Launched in 2019, platform provider OpenTag has quickly established itself as a challenger brand in the competitive iGaming service provider industry, writes Lauren Harrison.
OpenTag’s approach is simple yet powerful: Remove friction, accelerate operator growth and enable fast–but-safe changes that stay within compliance guardrails.
And their results speak for themselves: Brand launches in under four weeks, 40 percent GGR growth over a year and soaring player retention rates above 75 percent.
To learn more about the technology and team driving these results, iGamingFuture sat down with OpenTag’s Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Rea Maor.
Read on as we explore how the company’s cutting-edge platform removes operational limitations and hear their philosophy on partnership and problem-solving – and how this helps operators successfully build brands in both emerging and established markets.
Welcome Rea.
OpenTag has become synonymous with the phrase ‘Stop fighting your platform’. Can you explain what this means in practical terms and how operators can best implement this concept going forward?
“Most operators don’t struggle because they lack features or talent. They struggle because time and focus get drained by the platform itself.
“Teams end up working around limitations: Manual steps, fragmented tooling, unclear data and slow change cycles just to keep pace with the market. That friction becomes operational cost, missed windows and a product that can’t evolve at the speed the market demands.
“At OpenTag, ‘Stop fighting your platform’ means the platform behaves like an accelerator, not a blocker.
“We designed it for operational flow: Fewer clicks, fewer handoffs and less manual reconciliation. We enable fast, safe changes through configuration and guardrails, so operators don’t wait weeks for roadmap priority to run a commercial move.
“And we make data usable: Clear signals that help teams act, not debate.
“Practically, operators implement this by removing their top recurring bottlenecks and replacing workarounds with automation, clean workflows and a platform that keeps execution in their hands.”
When working with third-parties, operators often feel unsupported, with a customer experience that is more transactional than consultative. What does it mean to create a true partnership? And what can be done to encourage this more?
“In iGaming, many supplier relationships feel transactional: An account manager, a ticket queue and a roadmap that rarely matches the operator’s urgency.
“True partnership is the opposite. It is shared ownership, where the supplier is measured by operator outcomes, not by how quickly they close tickets.
“At OpenTag, partnership starts with understanding the operator’s reality: Market dynamics, differentiators, growth constraints and the opportunities that actually matter. Then we operate as one team with a clear execution cadence.
“Priorities are visible, decisions are fast, and delivery is driven by outcomes like conversion, retention, margin and operational efficiency, not generic ‘support’.
“Transparency matters most under pressure: Honest tradeoffs, crisp ownership and real accountability. But the real test is what happens after launch.
“With OpenTag, going live isn’t the finish line. It is where continuous improvement begins: Optimisation loops, faster decision-making and building differentiation that compounds over time.”
Bonuses are a key growth lever for all operators. Do you think brands are making the most out of the value they can bring? What more can be done to improve the effectiveness of promotional campaigns?
“Bonuses are one of the strongest growth levers in iGaming, yet many brands still don’t capture their full value.
“Promotions often fall into two extremes: Generic mass offers that don’t change behaviour, or overly complex campaigns that become operationally painful to run.
“The outcome is predictable: Margin leakage, inconsistent execution and short-term spikes without long-term value.
“At OpenTag, we approach bonuses as a controlled growth system. Our bonus engine is built for precision and governance, so operators can segment by lifecycle and behaviour, deploy real mechanics quickly and iterate fast without exposing the business to unintended cost.
“The goal is to shift promotions from busywork and risk into a repeatable performance loop: Launch, measure, refine, scale.
“When your bonus tooling is flexible, fast and tightly governed, campaigns become a strategic advantage leading to better retention, cleaner reactivation and stronger unit economics – without turning ops into a firefighting exercise.”
Where do automation and AI actually matter in a platform, beyond buzzwords?
“Automation and AI matter where they remove repetitive work and tighten decision loops. The industry is full of ‘AI features’, but the real value is operational: Fewer manual steps, faster detection of issues and consistent execution at scale.
“OpenTag uses automation and AI to turn platform activity into actions. That includes segmentation and triggers that drive player journeys automatically, operational alerts that surface anomalies early (payments, bonus exposure, risk signals) and decision support that turns raw events into clear next steps.
“The result is a tighter operating rhythm: Teams spend less time reconciling, copying, or debating reports and more time executing improvements.
“The practical impact is leverage. Operators can raise quality and speed without scaling headcount at the same rate, and they can maintain consistency across shifts and markets.
“Done right, automation and AI don’t replace teams. They multiply them and make performance repeatable.”
Brazil is the biggest prize in LATAM right now, but also one of the hardest markets to enter successfully. How can an operator truly prepare for Brazil and become competitive in the region?
“Brazil is a massive opportunity, but it punishes superficial preparation.
“To become competitive, operators need three tracks moving together: Regulatory discipline, real localisation and execution that holds under pressure.
“Regulation must be built into the operating model: KYC and AML, responsible play, audit readiness and clear accountability. Treating compliance as a last-minute checklist slows launches and creates risk later. To prevent this, OpenTag is built to support disciplined operations from the start, so compliance strengthens execution rather than blocking it.
“Localisation must impact conversion and trust. Brazil isn’t won by translating UI. Payment behaviour, onboarding and KYC flows, customer communications and responsible play mechanics need local tuning. OpenTag’s approach is to localise the experience and the workflows, not just the interface.
“Lastly, execution. This matters most.
“Timelines are unforgiving and the market moves fast. Operators win with crisp ownership, fast decisions, readiness gates that prevent rework and a post-launch optimisation plan from day one.
“That delivery discipline is exactly what OpenTag brings to Brazil.”
And finally, what’s next for OpenTag in Brazil?
“After closing a migration deal with an existing federally licensed operator, OpenTag is ready to scale in Brazil. We can’t wait to reveal our new partner very soon. Stay tuned!
“If you would like to discuss partnerships and know more about what exactly we are bringing to the table, feel free to reach out to me at Sigma, in Cape Town and to our Head of Sales, Édi Varela, at SBC, in Rio.”
Editor’s Note:
iGaming growth is rarely held back by ambition.
More often, it’s legacy tech, slow support and teams spending too much time on workarounds that mean operators miss out on opportunities, whether that’s entering a new market or responding to changing player behaviours.
OpenTag’s platform is designed to remove this friction, fit the natural operational flow and save resources, meaning operators can function in lockstep with the market, evolving as quickly as player preferences.
From accelerated launches to bonuses that prevent margin leakage and automation that tightens decision loops, this is about streamlined, practical execution and long-term improvement – not adding more features to an already overloaded tech stack.
In highly-competitive markets like Brazil, where superficial preparations won’t cut it, OpenTag’s tech, built-in compliance and collaborative approach, could be a real differentiator.
Meet the OpenTag team and discover how they can help take your iGaming business to the next level at SBC Rio, March 3-5.
