Neill Whyte, Bragg Gaming Group: “The LatAm market is a fantastic opportunity, and it’s one that Bragg is invested in for the long term”

Neill Whyte, Bragg Gaming Group’s chief commercial officer, shares details about the company’s recent acquisition of a strategic equity stake in RapidPlay.

Exclusive interview.- On April 10, Bragg Gaming Group announced the acquisition of a strategic equity stake in, and the signing of an exclusive content partnership with RapidPlay, a specialist Brazilian game development studio renowned for its localised, high-performance online casino content tailored to the Brazilian and broader Latin American market.

To learn more about the reasons behind this acquisition and Bragg Gaming Group’s plans in Brazil and Latin America, Focus Gaming News spoke to Neill Whyte, the company’s chief commercial officer.

What motivated Bragg Gaming to acquire a strategic equity stake in RapidPlay, and how does this partnership align with your broader expansion strategy in Brazil?

We are a developer of igaming content which appeals to players globally. Part of the process of developing content includes generating an understanding of players preferences, which we achieve through the collation and usage of data. Another part is localisation, tailoring our content to individual markets, whether it be through math, or through game elements. Having a partner like RapidPlay, with its strong Brazilian heritage, understanding of the market and its innovative approach to games-making allows us to localise our content even quicker, developing content Brazilian players will love. Our strategic equity stake acquisition in the business is a vote of confidence in RapidPlay’s ability to deliver this content, and likewise enhance our own ability to use it to engage partners across the Brazilian market, which is already proving a great opportunity for Bragg as a business.

How will integrating RapidPlay’s offerings enhance Bragg’s existing content portfolio, and what unique value do you anticipate this bringing to your operator partners in Brazil?

As I said in my previous answer, a lot of it comes down to localisation, the ability to understand the market, players and preferences and diversify even further our games offering. Our understanding of the Brazilian market opportunity has been enhanced by opening our Sao Paulo office and the recruitment of Sara Mosallaee and Amanda Alexandrini, both experts in the LatAm market and the region. It’s been invaluable to us as a business to have ‘boots on the ground’ in working collaboratively with Regulated Brazilian operators. Our partnership and investment into RapidPlay gives us an instant infusion of local knowledge and preferences of the Brazilian market that can only be a value adding proposition to even further our already established and strong position.

With Brazil’s igaming market newly regulated, how is Bragg ensuring compliance while positioning itself as a responsible and leading content provider?

Ensuring compliance is an ongoing process, that’s not just true in Brazil, that’s true in any regulated jurisdiction where igaming is offered and where Bragg operates. As an entity which is present and operates in 30+ regulated markets globally, we’re aware and cognisant of the challenges of complying with local regulations, and we’ve developed technology and solutions which enable us to navigate these environments effectively. We can also respond quickly and efficiently to regulatory changes, as we did in the Netherlands, where in October, a swathe of regulatory changes were introduced in areas such as deposit limits, responsible gambling regulations and other areas. We were well prepared for these changes, and upgraded our Dutch operations with zero regulatory headaches, something which was welcomed and appreciated by our operator partners in the Dutch market. In Brazil and many other countries, we’re pursuing the same approach, an inbuilt awareness and cognisance of compliance standards and efficiency in response to any changes made. 

“Ensuring compliance is an ongoing process, that’s not just true in Brazil, that’s true in any regulated jurisdiction where igaming is offered and where Bragg operates.”

Neill Whyte, chief commercial officer at Bragg Gaming Group.

What key performance indicators will Bragg use to evaluate the success of the RapidPlay partnership in the Brazilian market?  

As we would with any studio partnership, we’ll look at numerous KPI’s that I don’t really want to elaborate on here. We’re confident in our own ability to partner with studios which can generate real value for the business, and that RapidPlay is one of those studio partners which can deliver on this objective.

Can you share any upcoming projects or future collaborations in LatAm that Bragg is considering as part of its long-term strategy?

The LatAm market is a fantastic opportunity, and it’s one that Bragg is invested in for the long-term. Sticking with Brazil, estimates from H2 Gambling Capital suggest Brazil’s igaming market could be worth as much as $3.7bn by 2029, which is a huge figure, and we’re expecting Brazil to account for as much as 10 per cent of our overall revenue in 2025. I can’t share too much, but you can expect more partnerships with Brazil-licensed operators, you can expect a fully developed roadmap of title releases and you can expect Bragg to build out our presence in Brazil. Outside of Brazil, we’re working to secure further partnerships in other Latam jurisdictions, rapidly expanding our reach in Mexico, or like Peru for example, where we secured a permit to offer igaming services on a B2B basis from the Peruvian government alongside our own proprietary and exclusive content. Peru is another market where we feel that we can offer value to prospective operator partners with our content and technology solutions, so you can expect some announcements and news there over the coming months.  We think there is tremendous potential for us as a business in the LatAm market as a whole and we want to become the supplier of choice for igaming content and technology in that market.

“We’re expecting Brazil to account for as much as 10 per cent of our overall revenue in 2025.”

Neill Whyte, chief commercial officer at Bragg Gaming Group.

Could this acquisition be the starting point of a long term strategy that includes other types of commercial agreements and/or acquisitions in the region?

From an acquisition perspective, we are careful and cautious in our approach, only making acquisitions where there is an upside for Bragg. We do not rule out further acquisitions, but these will be based on a clear understanding of these factors. As regards to further commercial agreements in the region, absolutely! We’re looking for partnerships all around LatAm’s igaming markets and welcome discussions with any land-based operator, games developer or other entity seeking game-changing igaming content and a robust, compliant suite of technology solutions.