GeoComply unveils new Toronto digs, and does a data dive into Ontario
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GeoComply unveils new Toronto digs, and does a data dive into Ontario
The fraud detection company co-founded by Anna Sainsbury and David Briggs has a new T.O. home for its employees, and shares its new overview of the province's regulated online sports betting biz.
New Toronto office, new Ontario report from GeoComply
When GeoComply folks such as Lindsay Slader, Julien Crette and John Pappas talk about a company that’s nimble, it turns out they’re not just referring to the efforts around fraud prevention and cybersecurity.
For the second time in a little more than a year, the presenting sponsors of this rather august publication have opened a new home in the city below Richmond Hill. Slader, Crette and GeoComply’s 50 employees in Toronto were joined by Ontario Attorney-General Doug Downey, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli and a number of sports betting and gaming industry representatives for an opening ceremony of sorts yesterday in the new digs – right in heart of downtown Toronto.
“Thank you for choosing Toronto, and for choosing Ontario,” said Fedeli, who pointed to GeoComply as one of several companies benefiting from the province’s robust technology sector. “We are No. 2 in North America with 414,000 workers. We produce 65,000 tech grads every year to make sure you have a steady supply of workers. We are also the No. 2 fintech and financial services core in North America.
“You’re keeping work within Ontario.”
Downey, whose office has overseen the development of the province’s regulated gambling industry since its opening in April 2022, gave a tap of the Northland wooden hockey stick to iGaming Ontario boss Martha Otton.
“Martha has been a lynchpin in making us grow and getting us to where we are today,” Downey told the gathering. “The gaming market in Ontario is second to none. We have set the standard (and) have established an international reputation in such a short period of time.”
The recent financial woes of WeWork appear to have prompted GeoComply to move to new digs, and we were told yesterday the company is also seeking new office space in other Canadian cities. Slader, the senior vice president of compliance, is hopeful that Ontario’s regulated model will be followed by other provinces.
“We’re proud to be part of the gaming community here in Ontario,” Slader said. “We hope Canada’s gaming market is also going to continue growing online.
“We want to have as many opportunities as possible to offer our (services and products) not only to enable regulated gaming but also to assist companies in identifying fraud.”
Speaking of which, separate from the photo ops with the ministers and others, GeoComply also used the office-opening event to unveil an overview of the Ontario market data. As usual, the graphics/data tell the stories, led by the still-growing popularity of betting on the National Football League:
“We’re able to say ‘that’s a given user using a given device in a given location’. That’s pretty cool,” said Crette, who was promoted to chief operating officer earlier this fall. “We’re protecting the market and making sure everything is safer.”
The staff at Gaming News Canada HQ is working overtime (OK, not really) on getting a link to the entire overview, and will share with our loyal readers in the Thursday dispatch.
From pre-check to withdrawal, GeoComply creates a safer and frictionless player funnel to help increase profitability
Onboard more legitimate customers and fight fraud to optimize revenue
A new approach to KYC and AML compliance with improved KYC pass rates
New, no-download gold standard geolocation for a seamless user experience
Sophisticated machine learning assesses billions of historical transactions and fraud hotspots
Don’t lose your customers in the funnel. Get in touch to find out how we can support the entire user journey
CCES, COC expand partnership around integrity of sport, match manipulation
Back in 2021, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and the Canadian Olympic Committee set the wheels in motion for an exploratory working group on match manipulation with representatives from national and multi-sport organizations. The focus for the group was on understanding the risks associated with competition manipulation in our home and native land and developing resources to protect the Canadian sport community.
On Friday, the two parties announced an extension of that partnership to advance their joint mission “to protect the integrity of sport and the prevention of competition manipulation in Canada and internationally”. As part of the extension, the CCES will update its gratis, online education course called Understanding Competition Manipulation to include the latest updates from Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competition as well as the development of a national policy.
The updated course will be ready for athletes and support staff participating in the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games in January, and for “all members of Team Canada” for the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024.
From the news release:
Participants who take the course will come away with a better understanding of the rules around competition manipulation and sports betting which include: not betting on your own sport or sport on the program of a multi-sport Games in which you are taking part, not manipulating a competition, not sharing confidential information as well as the obligation to report any attempt to manipulate a competition.
SBC’s Jessica Welman on ESPN Bet launch, and post-panel thoughts from Brewer and Sulsky
The latest Gaming News Canada Show podcast presented by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt is rather fine listening in our very humble opinion. Jessica Welman, the uber-editor of SBC Americas and the Canadian Gaming Association, returned to the show to deliver her thoughts on last week’s highly-publicized launch of ESPN Bet and also on what’s news with the push for legal sports betting in North Carolina, Texas, California and Florida.
Canadian Gaming Association senior advisor Amanda Brewer and PointsBet Canada chief commercial officer Nic Sulsky revisited last week sometimes-tense panel discussion – including Brian Burke’s comments - at the PrimeTime Sports Management Conference & Trade Show in the city below Bolton.
Phill Gray, the recently-departed head of trading operations for Sports Interaction, had a few helpful hints for bettors ahead of the Montreal Alouettes’ upset victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in another Grey Cup classic Sunday (and, hey, two thumbs-up to Green Day for the halftime show).
As usual, we’re back on the LinkedIn Audio this week. The first pearls of audio fall shortly after 1 p.m. ET.
The Company Line
This week, Canadian business Playgon Games – a partner of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario - gets TCL TLC.
Birthdate: 2014
Home Base: Vancouver
Founder: Guido Ganschow, the company’s current President.
Raison D’Etre: For almost a decade, Playgon Games has been delivering digital games for the online gaming industry, including live dealer and etable games, and a daily fantasy sports platform.
Gaming News Canada is looking for companies in the gaming space to be featured in this corner of the Tuesday dispatch. If interested, please email steve@gamingnewscanada.ca.
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