Moderated by LaunchPad chair Melissa Blau, the judging panel of investors, who will quiz the start-ups on their products and projections, includes Velo Partners’ Evan Hoff, First Maximilian Associates’ Robert Montgomery, renowned sports investors Sixers, Innovation Lab’s Seth Berger and SeventySix Capital’s Wayne Kimmel. The five start-ups will then see their enterprising ideas put back to the ICE North America audience who will vote for the winner. All of the start-ups will also exhibit on the ICE North America show floor and the winner will receive a complimentary booth at the 2020 show.

The 2019 ICE North America start-ups comprise:

• Hold Gaming: merging social casino, eSports, the real money into a casino esports content and platform. Presented by Phillip Runyan, Founder and CEO
• LineLibrary: the global sports betting exchange. Presented by Sam Rattner, Founder and CEO
• Picking Duck: a sports betting contest app and sports pick marketplace which allows players to earn real money without ever risking a dime. Presented by Kenneth Manubay, CEO
• Wannamakeabet: the intersection of sports betting and fantasy sports. Presented by Eric Simon, CEO
• Win.gg: your gateway to all things esports. Presented by Serge Vardanyan, Founder and CEO

Ewa Bakun, Director of Industry Insight and Engagement at Clarion Gaming, and the person responsible for developing the initiative, believes the platform provided by LaunchPad is invaluable. She stated: "It is the exposure that’s the main benefit, as the successes of the previous LaunchPad winners, such as NumberFire which was acquired by FanDuel and BlueBat Games acquired by NOVOMATIC, can attest. Last year’s winner, Adam Kalmanson from Bookie, has gone on the record confirming that the LaunchPad is the start-up pitch that newcomer businesses really want to win. In a broader sense, LaunchPad continues to help facilitate the flow of new and exciting ideas into the gambling sector."

Start-up LaunchPad is part of ICE North America, (May 13-15, 2019 in Boston, MA, USA) the new event bringing together Clarion Gaming’s US assets, GiGse and ICE Sports Betting USA, with the addition of esports, iLottery and affiliate marketing streams, to create a single large-scale event. To find out more about ICE North America, go to icenorthamerica.com.