As well as hosting the biggest and most established brands in global gaming, ICE Barcelona will also be providing a platform for the brightest fledgling businesses in gaming tech courtesy of its progressive Pitch ICE initiative.

Pitch ICE 2026 will be providing an opportunity for 12 shortlisted businesses to present their concepts to a distinguished line-up of judges comprising tier one influencers, entrepreneurs and investors with the winning entry earning €15,000 worth of AWS credits sponsored by AWS as well as the coveted Pitch ICE 2026 Trophy.

The shortlist of 12 businesses, which are drawn from 9 different countries comprise:

• eyeDP (Warren Russell)
• Whizdom AI (Sudhamshu Addanki)
• Tugi Tark OÜ (Harpo Lilja)
• The Casino Factory with Longford International College (Anthony Keller)
• PROMOFY (Irakli Davarshvili)
• Research iGaming (Philisiwe Bhengu)
• Complianceplay AI (Isabelle Zanzer)
• THNDR (Desiree Dickerson)
• Master Affiliates Network (Karina Ferraioli)
• Swiss Shufflers Ltd (Joseph Somma)
• Fantasy Gambling League, Inc. (Tom Tatun)
• Loserball (Jonathan Gruber)

ICE Portfolio Director, Margaret Dunn confirmed: “Pitch ICE has a distinguished track-record of spotlighting the brightest innovators in gaming tech. It provides a unique opportunity and high-profile platform for start-ups to showcase their products, innovations and solutions as well as explain their business models in front of an international audience of potential investors, partners and industry leaders.

“The importance of Pitch ICE is evident in the volume of entries received which since our relocation to Barcelona ismore than three times the number when ICE was staged in London. Our theme for ICE Barcelona 2026 is ‘Growing the Power of Play’ and Pitch ICE is about helping to nurture the start-up community and assisting them in their growth journey at a critical juncture in their development.

“From ground-breaking gamification tools to next-gen payments, compliance solutions and immersive player experiences ICE Barcelona is where the future of gaming is unveiled and Pitch ICE is pivotal in pioneering innovation and shaping the future of gaming and betting tech.”

She added: “We are extremely grateful to our esteemed panel of judges comprising Jeff Miller, Managing Partner, JJK Partners, Maxime Sbeghen, Head of Investment, FDJ UNITED Ventures, Meir Shachar, Founder & CEO, RUNWAI and Paris Smith, Advisor & Gaming Industry Expert who will be identifying the most exciting and disruptive start-up for 2026. Alongside Pitch ICE we will also be hosting the first ICE Start-ups Accelerator, an invite only event for new enterprises and Investors to meet and network . People can sign up here - https://www.icegaming.com/ice-startups-accelerator”

All of the 12 short-listed start-ups will be pitching their products on Tuesday 20th January 11am – 12:30pm on The Pitch ICE Stage. The three-minute business pitches will be followed by a Q&A with the judging panel. The start-ups will also be exhibiting on the show floor between halls 4 & 5 in the Pitch ICE feature area.

Quelle: Clarion Gaming