teams and turning them into the next stage of operational improvements.

That partner-led approach has always been important to Altenar, and events like SBC give us a very direct view of what the market actually needs.

“Operators are dealing with increasingly complex markets, tighter regulation and much higher expectations around the sportsbook experience.”

Antonis Karakuusis, director of operations at Altenar.

Which products and solutions will take centre stage at this year’s event?

A major focus will be on the flexibility of our sportsbook and the tools that help operators create more engaging and commercially effective betting experiences.

Super Early Payout is certainly one of the highlights following its launch ahead of this year’s FIFA World Cup. It is a good example of how we take an established concept and evolve it to create a more dynamic experience for players.

We will also be talking about our wider in-play and Bet Builder capabilities, personalised betting experiences, player and team props, and the technology behind high-volume live betting.

For us, it is not about presenting one individual feature as the answer to everything. It is about showing how different parts of the sportsbook work together and how we give operators the control to configure the solution around their own market, audience and commercial strategy.

The first half of the year was very busy for Altenar: the company was named “Sportsbook Supplier of the Year” at the SBC Americas Awards 2026, it secured strategic agreements with Greentube and Atlaslive, entered the Alberta market and launched new products such as Super Early Payout ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. How would you sum up the events of the past few months?

I would describe it as a period of strong execution.

There has been a lot happening across different areas of the business, from product development and new technology partnerships to market expansion and major industry recognition. What is particularly encouraging is that these developments are connected by a common objective: making our sportsbook more valuable, flexible and scalable for operators.

The new partnerships you mentioned allow us to extend the reach of our technology into important regulated markets. As for Alberta, this case demonstrates our ability to support operators as new jurisdictions open as well.

At the same time, product updates show that we are continuing to invest in the player experience and in features that can help operators differentiate themselves.

So rather than looking at each milestone individually, I see the first half of the year as evidence that we are continuing to execute on three priorities: product innovation, international expansion and strong partnerships.

In Europe, we are witnessing a cycle of major reforms. How do you interpret this new European regulatory landscape, and what challenges do you foresee for the future?

The European market is becoming increasingly fragmented from a regulatory perspective. We are seeing jurisdictions move in different directions, particularly around advertising, bonuses, player protection, affordability and the way operators can engage with customers.

From a technology provider’s perspective, the key challenge is helping operators remain compliant without compromising the quality of the sportsbook experience.

This makes flexibility increasingly important. Operators need technology that can adapt to different regulatory frameworks without having to rebuild their entire sportsbook for every market.

We see regulation as part of the evolution of the industry. The companies that will be best positioned are those that can combine compliance, operational efficiency and a strong player experience rather than treating them as separate priorities.

“The European market is becoming increasingly fragmented from a regulatory perspective. We are seeing jurisdictions move in different directions”.

Antonis Karakuusis, director of operations at Altenar.

With such a busy first half of the year, what are your plans for the second half?

The second half of the year is about building on the momentum rather than simply adding more initiatives.

We want to continue improving the core sportsbook, particularly around live betting, Bet Builder, personalisation and the overall flexibility operators have when configuring their offering.

At the same time, we will continue supporting our partners as they enter new regulated markets and expanding our ecosystem through strategic integrations.

The World Cup in the first half of the year has also given us a huge amount of insight into how players interact with the sportsbook during periods of exceptionally high engagement. We will use those learnings to inform the next stage of our product and operational development.

Our focus for the rest of the year is quite straightforward: continue to make the sportsbook faster, smarter and more adaptable, while helping our partners respond to the specific needs of their markets.