Last updated: August 14, 2024
Stake.com founders Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven secure a significant stake in PointsBet, solidifying their presence in the Australian sports betting market. With ambitions for global expansion, the duo focuses on strategic acquisitions and initiatives, building recognition for their brand through sponsorship deals and innovative ventures like Kick, a Twitch rival.
Indeed, in its latest ASX filing, Stake slated a US $ 250 million market value for its new product to be launched in the second half of FY19. Australian licensed online gambling operator PointsBet has announced that it bought a 16 million-shares stake in PointsBet at US dollar.
This was done by Stake as part of a strategic transition with the following arguments: Its cofounders Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven within the last month, consolidated their ownership to over five percent, up from four purchased in the recent past.
2% in PointsBet. This was done through Easygo Gaming, a local company owned wholly by Tehrani and Craven, together with its subsidiary Easygo Singapore.
The spokesman of Easygo stated on record that despite already venturing into the gambling entertainment field, they plan to extend their coverage in various directions, such as entertainment, media, technology, and betting operators.
The kind of growth that the founders are pursuing is evident in the acquisition, and one cannot argue that they have enough financial muscle to fund it.
The spokesperson also stated that they intend to expand their search for new investment targets within the media entertainment industry beyond the three mentioned countries and regions.
Ever since they were established, the founders of Stake have had a particular desire to enter the Australian sports betting industry. While the company has been incorporated and holds a trademark in Australia, it has not yet started its operations.
However, the process was somewhat put into the spotlight last summer when Stake Gaming Pty Ltd was established, which was mostly associated with getting an Australian gaming license. All these while, Stake.com has been operating from Melbourne but its services are widely available across the country.
It is still impossible to accommodate locally based players on the company’s website because the com lacks the necessary license to operate in the country and, thus, to avoid conflicts with the regulating organizations such as the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Nevertheless, Stake. It’s still actively working on making its brand name more recognizable for Australians, which can be observed from the company’s sponsorship with the F1 Sauber Team.
The founders of Stake.com may be planning their next move on how to leverage their organization to make more impact in its home market.
Much like its name, Stake is currently licensed in Curacao only and is one of the newer brands operating in the industry. It has extended its coverage into various markets, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, through country-specific subdomains.
Since its establishment in 2017, Stake has emerged as a formidable player in the online gambling sector, even launching a rival to Amazon’s Twitch streaming service, sparking speculation that its platform, Kick, could potentially acquire its competitor.
