Ep. 190: Inside the Retention Shift w/ Irakli “Marcus” Davarashvili from Promofy

Ep. 190 features Irakli “Marcus” Davarashvili, Founder & CEO of Promofy, for a deep dive into the global rise of AI-powered gamification and how operators are rethinking loyalty, engagement, and retention. Hear him discuss: His 13-year journey across advertising, brand building, and iGaming leadership and how operational pain points at scale inspired him to build Promofy What Promofy is: an AI-driven, no-code gamification platform that lets operators launch loyalty systems, missions, sports predictors, prize drops, kiosks, and full-page engagement experiences in minutes How Promofy’s rapid traction and product innovation led to winning “Launch of the Year” at the Starties, and why that recognition validated the team’s vision and executio Why global operators misunderstand “gamification,” and how true gamified ecosystems differ from simple bonuses, cashbacks, and tournament The massive market shift away from bonus-led retention to personalized and behavior-driven engagemen Regional adoption trends across LATAM, Europe, Asia, CIS, and North America plus why gamification is becoming “must-have” instead of “nice-to-have How Promofy differentiates itself with AI design tools, content generators, sports prediction engines, casino loyalty, and a full library of mechanics that operators can test and optimiz The challenges and realities of fundraising as a first-time founder, why saying “yes” and “no” matter equally, and what kinds of investors Promofy is seeking today The transition from operator to entrepreneur expectations vs. reality, resilience, failure tolerance, and why agility is a survival skil Why 2026 will be a breakout year driven by global expansion, new product launches, and massive demand heading into the World Cup   Catch the video version of this episode here.   Learn more 👇   ➡️ Promofy website ➡️ Irakli  Davarashvili on Linkedin     📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/   --- This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.