Sebastian Bielski: "ZEAL draws attention to the benefits of online lotto"

Sebastian Bielski has been recently appointed as ZEAL's new Chief Financial Officer. A seasoned veteran, Bielski talks at length about his own professional experience as well as ZEAL's growing offer, and the company's ambition to improve the lottery vertical overall. Nurturing innovation on a B2B and B2C level, ZEAL is embracing the lottery product and delivering a unique take on it. Bielski walks us through this process and more.

Q: Sebastian, you are now stepping into your new position at Zeal Group. How do you feel and what are your immediate plans?

I am of course very happy and excited at the same time about my new role as Chief Financial Officer at ZEAL. As the online market leader for lotteries in Germany, ZEAL achieved a transaction volume of 758 million euros in 2022 alone. I am excited to be part of this ZEAL success story and to be responsible for and drive finance, investor relations and all ESG topics. First, of course, I will get to know the company and the team so that I can then support the ambitious growth plans of the ZEAL Group in the short, medium, and long term.

Q: How do you think your previous experience will help you fulfil your duties at Zeal and what do you think you will do differently?

As I have already worked for ten years for fast-growing and consumer-focused online companies like the credit comparison portal smava and online food-ordering company Delivery Hero, I am delighted to bring my extensive specialist experience to my new position at ZEAL to further strengthen the growth of the company and its various brands and business models. However, joining ZEAL is my first time working in the lottery industry, so I am very much looking forward to the challenges this sector brings. Here I will certainly be able to exchange old experiences for new ones – that is also something I am very much looking forward to.

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about Zeal Group and what the company means to the lottery sector?

ZEAL is the online market leader for lotteries in Germany with a diversified business approach. For example, ZEAL not only offers participation in state lotteries via its subsidiary LOTTO24 AG and its portals LOTTO24 and Tipp24.

The company has also launched two charity lotteries in cooperation with BildungsChancen gGmbH to support selected educational projects: freiheit+ and Deutsche Traumhauslotterie. Through its brand ZEAL Instant Games, ZEAL also offers virtual slot games, so-called online games.

The portfolio includes a growing range of games for the B2C target group as well as an extensive range for international B2B partners. ZEAL has also made it its business to promote the growth and development of the international lottery sector.

For this reason, the company's ventures arm, ZEAL Ventures, promotes innovative business ideas in the lottery sector, thus ensuring the future viability of the industry. What particularly excites me about working for ZEAL is that all these areas and brands make the company unique in the industry.

Q: You will also be in charge of ESG. How important is this segment for the lottery industry?

ESG is a hugely important issue across industries and should always be treated as a priority on the corporate side – this applies to the lottery sector as much as to other industries. Partially due to the nature of the business as well as our ambition to "do the right thing", ZEAL is already taking our ESG mission very seriously.

We know that the investment community prioritizes companies with good ESG ratings, therefore we aim to be on par with all current requirements. ZEAL has invested in the comprehensive expansion of its sustainability strategy over the past year and has begun compiling and analyzing relevant company data in order to be able to announce further ESG metrics and targets as soon as possible. I am very much looking forward to driving ZEAL’s commitment of ESG-strategy and execution from here on.

Q: What do you reckon are the immediate challenges that Zeal Group faces?

As a provider of online lotteries, one of the biggest challenges for ZEAL is, of course, the ongoing conversion of kiosk players into online players. After all, at 23 percent, online penetration in the lottery sector in Germany is still surprisingly low. Other markets, such as the UK or Scandinavia, are already at 40 and 50 percent, respectively.

For precisely this reason, we are convinced that the online lottery market in Germany has enormous growth potential. That's why it's crucial for us to repeatedly draw attention to the benefits of online lotto through well-crafted marketing campaigns. In Germany, for example, we recently launched the biggest multichannel push in the company's history for our subsidiary LOTTO24 and are represented on TV, social media, and billboards.

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