Monday 18 November 2013

Bet Buddy Wins Entrepreneurial Venture Award

Bet Buddy have been celebrating after winning the Association of MBA (AMBA) 2013 Global Entrepreneurial Venture Award. Simo Dragicevic, Bet Buddy CEO and a Cass Business School alumnus, is pictured receiving the award from Peter Cullum, a Cass alumnus who is founder of Towergate and who set-up the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund. Businesses which have received investment from the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund (Cass's £10 million venture capital fund) have now been finalists in this award category for three consecutive years.

Simo says, "We are absolutely thrilled to have won this prestigious global competition. Bet Buddy has gone from strength to strength in the past 12 months, winning clients in regulated markets in North America and Europe. This award provides further validation that using data the 'Bet Buddy way' is becoming increasingly important to operators in regulated gaming markets around the world.

"I'd like to give thanks to not only to the core team at Bet Buddy, but also our extended team at Cass. The business school was an important springboard for nurturing some of the concepts behind Bet Buddy. Publishing my own peer-reviewed academic research in partnership with Cass academics was critical in the early stages of the business. After graduating and starting the business, the Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship has provided invaluable support. They have opened opportunities for commercial partnerships and helped us fundraise via their own venture fund, the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund, and through their extensive investment network."

Nick Badman, Chair of the Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship, says, "I wholly congratulate Simo on his success. We have been lucky enough to work with him since Bet Buddy's inception and to watch the business grow has been highly rewarding for the team at the Centre. "His success reflects all the hard work both he and the team at the Centre are doing. This is great achievement and validates our approach to supporting the creation of new businesses."