The joint venture between William Hill and Playtech to take the high street betting brand online is often held up as the most transformational tie-up between an operator and supplier in the industry.
But the partnership between Stake and Softswiss has taken a niche crypto operator and an established but up-and-coming supplier to billion-dollar businesses. And now they’re knocking on the door of locally regulated markets.
“We recognised their potential immediately,” Softswiss founder Ivan Montik says of crypto gambling giant Stake. “They were ambitious, but also incredibly focused on quality and user experience.”
The relationship between the companies dates back to 2020, when Stake was seeking an aggregator to help it scale its business quickly. The brand, just three years old at that time, only offered 15 games in its Originals catalogue of proprietary titles.
While it needed to expand its catalogue fast, to do so it needed a partner capable of ensuring crypto-optimised access to all providers on its platform, Stake co-founder Ed Craven explains. That’s where Softswiss came in.
“From the start, it was clear we shared the same pace and mindset,” Montik says. “That’s why the partnership developed so naturally.”
Rebuilding Stake’s business
That partnership took Stake’s games offering from 15 to 1,500 titles almost overnight. Such a jump in coverage certainly increased the operator’s addressable audience, but such rapid scaling wasn’t a simple API integration, rather a complete rebuild for the operator.
“The team knew this was going to be a big challenge,” he says. “We had to recreate our business from being a proprietary content first website to enabling third-party providers, meaning restructuring the entire website architecture.
That technical overhaul was a defining moment for Stake, Craven says. “Redefining our platform to be ready and then seeing it actually come together and work, that was a massive milestone for our team and Stake at the time.”
Such a large scale integration was always going to be intense, Montik adds, but argues that process also helped build trust between the Stake and Softswiss teams.
“I remember how quickly both teams aligned,” Montik continues. “There was mutual respect and a shared sense of urgency. When two companies share that same rhythm, it becomes the foundation for everything that follows.”
How Softswiss helped make Stake a $4.7 billion GGR business
The relationship with Softswiss, Craven says, was “fundamental” to Stake’s growth trajectory. And that trajectory has been explosive.
In 2020, the year the partnership was struck, gross gaming revenue amounted to $105 million. By 2024, the most recent figures available, GGR reached $4.7 billion according to Forbes. Stake’s parent company Easygo claims the brand is responsible for 4% of global bitcoin transactions.
And through acquisitions such as Betfair Colombia, VinderCasino operator MocinoPlay in Denmark and IdealBet in Italy, Stake is increasing its fiat presence in locally licensed markets. The Softswiss partnership is a key pillar supporting that expansion.
“Having such easy access to all third-party content providers has allowed us the ability to compete at the highest level,” Craven says. “It removed barriers that would have slowed us down and let us focus on what we do best.”
There’s a shared mindset between the businesses, Montik says, that underpins the rapid scale. “We both see technology not just as a tool but as a means to empower ideas. That’s what makes this collaboration so strong.”
Because Softswiss has embarked on a similarly explosive growth trajectory. While it doesn’t release revenue figures, it recently surpassed 100 brands launched on its Game Aggregator, which now hosts more than 36,700 games from 300 developers.
Both companies look very different from the two that partnered in 2020. But the partnership has evolved in step, Montik says.
Craven echoes this, saying Softswiss’ willingness to pitch ideas rather than ticking off items from a contract is key to the continuing relationship.
“Even when we don’t say yes to every idea, Softswiss is proactive with content suggestions and new approaches,” he explains. “That makes all the difference in an industry that moves as fast as ours does.”
Experience is everything
Underpinning the collaboration is a focus on the player experience, something Craven believes will drive the next phase of growth for gaming.
“Stake is built for fans,” he says. “Our players want new experiences and innovative ways to interact with games, so staying ahead of what excites them is crucial.
“Everything we do comes back to our community and product experience. Our goal is to make every interaction seamless, intuitive, and positive, ensuring customers feel the difference at every touchpoint.”
That aligns perfectly with Softswiss’ mission.
“Innovation only matters when it creates value for the player,” Montik adds. “The challenge for modern iGaming companies is to maintain speed and creativity while ensuring trust and transparency. Stake manages that balance very well, and it’s something we at Softswiss deeply value in our partners.”
That focus on trust becomes crucial amid Stake’s expansion into regulated markets. In these territories, Craven needs to make sure he can offer a differentiated or elevated experience for the end user. Growing its customer base in fiat currencies is a major priority for Craven, and to do that he has to offer something better than what is already out there in these markets.
Staying on top in an evolving industry
The partnership between Stake and Softswiss has evolved from a deal between two challenger brands into a long-term relationship between two highly visible market behemoths. That means each company is looking to anticipate the next market shift in gaming to consolidate their position.
“We’ll see more interactive games that don’t fit the classic slots or table games mould,” Craven predicts. “Players’ attention spans have shifted, they want something new, they want variety, they want mechanics that feel fresh. The challenge is to stay ahead of that demand.”
However Montik adds operators and suppliers have to meet that demand in a responsible manner. More personalised and socially engaging experiences create deeper relationships with customers, and that means increased responsibility to keep players safe.
“I believe the future belongs to companies that combine innovation with ethics,” he says. “Those that can entertain while maintaining player trust.”
How do you keep going when you’ve reached the top?
For all the technological innovation, growth and global expansion, both Montik and Craven both highlight one constant through Stake and Softswiss’ relationship: Trust.
“The right partner is someone who’s proactive, who brings opportunities to the table, and who’s willing to grow alongside you rather than just provide a service,” Craven says.
Montik agrees: “What truly defines success for us isn’t just the software, it’s the relationships behind it,” he says.
“Stake has become one of the leading names in iGaming, and seeing them grow using technology and mindset we both believe in is one of those achievements that validates our long-term vision.”
And as each business looks to a future of new markets, new games and new regulatory challenges, they’re doing so in lockstep.
“When you have that level of trust and shared ambition, true synergy becomes possible,” Montik adds. “And when you have that, long-term success follows naturally.”
Stake may have begun as a crypto-first challenger, but as it pivots into regulated fiat markets across the world, its rapid growth has been fuelled by a long-standing partnership with Softswiss. Founder Ed Craven and Softswiss founder Ivan Montik explain what makes it work.