Two Maltese owned and based businesses have won the prestigious and acclaimed eGR awards for ‘Software Rising Star of the Year’ and ‘Corporate Services Provider of the Year ’ respectively.
The announcement was made at a gala ceremony held at the Pavilion at the Tower of London last week....
This is the first time that two Maltese companies won these awards.
Bit8, a young, Malta-based iGaming platform software company received the award for ‘Software Rising Star’. The award certifies and seals years of hard work that went into the building of the Bit8 platform, and reinforces the vision of the founders and the team that they are indeed, a growing force in the industry.
Angelo Dalli, himself present at the Awards ceremony to collect the accolade, said “I am truly honoured to be the CEO of this great company. Receiving such an award, competing with some of the most renowned platform and software providers in our space, and winning, gives me great energy and drive. Our disruptive Artificial Intelligence solutions have started to make a tangible impact on the industry that is slated to ignite a new wave of nimble operations using our platform to gain competitive advantage.”
In fact 2014 has already proved to be a great year for Bit8, which has garnered a host of nominations namely as ‘Innovator of the Year’ at the IGA this January; Angelo Dalli himself winning the ‘Digital/IT Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the MSV Life Top Entrepreneur of the Year Award organised by Malta Economic Update, and now the eGR Software Rising Star of the Year.
WH Partners, a Maltese law firm, was awarded the eGR Corporate Services Provider of the Year award. Olga Finkel collected the award on the firm’s behalf. Olga Finkel and James Scicluna, the firm’s founding partners, commented that “this award is recognition of years of hard work and dedication that our whole team has put into providing a world class service to the remote gaming and digital industries in Malta and abroad. It is thanks to them that our firm is today known to be a leader in these sectors. Our commitment lies in our in-depth understanding of clients’ industries which enables us to provide a value added service. We will continue to strive to be best in class”.
As with Bit8, this is also not the first recognition which WH Partners has received. Only this year, Olga Finkel and James Scicluna have been ranked amongst the top 35 gaming & gambling lawyers globally by Chambers & Partners, the leading guide to the legal profession worldwide. They are also both recognised by Who’s Who Legal for their work in the Sports & Entertainment category and Olga Finkel is recognised in particular for her work in Information Technology. Legal 500 and the International Financial Law Review also recognise WH Partners as a leading firm. WH Partners was appointed as an expert by PwC Malta in connected with a report being prepared for the European Commission on iGaming and the role of regulators. Olga Finkel has been appointed as an external expert for a European Commission DG Connect study on the ePrivacy Directive.
Joseph Cuschieri, the Executive Chairman of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, was present at the eGR B2B awards ceremony. He expressed his satisfaction at the success achieved at the awards by a number of businesses licensed by the LGA or otherwise with a very strong Maltese connection.
He also said: “I wish to congratulate both Bit8 and WH Partners for their achievement. Bit8 is one of the best examples of home grown innovation which I can think of. The ability of an operator to have good monitoring and reporting tools is not only a business advantage, but can also assist us regulators to have better and quicker oversight of and responsiveness from our licensees. WH Partners has demonstrated over the years that it has leading global legal expertise in the gaming industry combined with a technical understanding of the industry. I wish both of them well.”