Paul Colston meets Sophie Crouzet, COO of SiGMA, Malta, one of the biggest organisers on the islands, who explains how the company built its business on ‘Blockchain Island’:
Tell us a bit about the history of SiGMA and why it is headquartered in Malta?
SiGMA started in 2014 as a local iGaming conference gathering 1,000 delegates. Over the years SiGMA has expanded its outreach rapidly. Alongside the expo dedicated to online and land-based gaming, we have diversified our reach to include events focused on emerging tech (AIBC), online affiliation and digital marketing (AGS), and digital health (MED-TECH WORLD). These Summits occur every year across Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
On top of being an events company we also have other key pillars:
• Affiliation – the website is translated in 10 key international languages and promotes online casino, sports betting, and emerging tech
• We are a media company
• The SiGMA Fund and Accelerator, which aims to bridge emerging tech and gaming under one roof.
SiGMA Group is really a platform and an ecosystem built around the industries the events cover.
Malta played a big part in the SiGMA expansion, first of all it has a central location at the heart of the Mediterranean and serves as a strategic link between Europe and Africa.
Malta’s experience in the leisure and entertainment industry has given it a long-standing reputation for pulling off high-end events.
The MGA licence, and a reputation as the Blockchain Island has also attracted companies.
SiGMA Europe returns as a physical event in November. What can delegates expect?
Following the feedback we got for our previous event earlier this year hosted in Dubai, the community is so ready to meet face-to-face and do business and network and we are preparing a super show with three events under one roof:
• Gaming
• Emerging tech
• Affiliation and digital marketing.
There is a lot of cross pollination between these verticals, so delegates can enjoy four shows during the week with just one ticket!
We are expecting three days of conferences, exhibitions, and networking events, from lavish dinners to golf tournaments, our awards, and our Closing Event where we are expecting big names such as Akon and Djibril Cissé.
We also organised a few virtual events throughout the year but also smaller local events with no travelling involved: such as iGathering’s in Marbella, UK, and Taiwan.
You are also active in emerging tech and you have a Med-Tech World event co-locating with AIBC, right?
AIBC is co-locating with SiGMA and AGS, our new digital marketing event. However, it is happening during Malta Week, allowing investors and others to fly to Malta for all of the events.
Med-Tech World is our new brand, and we are collaborating with a team of doctors and medical experts.
The event will attract legislators and policymakers, medical professionals, investors, and industry peers to this lucrative sector, with focus including digital health, pharma and medical devices.
The AIBC Summit has three main strengths:
• The Conference brings great quality speakers: such as Tim Draper, Brock Pierce, Justin Sun, and John Karony, the CEO of Safemoon
• An exhibition offers great buzzy exhibitors: such as crypto.com, swissborg, Openware etc.
• But where AIBC is really making a difference is with our networking event where startups meet investors, crypto exchange meeting affiliates, and Blockchain projects meet Blockchain developers.
Since 2016 I have witnessed garage-based startups turn into global companies with 100-plus employees – and it all started with SiGMA.
The events sector occupies that space where everyone meets and ideas flourish. More importantly, those ideas turn into actions.
As we begin to return to normality, I expect this industry to get back on its feet in no time.
