Finnish state lottery operator Veikkaus Oy has hired an iGaming veteran as its Chief Technology Officer as it prepares to take on new competitors next year.
The appointment of Chris Armes as Veikkaus CTO comes after the announcement that Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Velipekka Nummikoski, would depart the role at the end of the month.
Nummikoski played an instrumental role in the formation of Veikkaus in the early 2010s, and Armes will now be tasked with overseeing the next stage of its technological development as the firm following the opening up of a multi-licence market from 1 July 2027.
Armes joins Veikkaus from High 5 Games, where he has been Chief Technology Officer for three years. He was also Chief Information Officer at Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) between 2019-2022.
“We are very pleased to welcome Chris to Veikkaus’ Executive Team,” said Olli Sarekoski, President and Chief Executive Officer of Veikkaus.
“His broad experience in transforming iGaming technology platforms and leading in highly regulated international markets will be extremely valuable as we continue to develop first-class customer experiences and technological innovation.
“Chris’ strong commitment to responsible gaming and security is well aligned with our values, and he brings extensive international gaming experience to our team.”
New tech leadership for new Veikkaus
Veikkaus Oy was formed in 2017 via the merger of three different gaming firms, each with exclusive responsibility for management of different areas of the Finnish gaming ecosystem.
These were Veikkaus, the lotteries and sports betting firm; Fintoto, the horse racing betting operator; and the Slots Machine Association (RAY), which organised land-based gaming.
The newly formed company held exclusive rights to operate lottery, betting and iGaming services in Finland, but the extent of offshore activity has made the government and Veikkaus reappraise the suitableness of the monopoly system in recent years.
Veikkaus itself has been fully supportive of the transition from a monopoly to a multi-licence model. This transition has been fully approved by Finland’s parliament and president, and will begin in July next year.
However, the firm will still find itself having to go up against some proven international firms with solid tech stacks. This is perhaps the big motivating factor behind the firm bringing in a new and highly experienced CTO, though its own ambitions on the international stage are also a likely factor.
“I am excited to join Veikkaus, an ambitious and forward-looking company that is entering an important new phase as the Finnish market opens and the company continues to internationalise,” said Armes.
“I look forward to working with the talented team in Helsinki to support the next phase of technology-led growth and to deliver competitive, scalable and safe digital platforms for our players.”