Kaizen Gaming CEO and co-founder George Daskalakis has publicly touted the company’s $10bn decacorn status at the Panathenea festival in Athens.
Speaking at a fireside chat session, Daskalakis reflected on the journey that transformed Kaizen Gaming from a Greek startup into a significant online gambling operator.
The term decacorn is used to describe privately held companies that carry a valuation of more than $10bn, a threshold Daskalakis said Kaizen has now reached.
While Kaizen has yet to publicly confirm the valuation figure, Daskalakis noted the company began with “just 20 people and a €700,000 investment.”
The CEO pointed to several major challenges during the company’s development, including the Greek financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, both of which shaped its strategy.
He also highlighted Kaizen’s decision to expand beyond Greece through its Betano brand as a defining milestone in the company’s broader transformation.
Kaizen now operates across multiple markets in Europe and Latin America through its two flagship brands, Betano and Stoiximan.
Daskalakis spoke openly about the value of failure during his appearance at the festival, delivering a candid message to entrepreneurs in attendance.
“I don’t know any successful entrepreneur who hasn’t failed,” he said. “The important thing is not to avoid failure, but to learn from it and keep moving forward.”
He also urged founders to adopt a wider perspective when building their businesses, warning against thinking too narrowly in a single market from the outset.
“When we first expanded, we were building for Greece and not for the world,” he said. “My advice to B2C founders is: start locally but keep a global mindset in the way you build from day one, especially in the era of AI.”
Kaizen has already taken concrete steps to strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities, having acquired UK-based sports trading and analytics provider GameplAI in March.
The company has since been integrating GameplAI’s technology across its Betano brand, with features expected to enhance sports trading, player markets and performance analytics.
At the time of the acquisition, Kaizen described the deal as evidence of its commitment to investing in technology, data science and AI-driven solutions across its existing offering.
