Speakers

Mark is the principal of the Blandford Family Office which is focused on Venture Capital investing in early stage scalable technology based businesses including gambling.

Mark was the UK’s first bookmaker to trade online via his company Sportingbet PLC. Sportingbet listed on AIM in 2001 and the main board of the LSE in 2009. Sportingbet was sold in January 2013.

Since 2007 when he left the board of Sportingbet Mark has been focused on venture capital investing. Successful exits include Envoy Services, Bit8, Interactive Investor, Ethoca and Beyond Play.

Mark has won many awards during his career including:

• AIM Entrepreneur of the Year 2002
• AIM Transaction of the Year 2005
• Founder member Sports Betting Hall of Fame 2016
• SIGMA Outstanding Contribution of the Year 2021