Changing the world? We would love to meet you!

We want every customer entertained, whether they are on the casino floor, betting on the upcoming match online, or purchasing a lottery ticket. To know what it means to play for fun. To play well. This covers gambling as one of multiple forms of entertainment, and means customers setting limits, sticking to them, and understanding how the games work to ensure they have a positive play experience.

As long as gambling has existed as a form of entertainment, there has been risk associated with it. And it's important to keep that risk minimal, to keep the fun, fun.  Gambling should always be for entertainment and not exceed your budget or time limits. As part of the gambling industry, we have a collective responsibility to define what it means to play well and we want to be a driving force in leading that conversation. As a business, we want to give our customers the tools and information they need to play well – protecting their play, keeping it fun and helping people look after their wellbeing (both financial and personal).

And, as part of our Play Well strategy, we want to be open about what to look for when gambling for fun slips into something else and how that can be avoided altogether so we can minimize the potential for people to experience harms related to gambling.

As a company powered by technology, we are combining our passion for innovation and our dedication to championing
responsible play to create our first call for Play Well solutions: The Flutter and RGC Play Well Challenge.

We are seeking entrepreneurs and startups committed to creating a better customer experience for everyoneto help us solve key challenges in the gambling industry and ultimately create a safer gambling environment for players. If this sounds like you, read on!

About The Award:

In 2023, Flutter and RGC will be bringing the innovative capabilities of Alpha Hub (Flutter's startup partnership programme) together with our commitment to 'Play Well' under our Positive Impact Plan to create our first call for solutions dedicated to finding technology solutions to challenges that the industry faces in promoting positive play/responsible gambling.

Each of the following three themes has a series of challenges we would like to explore. Applicants can apply to solve as many challenges as they can, although we do recommend that applicants focus on one challenge.

1. Lead Progress Within Gambling Operators

Operators face obstacles when encouraging uptake of responsible gambling (RG) tools and practices. The main barrier is that many customers perceive that RG tools, such as budget and time limits or breaks in play,are only for those experiencing a gambling problem. Likewise, statistics on RG programs tend to highlight the negative consequences of gambling rather than the positives of a recreational hobby.

We would like startups to help us:

• Calculate the operator’s Return on Investment (ROI) for Play Well tools that encourage positive play.
• Incorporate Play Well tools in a retail (betting shop) environment (where the user is anonymous) by providing effective behavioural recognition tools and education.
• Address the stigma around problem gambling and improve responsible gambling language and communication methods to focus on prevention for all players.
• Screen marketing communications, games, and wagers against responsible gambling guidelines.

2. Promote Positive Play with Our Customers

Play Well tools and education should be seamlessly integrated into the player experience to increase engagement and uptake during play.

We would like startups to help us:

• Ensure players are engaged with an appropriate communication method that is tailored to their demographic and culture.
• Use mindfulness or other mental health techniques to promote positive play.
• Reward positive play (e.g. utilizing a tool) to incentivise uptake.
• Gamify responsible gambling tools.
• Make Play Well “sticky” with players during play by incorporating tools into the play
• Keep players informed about their play history and habits by utilizing play summaries, player assessments and data analytics.

3. Effective Interaction between Operators & Customers

By harnessing in-game markers, we want to intervene the moment any risks are identified.

We would like startups to help us:

• Develop methods to increase early intervention, before and after a bet is placed.
• Effectively intervene and motivate change in play behaviour when risks are identified (preferably real time and in advance of bet placement).
• Forecast how a risk profile might change over time.
• Effectively interact with customers in an online gambling space.

This program seeks applications from start-ups and entrepreneurs at all stages of development and from all over the world who are aiming to use and adapt innovative tech solutions to address Play Well issues.

What does the program entail?

• Participation in a demo day to showcase your start-up to an audience of investors, technology experts and leaders from across Flutter
• Access to workshops, masterclasses and networking that support your growth and long-term success
• Access to Alpha Hub Startup Support

Other key considerations:

We are particularly keen to boost diversity into the tech sector and address issues of inequality. We would encourage applications from under-represented founders / leaders. We are willing to consider start-ups of any size and at any stage in their journey – from start up to scale up.