SPARK 2026 Widens Its Lens: MarTech, FinTech, and RegTech Now Share the Stage

Two complementary conferences merge into one expanded event covering Southeast Europe’s gaming, payments, and compliance ecosystem

Across Southeast Europe’s gaming sector, three forces are converging fast: commercial growth, regulatory pressure, and a wave of new technology that’s reshaping how operators build and run their businesses. Product performance, payments infrastructure, and compliance frameworks aren’t separate workstreams anymore — they’re one connected system. Eventus International is responding to that shift with an expanded format for SPARK (Software, Payments, Affiliates, Revenue Kickoff) 2026, running 19–20 October 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria, now incorporating a dedicated iGaming 3Tech conference stream.

Rather than running as separate events, SPARK and iGaming 3Tech are joining forces under a single roof. The result is broader expertise, sharper industry insight, and a wider networking pool spanning the full gaming ecosystem. SPARK keeps its role as the meeting point for gaming, software, payments, affiliates, and revenue growth, while iGaming 3Tech contributes a focused track built around MarTech, FinTech, and RegTech.

The Logic Behind the Merger

Combining SPARK and iGaming 3Tech isn’t a branding exercise — it reflects how the industry itself now operates, where growth, compliance, and technology decisions are made in the same conversation rather than in separate silos.

The expanded event gives operators, affiliates, payment providers, compliance specialists, marketers, regulators, and technology leaders one shared platform to trade insights, form partnerships, and map out strategies for sustainable growth.

A larger audience and a more varied programme mean more value across the board — for sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and delegates alike — while encouraging the kind of cross-sector collaboration the industry’s growing complexity now demands.

Inside the SPARK 2026 Programme

Day One — Monday, 19 October 2026: Product, Payments & Acquisition

Day One digs into what’s actually driving gaming growth across Southeast Europe right now — product decisions, payments strategy, and player acquisition, all increasingly shaped by regulation, technology, and shifting user behavior.

• Retention Over Acquisition: Are We Rethinking Growth Strategies Fast Enough?
• Payments as a Conversion Lever, Not a Back-End Utility
• Retail Gaming in a Digital-First World
• Modernising the Retail Gaming Floor
• Balancing Compliance and UX in Multi-Jurisdiction Markets

Day Two — Tuesday, 20 October 2026: Scaling with Confidence

Day Two turns to sustainable scaling in a landscape being rewritten by AI, shifting affiliate models, tightening regulation, and performance-driven marketing.

• Keynote: SEO to AIEO: Transitioning from Ranking Websites to Becoming the Direct Answer in AI Search — Nikolas Monti-Potsolakis, CEO & Co-Founder of Black Lantern Media
• The Affiliate Power Shift: From Traffic Brokers to Strategic Partners
• Responsible AI in Marketing: Navigating the EU AI Act Without Killing Performance
• Channelisation, Competition and Tax Yield: Lessons from CEE Licensing Models — Olga Polishchuk, iGaming Regulatory Compliance Consultant

Tuesday, 20 October 2026 — iGaming 3Tech Stream: MarTech, FinTech & RegTech

The dedicated iGaming 3Tech stream looks at how data, regulation, and performance are converging to reshape growth strategies across regulated gaming markets.

• The New Reality of iGaming Growth: Where Data, Regulation & Performance Collide — Arjan Korstjens, Principal, Casino Marketing Academy
• Technology as the Enforcer: Embedding Regulation into Systems and Workflows
• Responsible Growth Channels: Turning First-Party Data, Affiliate Partnerships & Personalisation into Revenue
• The New Growth Playbook: Balancing Compliance, Personalisation and Profitability in Europe

Who’s Taking the Stage

The expanded SPARK 2026 programme brings together senior voices from across gaming, affiliates, payments, compliance, marketing, technology, and regulation, including:

• Antony Jordan, Head of Payments & KYC, ODDSET Sportwetten GmbH
• Andrei Frimescu, PR & Marketing Director, Game World Romania
• Arjan Korstjens, Principal, Casino Marketing Academy
• Christian Piska, University Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Vienna
• Chrysothemi Valanidou, Founder, Startwise Ltd
• Frank Op de Woerd, CEO, CasinoNieuws.nl
• Josef Weirauch, Lead VIP-Clients and Affiliates EU, BitMEX
• Kristof Szucs, Co-Founder & Principal, Kyborg.ai
• Lars Westhoff, Founder & Attorney at Law, Westhoff Van Namen
• Mark McGuinness, Fractional CMO & iGaming Growth Advisor
• Mykyta Kim, Owner/CEO, Key2Law
• Nikolas Monti-Potsolakis, CEO & Founder, Black Lantern Marketing
• Olga Polishchuk, iGaming Regulatory Compliance Consultant
• Radoslav Georgiev, SEO Consultant, Gambling SEO Services LTD
• Robert Brassi, Principal Consultant, Sense4Gaming
• Robert Stoica, COO, Winbet
• Sarafina Wolde Gabriel, CEO, Rightlander

…and many more speakers to be announced.

More Ground to Cover for Sponsors and Exhibitors

For sponsors and exhibitors, the expanded format means a sharper line of sight into decision-makers across two complementary conference streams in one event. SPARK’s focus on software, payments, affiliates, and revenue growth, paired with iGaming 3Tech’s coverage of MarTech, FinTech, and RegTech, puts sponsor solutions in front of a wider spread of operators, affiliates, payment leaders, compliance teams, marketing decision-makers, technology buyers, regulators, and senior executives — all under one roof.

Secure Your Place

Register here: https://www.eventus-international.com/spark

Sponsorship Opportunities Remain Open

A limited number of sponsorship packages are still available for organisations looking to raise their visibility, connect with senior decision-makers, and stand alongside the industry’s leading voices.

To explore the remaining sponsorship packages, contact:

Lou-Mari Burnett

Chief Operating Officer

Eventus International

[email protected]