Ani Mkrtchyan, Digitain: “Our strategy is about partnering and collaborating with existing brands whom we can help to become number ones in their markets”
Shows & conferences - 24 November, 2025
During the latest edition of SiGMA Central Europe 2025, Focus Gaming News spoke with Ani Mkrtchyan, Chief Sales Officer at Digitain, about the impact of SiGMA’s move from Malta to Rome, the launch of Digitain’s new podcast series hosted by Luís Figo, the success story of its migration with Winmasters, and the company’s expansion and innovation goals for 2026.
Mkrtchyan said the team had initially been “a little bit sceptical” about how productive the relocation of SiGMA from Malta to Rome would be, especially as many companies have their European headquarters in Malta. However, the first day quickly dispelled doubts. “We have seen the participation of many exhibitors, operators. The event was quite crowded,” she said, adding that while Digitain would need the full three days for “a more data‑driven assessment”, “so far, so good. It was quite positive for me.”
A major talking point was Digitain’s new podcast initiative, which Mkrtchyan described as “something new for us and I think for the industry as well”, as it is moderated by legendary footballer Luís Figo. His role, she stressed, goes beyond that of a traditional brand ambassador: “He’s just not a brand ambassador or a brand face for Digitain. He’s someone who is deeply engaged in the journey of Digitain and who celebrates our achievements together with us.” The idea for the podcast came from the commercial team, which wanted to move beyond simply announcing new partnerships. Instead of issuing “press releases, articles etc.”, Digitain now brings operators and C‑level executives together to “have a live conversation, exchange ideas, discuss the growth, discuss performance metrics.”
The first episode focused on Digitain’s partnership with multi‑jurisdictional European brand Winmasters, which operates in Greece, Romania and Cyprus. Mkrtchyan explained that they used the podcast to review key iGaming metrics in the first months following migration to Digitain’s award‑winning Centrivo Dynamics platform. They discussed “how their performance grew in the first month of the migration” and the additional products added to the Winmasters portfolio. She addressed a common industry fear head‑on: “There is a stereotype… that okay, you do a migration, you will lose your business, you will lose at least 45 per cent of your business,” a narrative that some incumbent providers use to discourage change. In contrast, Digitain’s experience with Winmasters has been very different. “We have seen a tremendous growth of the GGR – like 60 per cent of the GGR within the very two months of the migration,” she said, along with “tremendous growth of active users database, user count and other igaming metrics.” As Mkrtchyan summed up, “it was a very, very data‑driven conversation… discussing these metrics, discussing product solutions… and showing live their satisfaction as an existing operator.” She believes this format “can be quite useful for operators who think about joining our products and solutions and doing a migration.”
Asked about the broader picture on integrations and migrations, Mkrtchyan said it was difficult to specify an exact number because projects are ongoing “not only in Europe, [but] in Latin America, in Africa and in Asia.” She linked this to Digitain’s core strategy: partnering “with existing brands whom we can help to achieve their technological ambitions in their relevant marketplaces” and “become number ones in their markets.” Future podcast episodes will continue to showcase these collaborations, giving prospective partners an insight into real‑world performance.
Looking ahead, Mkrtchyan confirmed that the podcast will continue into next year and that Digitain plans to “uncover partnerships not only in Europe but also in Latin American market.” Crucially, the company will wait “two, three months in order to see the real results” before recording each episode, ensuring every discussion remains grounded in measurable outcomes: “We will have very data‑driven discussions with them – what our performance has become, how they grew with Digitain.”
On Digitain’s wider objectives, Mkrtchyan outlined ambitious milestones for 2026. The company will “continue to be focused and consistent on the further expansion into European and Latin American markets while keeping our existing partnership in the existing markets.” Another key priority is “enhancing the human capital, the talents across our regional offices in Bucharest, Malta, Madrid, London and Latin America.” At the same time, Digitain will keep “coming up [with] new innovative bold products and solutions in the iGaming industry to continue to lead, as we used to say in our slogan.” She described 2026 as “quite an ambitious year for us,” noting that the company is “right now putting stones for it” through the initiatives it is already rolling out.