Exclusive: Hamed Rahimi on Technology, Localisation and the Future of iGaming

Hamed Rahimi, CEO of Betora Global, has spent 17 years working across industries including social gaming and crypto, seeing how changes in technology influence consumer behaviour. That experience informs his approach to iGaming, where reliable technology, strong partnerships and an understanding of each market guide his work.

In this exclusive interview with iGaming AFRIKA Magazine, Rahimi discusses how Betora works with operators, adapts its technology to local needs and sets its priorities for growth.

Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us how you got into the iGaming space?

I am Hamed Rahimi, CEO of Betora Global. Over the past 17 years, I’ve worked across different industries, including social gaming and crypto, but I’ve always had a particular interest in iGaming. What attracted me to the industry was really the combination of technology, operations, and the pace at which it evolves. It’s an industry that never stands still, and I think that’s what makes it so exciting.

Looking back at your career so far, what experiences have shaped the way you approach leadership and building a business in such a fast-moving industry? 

I think nothing can actually prepare or shape you for iGaming. But jokes aside, one thing I’ve learned is that speed matters, but clarity matters even more. In a fast-moving industry, there will always be new opportunities, markets, and technologies competing for your attention.

My approach is to stay very close to the business, to our clients, our team, and what is actually happening in the markets. I also believe in giving good people ownership. As CEO, you shouldn’t be making every decision yourself; you should be building a team capable of making good decisions quickly.

Betora describes itself as a strategic partner. From your perspective, what does this actually mean for an operator once they begin working with you?

A platform provider gives you the technology. A strategic partner goes much further than that. We are with our clients every step of the way. We want to solve problems with the operator, not simply hand them software and say, “Here is your platform.” We understand the challenges they face, and we help them grow and scale their business.

For us, our interests align; as our operators grow, we grow alongside them. When our operators grow, we grow with them. Their success is genuinely our success, which transforms our relationship from that of a mere technology supplier to that of a long-term partner. 

Africa is a good example of why a one-size-fits-all approach is difficult. Payment behaviour, regulations, player preferences, and even the way operators market their products differ significantly from one country to another. How does Betora adapt its technology to those differences?

This is our philosophy, actually: Think Global—Act Local. Africa isn’t one gaming market. Every country has its own ecosystem, and that’s something you have to understand before entering it.

We built Betora to be modular and highly configurable, so operators can adapt payments, content, KYC processes, promotions, and other operational elements market by market. Payments are a particularly good example. In many African markets, mobile money is fundamental, so having the right local payment infrastructure can be just as important as having the right casino or sportsbook content. The technology has to adapt to the market, not the other way around.

As stated by Betora, operators can go live in a new market in as little as two weeks with the flexibility to adapt the platform to local requirements. How has Betora built its technology and processes to make that possible, particularly when operators still need to meet local compliance requirements and deliver a strong player experience from day one? 

We have a modular architecture and an established integration ecosystem, so a large part of the technical foundation already exists. We then configure the relevant payments, content, compliance processes, branding and operational requirements around the specific market.

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That dramatically reduces unnecessary development time. Of course, two weeks depends on things such as licensing, documentation and third-party readiness, but from a technology perspective we’ve designed Betora to remove as many barriers to launch as possible and make access to market as quickly as possible. 

Betora gives operators direct control over areas such as players, promotions, content and payments. What difference does that level of control make to the way an operator runs its business day to day?

If you see a campaign performing well, you should be able to react immediately. If you want to change a promotion, adjust content or analyse a particular player segment, you shouldn’t have to open a ticket with your platform provider and wait several days.

Our philosophy is that it’s the operator’s business, so they should have the tools to operate it. We provide the infrastructure and support behind them, but we don’t want the technology provider to become a bottleneck. In summary, it makes operations faster. 

Operators today have access to enormous amounts of player data, but having data and knowing what to do with it are two different things. How does Betora help operators turn that information into decisions they can act on?

That’s exactly correct. Having more data doesn’t necessarily mean better decisions.  Betora has a very comprehensive dashboard, where it brings player and operational information into a unified environment, allowing operators to segment players, understand behaviour and respond through promotions, CRM and operational decisions.

The objective is to shorten the distance between seeing something happening and doing something about it. Data becomes valuable when an operator quickly turns insights into action.  

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Besides that, the dashboard is very customisable and can be redefined as per the operator’s need. If an operator wants to see the last campaign’s ROI, and it is already there, it can be added in minutes.

Betora has placed considerable emphasis on partnerships beyond technology, including football and recognised sporting personalities. Why was it important to build that side of the business alongside its technology offering?

Gaming doesn’t exist in isolation. The overlap between sport, entertainment, and gaming audiences is enormous, especially in the markets we are targeting. Football gives us a powerful way to build recognition, relationships and trust beyond a traditional B2B technology conversation. Working with recognised personalities also creates experiences and opportunities that we can share with our partners. Ultimately, beside the technology, we want to build a brand and an ecosystem that operators genuinely want to be part of.

Finally, as Betora continues expanding its presence across international and African markets, what are you most focused on improving or developing over the coming years?

Our focus is really on deeper localisation, greater automation and giving operators even more intelligence and control over their business. AI will naturally play a big part in that. We see a lot of potential in using AI to make CRM smarter, improve player segmentation, personalise promotions and help operators identify opportunities in their data much faster. The idea isn’t to use AI just because it’s a trend; it has to solve a real operational problem or help the operator make better decisions. The bigger vision is quite simple: wherever an operator wants to launch or scale, we want Betora to be their first choice.

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