Latest News

HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with CEO of Media 24 Martins Lasmanis

Published

3 months ago

July 14, 2025

Reading Time: 4 minutes

From his early days in digital marketing to leading one of the most dynamic affiliate networks in iGaming, Martins Lasmanis brings nearly two decades of hands-on experience and strategic insight to the table. In this edition of Community Voices, Martins reflects on the evolution of the industry, the bold moves that shaped Media 24’s growth, and how the company is embracing AI and a product-first mindset to stay ahead. Dive into his story of resilience, speed, and smart risk-taking — and what it takes to build a future-ready affiliate powerhouse.

Can you tell us about your journey into the iGaming industry, how your role and experiences have grown over the years, and what key lessons you’ve learned along the way?

I started in digital marketing about 18 years ago, focusing on SEO. I remember spending my first two weeks just reading everything I could find online. A lot of it turned out to be useless, but it gave me the basics. From there, I worked at a few companies, launched and sold my own digital marketing agency, and later became a freelancer.

In 2016, an affiliate marketer reached out to me through a mutual connection who recommended me based on previous work. I joined his company in 2017 as an employee. That move felt like a risk, but I saw potential.

I spent about four and a half years there. Over time, I started to see big opportunities in markets the company wasn’t willing to explore. Eventually, I decided to leave, sold my shares, and took a break. In May 2022, I joined Media 24.

One key lesson I’ve learned is that long-term consistency often matters more than one brilliant idea. And when you’re scaling fast, being agile and willing to adapt quickly is sometimes more important than being perfect.

After 8+ years in iGaming, what are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the industry, and how has Media 24 kept up with them? What key things have helped Media 24 stay strong?

Even though the industry never stops evolving, the fundamentals of affiliate marketing haven’t changed much. What has changed is the pace of Google updates. They are a constant source of stress for many SEO-focused affiliates. They now come one after another and sometimes have a big impact.

And now when AI begins to reshape how people search, affiliates will need to rethink how they attract organic traffic. In some cases, we’ve already seen that AI-driven results take away up to 30% of traffic from organic searches. Its growing impact means we should prepare for fundamental changes coming ahead.

What’s helped us most is staying extremely focused. We ran at a loss for almost two years after starting the company. It is often the reality when you are starting a SEO based business. It was incredibly stressful, we nearly ran out of money for salaries at one point. But we kept going with one plan — to make it work.

Now we have grown to 60+ websites, 300 partners and a team of over 50 people. And we didn’t aim for perfection, we aimed for progress. That speed-first mindset helped us significantly.

In a competitive industry like iGaming, looking back, can you think of an idea or plan that felt very risky at first but ended up being a big success for Media 24? What did you learn from that?

One of the riskier moves was our “plant seeds everywhere” strategy. We decided early on to enter almost every market where sports betting was popular. Around 90 GEOs in total. In some cases, the numbers said we shouldn’t bother doing that. But we trusted our instinct.

In that way we were able to quickly identify promising markets, then double down where the data started to make sense. It taught us that data is crucial, but so is intuition. Especially in an industry where emerging markets can surprise you.

It also helped us distribute risk. With presence on so many markets, external factors like Google updates or website blocking had a much smaller impact on the overall business. That made Media 24 much stronger and agile in the long run.

Does Media 24 use new technologies like AI? If so, how does using these technologies help the company get stronger or better at what it does?

Definitely. AI-powered tools have already helped us a lot. For example, we noticed a content formatting task that took our managers hours every day. It was repetitive and added up to dozens of lost hours weekly. So, we built an AI-powered algorithm to automate it. Now it takes just minutes, saving our team days and weeks of work each year.

We’re watching AI closely and see a lot of potential. A few months ago, we started developing an AI-first mindset across the team, setting up bi-monthly meetings and workshops to explore how we use these tools and what’s possible. It’s already changing how we work, and we hope to build up on that. The goal is to figure out how we can optimize our work processes and eliminate as many routine, repetitive tasks as possible. We want to free our employees as much time as possible to think, to create, to be proactive, and to create value.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone wanting to build a successful company in iGaming today, what would it be?

Focus on building something future-proof. That means strong partnerships, transparency, and a long-term mindset. In affiliate marketing, a lot of your success depends on trust. Both with users and with operators.

Also, don’t wait for everything to be perfect before launching. Start fast, learn fast, and improve as you go. The ability to move quickly is still one of the biggest advantages you can have in this space.

What are the main future plans for Media 24, and what kind of impact do you hope the company will have on the iGaming world in the years to come?

Our focus is on becoming a product-driven company. We’re seeing a shift in the industry, many affiliates are building tools and user experiences that go far beyond what was considered enough a few years ago. That’s the direction we’re heading as well.

The new generation of players wants better experiences. We hope Media 24 can play a leading role in creating what the future of affiliate marketing looks like. Agile, technological, and always focused on the user.

The post HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with CEO of Media 24 Martins Lasmanis appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Latest News

ELA Games Casts Its Latest Spell with Witches’ Book

Published

2 hours ago

October 16, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

ELA Games beckons players to step into a shadowy realm of sorcery and mystery with its newest release: Witches’ Book

Bathe in the magic as a powerful coven of three witches conjures their spells across the reels, revealing mysterious rewards and surprises. Each spin is a step toward ultimate strength, where massive riches and bubbling magic await.

The Power of the Book

In the Witches’ Book, magic shimmers in every spin. Players aim to collect enchanted pages and experience the power of each witch’s most mythical spells.

Once players gather enough enchanted pages, they complete the spellbook and choose their witch and symbol to unlock the magical Free Spins. As the witches’ power grows, every symbol has the chance to transform into a Jackpot, turning ordinary spins into powerful, enriching moments.

A medium volatility level and 94.9% RTP ensure that wins are frequent even on the base game. Additionally, multiple surprise features can arise and spread across the 5×3 reel format, making each spin a potion of excitement.

ELA Games’ Magical Touch

Witches’ Book is an enchanting embodiment of ELA Games’ philosophy regarding creative innovation and a focus on engaging gaming experiences. The games’ animations, sound design, and dynamic mechanics blend to create an atmospheric game that will have players a part of the incantation.

Marharyta Yerina, ELA Games’ Managing Director, commented on the release, “With Witches’ Book, our goal was to create a title that emphasises the visually-rich aesthetics that embody the atmosphere of the brooding festive season. Every feature and design element was meticulously crafted to keep players engaged and deliver value for our partners. Witches’ Book is an example of our development approach: leverage creativity to entertain players while driving meaningful performance results for operators.”

Discover Enchanting Riches Now

Players can dive into the mysterious world of magic and spells today, with powerful gameplay and immersive experiences.

Finish your incantation and cast a powerful, lucrative spell today.

The post ELA Games Casts Its Latest Spell with Witches’ Book appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Latest News

GR8 Tech’s Bet It Drives Hits the Portuguese Fast Lane with Tiago Pereira of LeBull.pt

Published

2 hours ago

October 16, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Lisbon’s streets set the pace for Season 2 of GR8 Tech’s Bet It Drives — the drive-time podcast where iGaming’s most interesting voices speak freely, in motion. Hosted by Yevhen Krazhan, Chief Sales Officer at GR8 Tech, each episode captures raw insight, candid stories, and the kind of energy you can only find on the road.

Episode 2 puts the spotlight on Tiago Pereira, Head of Portugal at LeBull.pt, the executive who helped turn a logo and a bull into one of the fastest-growing brands in Portugal’s regulated iGaming market. With more than 20 years in sports betting, affiliates, and casino operations at Placard.pt, Betano.pt, bet.pt, and Sportingbet, Tiago has led market entries, compliance frameworks, sponsorships, and full-funnel digital growth.

During the ride, Tiago opens up about:

How he found his path and his journey from architecture and computer science to marketing.
The history of LeBull.
Portugal vs. Brazil: same language, different mindset: why copy-paste doesn’t work and true localization is key.
The idea behind the LeBull Night Show, a weekly late-night comedy event.
His failed marketing project.
Trusting younger generations.
His previous approach to marketing when he joined Betano in 2017.
Why the Portuguese sports betting market relies on the casino vertical.
The next chapter for affiliation.
Network or Not Work: mascots, localization, and keeping support teams local.
A small personal detail that’s still quietly visible online for those who know where to look.
His Champion Rule: move forward with an “I need to get this done” mindset. Whatever happens, don’t stop. Stay consistent, keep moving forward, and the results will follow.

“Tiago showed us how to win a new market with discipline, curiosity, and the courage to keep moving forward,” said Krazhan.

Watch or listen to Season 2, Episode 2 with Tiago Pereira on:

Bet It Drives Season 2 kicked off with Rasmus Sojmark and keeps the pace with upcoming episodes featuring Kyrylo Korobka and Kelly Kehn. Buckle up. Lisbon’s just getting started.

The next chapter of iGaming belongs to those who play smart and play bold. Meet GR8 Tech at booth 5028-2 during SiGMA Central Europe 2025 in Rome, November 3–6, and discover the Heavyweight Rulebook built for operators ready to scale, localize, and win.

The post GR8 Tech’s Bet It Drives Hits the Portuguese Fast Lane with Tiago Pereira of LeBull.pt appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Latest News

Gaming in Germany Conference confirms new speakers, breakout program

Published

3 hours ago

October 16, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Gaming in Germany Conference, which will take place November 11 in Berlin, has added several new speakers to its already impressive agenda.

Sebastian Buchholz, Head of Licensing and Market Supervision, Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), will deliver the event’s keynote address.

The operator’s perspective will be well represented at this year’s Gaming in Germany Conference, with Christian Heins, Director iGaming Tipico; Alex Green, Vice President – Games, ZEAL Network; and Ewout Keuleers, former General Counsel, Kindred Group all confirmed to make an appearance at our event.

Naturally, attendees will also hear from both German and European trade associations, with Dr. Dirk Quermann, President, Deutscher Online Casinoverband (DOCV); Mathias Dahms, President, Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV); and Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) contributing.

Willem van Oort, founder of Gaming in Germany commented: “I am extremely pleased with this year’s speaker lineup. I think it speaks of the relevance of our event, and especially the key topics that we are highlighting this year: the threat of the black market and the evaluation of the 2021 State Gambling Treaty. I see that licensed operators are highly committed to making the German iGaming market more sustainable and competitive and I am very happy that we are trusted to play a role in promoting fruitful discussion and debate on these topics.”

“As the event takes place while the evaluation of the 2021 State Gambling Treaty is ongoing, this is certainly the time to be part of the conversation,” van Oort added.

Breakout program and networking opportunities

In addition to its main program, the Gaming in Germany Conference will also feature several highly practical breakout sessions on data compliance, game certification, RG, live casino, eSports, and much more.

The full agenda, including breakout program, is available here.

In addition to a loaded program, the Gaming in Germany Conference also offers plenty of networking opportunities during pre-conference dinner, coffee breaks, lunch, and concluding networking drinks.

Practical information

The 2025 Gaming in Germany Conference takes place Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at the DoubleTree Hilton Ku’damm in Berlin – just 100 meters from the magnificent Kurfürstendamm.

The post Gaming in Germany Conference confirms new speakers, breakout program appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.