This was the case of course in the Malta AI & Blockchain Summit- Spring 2019, of which AtoZ Market was chosen to be an official media partner.
There in Malta, we had a stand with some of the organisers of the summit, which Sigma was one of them.
What is Sigma, and what do they do? This is what we will know below from the dialogue we had with its Chief Financial Officer, Victoria Soltesz.
- Can you tell the audience about yourself first?
- Yes. My name is Victoria Soltesz, and I am the CFO of Sigma. We are an event management company. I used to live in Cyprus for ten years, but I recently relocated to Malta just a year ago.
- So what is Sigma now. If you can tell us about Sigma and what does it do?
- Right, so Sigma than event management company operated in Malta . We started back in 2011 but the last five years, we got Sigma as the brand building the most successful iGaming show in Europe, with more than 12000 visitors the last year only, so sigma is growing. This year in November we expect around 14000 visitors, is which is a huge success. Also we are organising the Malta blockchain and AI show where we are right now. Last year, we had a huge success with over 6000 visitors so we were really enthusiastic to hit this high number. We almost burst the Intercontinental, so this year we doubled it up. So that's why we will organise one in May, here where we are sitting at then we will have another bigger show in November which will be doubling up the numbers from May. And also we are introducing a new vertical which is the medical cannabis, which has been legalised in Malta. So that's why it's new vertical is opening up. You're expecting over three thousand visitors in November. That will be the first show specialising in this in this industry, and it will be kept in Malta.
- You had me intrigued actually. So let's shed more light on some specialized part of what you do at sigma- what kind of iGaming it is involved in?
- There are different industries so the iGaming industry is everything which has anything to do with that online betting online casino and online responsible gambling. So this industry is quite strong in Malta. Obviously for licensing reasons. It's easier to get a license in a few if you are operating within these industries. So that's why we feel that the industry needs an expo where all these affiliates can meet the marketing companies, the service provider companies, and actually just connect with a great network. So that was the reason of creating Sigma in the first place.
To the left: CEO of Segma Eman Pulis and Victoria Solteszm, the company's CFO.
- You also said that you had an activity in 2020. Can you tell me about each of them. And why have you chosen to take this part of your business to that place and the other one other place?
- All right. So in 2020 we are going international. So we are organizing the gaming show in Manila as well as in Malta. And we are taking the blockchain show to Dubai in 2020. So we will have four major shows. We are very very excited about, because Manila is the gateway to the Asian market for iGaming, so creating connections now between affiliates and locals will strengthen the market even further. And it's the same for Dubai, as we will have the Expo there, so there is a lot of attention in Dubai right now. So taking the AI and blockchain summit to Dubai will strengthen the brand, and allow us to make new valuable connections.
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That's great. And do you look forward to expand more?
- Yes. Last year thing I was working with 10 full time employees. Now we are over 30 people. So we are definitely expanding. I am the new addition to the team as well I just started as a CFO back in January but I'm very much looking forward to the future and I'm very excited about taking this journey with the company.
- I can touch your enthusiasm. So are you thinking of expanding the majors themselves?
- Yes obviously,we are setting up different offices to support the overseas operations. We need local presence, so we are opening an office in Dubai and one in Hong Kong as well. So we are very much looking in the future and hiring new talent worldwide.
- Thank you very much for this interview, Viktoria. The AtoZ Markets’ team and I wish you and your colleagues all the best.
Thank you very much I looking forward to see you back in November for our show.
- I hope that!