Jovana Popovic Canaki, CEO of iGP, maintains that entering newly regulated markets like Peru is a risk the company embraces, despite the challenges involved. Founded in 2016, iGP has marked considerable growth, particularly in sectors such as lottery and cryptocurrency over the past few years. In November, the company revealed that it had received GLI-19 certification for its core platform solution, a move that supports its goal to expand into regulated markets.
Latin America is a focal point for iGP, especially as various markets begin to regulate online gambling. Peru, which established its regulated online market in 2024, is one of these key areas. iGP's entry into the Peruvian market this year was facilitated by its GLI-19-certified status.
Entering a newly regulated market brings risks, particularly with Peru imposing an unexpected 1% consumption tax on the value of every bet. However, Canaki emphasizes focusing on opportunities rather than hazards when entering these markets. "Who doesn’t risk, doesn’t drink champagne, I like to say," Canaki remarked. "Peru, yes it’s new, and there of course are some risks in [regulatory] changes and uncertainty, but it’s worth it. It is risky to get into the new regulation before it settles down. But I’m pretty sure that it will pay off."
To minimize potential failures and high operational costs, iGP collaborates closely with operator partners, something Canaki believes will provide a competitive edge. "One of the keys here is obviously not working by ourselves," she explained. "When it comes to Peru, we are not isolated. We cannot go [solely] as iGP into Peru. We need an operator. It’s a joint effort with our clients who obviously have at times a faster response from the market, more insights than us from the other side of the world. We work as 100% equal partners. This is what sets us slightly apart and will definitely help with addressing anything new and any uncertainty coming out of Peru."
Despite concerns from stakeholders about the consumption tax potentially being problematic, Canaki views Peru as a vibrant market for gambling companies due to its established history of land-based gambling and societal acceptance of betting. The appeal of the Peruvian market will attract significant competition; however, Canaki remains optimistic about iGP's prospects. "Good competition is something that pushes you, pushes you forward and pushes you higher," Canaki stated. "Obviously, there are quite a few really good companies that we consider competitors, specifically in the Peruvian space. [But] we didn’t see it as a downside, because we firmly believe that our tech, our products, and our expertise of how to use those products, and combine them together with the operator vision, are going to make any operator win over any competitor."
Beyond Peru, Canaki identifies Chile as a future expansion opportunity. Currently, Chile's online gambling regulation is progressing slowly, with the legislation stuck in the Senate. Canaki mentions that iGP is monitoring the situation closely.
Localization is crucial for success in Latin America and is central to iGP's strategy. Canaki asserts that establishing a physical presence in the region is essential. The company has an office in Venezuela, and she highlights the importance of expanding their ground presence in Latin America for effective localization.
"Localization is important in any market," Canaki noted. "First of all, we don’t look at LatAm as a market. South America has many, many countries, and some of them are so large that there has to be localization even between the regions of that specific country. We do it through two different sources. One is obviously our internal teams that do gap analysis and understand what the offering is in a specific part of the country or region.
"But then also a big role is played by the operator, the guys and the teams that are on the ground that understand the player inside out, understand their behavior, understand what they want to see, what they don’t want to see."
When asked if the next two years will continue to be transformative, Canaki responded affirmatively, saying, "Yes, but in a different sense. Branding we’ve done. On who we are, we’ve done values, mission, vision, strategy. The transformation in the next two years is going to be about expansion, growth and taking that position that we believe, with our expertise and with our tech and with our products, we deserve."
