Kaizen Gaming, the parent company of rapidly growing international betting brand Betano, has reached decacorn status – meaning the privately owned business is worth at least $10bn (£7.4bn).
Co-founder and CEO George Daskalakis announced the 11-figure valuation during a fireside chat this week at a tech event in Athens, as the 48-year-old reflected on bootstrapping the startup in 2012 into a global giant.
“With just 20 people and a €700,000 investment, we managed to build a decacorn from Greece,” he told the audience.
Today, Athens-headquartered Kaizen Gaming operates across 20 markets in Europe, Latam and Africa, employing around 3,000 people. Its Betano brand is widely considered to be the leading operator in Brazil.
For comparison in terms of valuations, the market caps of Flutter and DraftKings are $17.7bn and $12.6bn, respectively, while the privately owned prediction markets leader in the US, Kalshi, is worth $22bn, after $1bn in fresh capital was raised in May.
International lottery and gaming powerhouse Allwyn holds a 36.75% stake in Betano.
Allwyn also now has full ownership of Stoiximan – the bookmaker Daskalakis co-founded in 2012 – with Kaizen Gaming the platform provider for the brand in Greece and Cyprus.
Greece’s OPAP acquired the remaining shares in Stoiximan last year, before Allwyn and OPAP merged to form a €16bn lottery and gaming heavyweight listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.
Allwyn’s annual accounts for 2025 show Betano revenue jumped 20% year on year in constant currency – or 13% on a reported basis – to just north of €2.8bn.
Meanwhile, profit increased from €509m in 2024 to €795m the following year.
The accounts showed performance “remained strong” throughout most of 2025, though Betano, like most operators, was impacted by “exceptionally customer-friendly sports results in September and October”.
During the fireside chat, Daskalakis highlighted challenges in the journey of Kaizen Gaming, not least the financial crisis in Greece a decade ago which led to capital controls and the temporary closure of banks and the Athens Stock Exchange.
After learning lessons from a failed expansion into Poland, management switched focus and entered Romania in 2016 before embarking on international expansion with Betano.
Kaizen Gaming’s growth story was explored in detail when EGR travelled to the operator’s HQ on the outskirts of the Greek capital to speak at length with Daskalakis in late 2024.
The company moved up one spot to seventh in the EGR Power 50, published in November 2025 in collaboration with accountancy and auditing firm BDO.
Last month, Betano netted its second consecutive FIFA World Cup sponsorship deal by being named an official tournament supporter for Europe and South America.
The 48-team tournament kicks off next week, 11 June, across the host countries of the US, Canada and Mexico.
Meanwhile, in April, Betano was unveiled as the official regional sponsor of Argentina’s national team – the current world champions.
The post Betano’s parent company achieves decacorn status first appeared on EGR Intel.
Kaizen Gaming’s CEO reveals the 14-year-old operator is worth at least $10bn during a tech event staged in Athens
The post Betano’s parent company achieves decacorn status first appeared on EGR Intel.