MARTIN STORM – BMM Interview: Martin Storm
Matt Broughton spoke with Martin Storm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BMM Innovation Group (BIG).
Martin Storm
Matt Broughton: Before we talk business, could you talk a little about how you came to be with BMM? Martin Storm: Certainly. I was semi-retired in 2002 when the owners of BMM Testlabs, an Australian independent test lab, asked me to work with them as a consultant helping them grow their business. After spending time doing a deep dive into BMM and seeing its incredible potential, I made the then-owners an offer to buy the business.
MB: And what has BMM has been focused on so far this year? MS: The first quarter has been very busy and exciting for BMM Innovation Group and for our companies – BMM Testlabs, BIG Cyber, and RG24seven Virtual Training. Late in 2023, we launched our BIG 3.0 globalization, which is a significant restructuring for our company. Rather than having a regionally led structure, we
reorganised our leadership into global lines of business – Land-Based Gaming, Digital Gaming, and Government and Regulatory, which now sit side-by-side with our cybersecurity and education businesses. So, as we moved in 2024, we’ve taken the steps to put this new structure into place so that we effectively now have three global BMM teams serving our stakeholders. Other momentum so far this year has been our market expansion, with key approvals in Brazil to test and certify betting systems, live gaming studios, and online games for Brazil’s national fixed-odds betting lottery operators, as well as the states of Rio de Janeiro, Paraiba, and Parana. We also became the first test lab to receive approval for Peru’s newly regulated iGaming and sports betting market, and gaming authorities in Botswana and Nigeria licensed BMM so we can now serve those African markets. The Ukrainian gaming regulator, known as KRAIL, authorised us to test for that emerging gaming market. We also received our official accreditation to test and certify products for PCI-DSS payment standards. All this momentum reinforces BMM’s capabilities to test and certify any gaming product, for every technical standard adopted by any gaming regulator, in every regulated gaming market around the world.
Other highlights of what has already been a busy year were two large trade shows (of 20 that we attended in Q1) that we exhibited at: ICE London and the Indian Gaming Conference &
Expo (IGA). At the IGA show, we launched a new trade show booth with a decidedly different theme than anything we have ever done before. Our new exhibit has an organic, green, very natural vibe, reflecting the warmth and friendliness of BMM and our commitment to being an easy-to-work-with partner to our clients, regulators, and operators.
MB: What were the key moments for the company in 2023? MS: The year 2023 was our most successful year yet, as we celebrated seven years of record revenue and EBITDA growth. While we had great momentum with the business and clients, one of our key focuses in 2023 was fortifying our already strong team with key new executives who will help us continue our growth. We welcomed Kara Matthew, Chief Operations Officer; Laura Olson-Reyes, Chief Marketing Officer; and Brian Wedderspoon, Chief Revenue Officer. And we also promoted several of our key employees who have had a great impact on our growth and success.
ICE London 2024
MB: You spoke last year about adding operators into the BMM mix with services like cyber security and education & training. Can you tell us a little about how that move has gone for BMM. MS: Since the early 1990s, BMM has partnered with operators to help them with on-site services such as security audits, verifications, assessments, and evaluations to assess the integrity and certification status of hardware and software products that go into gaming operations. We are also available to partner with operators for any sort of special projects, such as investigations, audits, and system and game conversion projects. But yes, beyond that, with our mission being to protect the gaming industry and all who play, we have expanded our reach to operators through our BMM Innovation Group companies BIG Cyber and RG24seven Virtual Training. I founded BIG Cyber to provide cybersecurity solutions tailored for the gaming industry, with one key goal: to safeguard casinos, players, and their data. This positioning has now been picked up by our major competitor. As BIG Cyber grows, I envision becoming a strong partner to IT departments with a focus on preventing and mitigating cyber-attacks. After the well- publicised attacks on large gaming companies the last two years, everyone agrees that cybersecurity protection is a must-have – not
10 MAY 2024
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