MFUSE APPOINTED BY SKYBET TO PROVIDE MOBILE SPORTS BETTING SERVICE
Mfuse (www.mfuse.com), the leading provider of mobile-enabling technology, has reached agreement with Sky Bet, the sports betting arm of BSkyB, to develop with Sky Bet a new mobile sports betting service.
It will be available from Q4 2008, accessible via mobile and as a downloadable JAVA service. Mfuse estimates that it will process well in excess of £150 million of sports bets through its mobile interface in 2009. The mobile gaming market is estimated to be worth £500m in bets placed in 2008.
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The Mfuse mobile sports betting technology supports all forms of betting including; fixed-odds, spread, exchange and in-play. Each solution is a bespoke development, mimicking as much as possible a clients online sports betting functionality. Mfuse has become the leader in the mobile gambling market by focusing extensively on the customer experience and removing traditional barriers surrounding mobile gambling by ensuring their technology supports the plethora of different technologies and devices that are now on the market.
New technology means that in-play betting has really taken off and will be a major feature of the new Sky Bet service. For example, during a football match, a customer can place a bet on the score, number of goals, number of corners and number of yellow cards. The Mfuse NOVO Transact platform will respond by continuously updating all the data in ‘real-time’ to a customer’s handset. The new service will also allow Sky Bet customers to watch Sky Sports whist placing an in-play bet on their mobile with Sky Bet.
Charles Palmer, Marketing Director of Mfuse said: “Our platform has enabled a key breakthrough in mobile sports betting by allowing the customer access to a functional but most importantly entertaining and easy to use on the move gambling experience.”
Richard Flint, Managing Director of Sky Betting and Gaming said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Sky Bet. We chose Mfuse because they have the most experience in producing a mass market and robust solution, which is essential for Skybet. They also work with most online bookmakers and understand Orbis Openbet, the software that Sky Bet runs on.’
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Marcus Wareham, Chief Executive
Charlie Palmer, Marketing Director
Mfuse
Tel: 020 7154 2070
John West / Simon Compton
Tavistock Communications
Tel: 020 7920 3150
Notes to Editors:
Mfuse was incorporated in 2002 to offers its clients a reliable and secure way to play, pay and transact using any mobile device. Specifically, its aim is to enable businesses to deploy mobile transactional services across multiple devices and in multiple territories.
In May 2008, Mfuse announced the closure of a £2.55 million funding round from existing investors Bestport Ventures LLP, who invested a further £850,000 and new investors including Mark Blandford, the founder of Sportingbet Plc, who invested £1.55 million. Following the funding round Mr Blandford joined the Mfuse Board as a non-executive director.
At present, Mfuse’s core offering is in the sports betting market where it works with blue-chip clients such as Ladbrokes Plc, Sportingbet Plc, Bet365, Stan James and Paddy Power Plc. Part of the new capital has been allocated for further development and marketing of a mobile casino offering.
The Technology
Mfuse’s NOVO platform supports all technology types from downloadable applications to mobile-internet which includes a vast array of browser types. Mobile is one of the most rapidly advancing sectors in the world, resulting in a constant stream of new and more sophisticated handsets, offering new features such as improved graphical user interface, touch-screen input, different keyboards, quality sound capability and the ability to tap into a handsets’ native features. The NOVO Provision platform recognises all phone types and technologies and delivers the optimum solution for a particular phone GUI (graphical user interface).
Once the service is on the consumers’ handset, the NOVO Transact platform handles all communication between handset and clients back office betting and payment systems. It is designed to be scalable and handle high volumes of simultaneous connections, but unlike online technology at much lower bandwidths and to low capacity devices, ensures a device will never be ‘pushed’ more data than it can process.
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