Werner Becher, Chief Executive Officer of Kambi Group, has increased his shareholding in the Stockholm-listed firm by acquiring 20,900 shares on 20 May.
The acquisition, made via his associated company WBCH Invest Ltd, means that the CEO now holds a total of 119,260 shares, equal to 0.43% of the total share capital. The average price for the transaction was SEK 156.00 and the total value was SEK 3,260,400 (circa €310,000).
On Linkedin, Becher underscored the share purchase as: “An investment reflecting my confidence in our long-term trajectory. And, importantly, my trust in the Kambi team delivering it..
“We remain laser-focused on executing our Vision2030 and strategy, and on creating sustainable value.”
Worth the investment
The former CEO of EMEA of Sportradar Becher joined as CEO of Kambi back in 2024, to lead the transformation of the sportsbook technology supplier and its new “modularisation strategy” following the back-to-back acquisitions of Abios esports and Shape Games.”
The first year of Becher’s tenure saw Kambi reset its commercial pipeline following the departure of the key accounts of Penn Entertainment in the US, and founding partner Unibet (Kindred Group) moving to establish its own proprietary sportsbook platform.
Since then, the company has undergone some significant transformations – with an expansion of its OddsFeed+ product, an enhanced footprint across the United States, Europe and Latin America, as well as new investments in artificial intelligence.
And the changes, from the outset, appear to be paying off. In its Q1 results for this year, the Swedish betting technology group reported a 4.9% growth in revenues to €43.5m, while adjusted EBITA jumped by 63.5% from a loss of €3.5m to positive €5.7m.
Based on Q1 performance, Kambi expects to close 2026 with full year adjusted EBITDA between €20m-€25m.
An AI-powered growth trajectory
Unlike other publicly-listed gambling companies, Kambi has also bucked the trend of its share price slumping.
At the time of writing, Kambi’s share price is up 31.01% over the last month of trading – with the biggest jump occurring on 29 April, the same day that the company released its quarterly trading results.
Becher’s acquisition of additional shares in Kambi appears to indicate the CEO’s high conviction in the company’s growth trajectory in 2026 and beyond – a path that, if keynotes from the first half of the year are anything to go by, will be spearheaded by investments in artificial intelligence.
This was demonstrated in its Q1 results, with a record 60% of all network bets both priced and traded autonomously by using AI, a significant increase on the 28% in 2024.
By purchasing the additional shares ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Becher is demonstrating his confidence in Kambi’s ability to scale its AI algorithmic trading engine to be able to deliver growth and hold margins for its operator partners.
However, the upcoming World Cup won’t be without its challenges. In the run up to the tournament, the sportsbook technology provider outlined its plans to deploy 100% AI-powered sports betting trading throughout the tournament.
With 48 national teams competing across 104 matches – not to mention multiple timezones and significant volumes of bets – AI algorithmic scaling will be more than just a ‘nice to have’. It’ll be essential.
By enhancing its existing trading team with the addition of AI, Kambi is ensuring that it is entering the tournament with the capabilities of offering new, extensive sports betting experiences without impacting its partners’ bottom-line margins.
Perhaps this new technological milestone is why Becher has decided that the additional shares in Kambi was worth a personal multimillion-SEK investment.