UK-facing prize draws operator Winvia Entertainment has officially commenced trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: WVIA) after successfully raising £40 million ($52.5 million) during its IPO.
Winvia commenced trading on AIM, a sub-market of the LSE which is tailored to help smaller, riskier, or high-growth companies secure capital. It provides greater regulatory flexibility than LSE’s primary market.
It opened trading with a market cap of approximately £205 million. Company directors said the listing would raise funds to support its wider growth plans.
According to an LSE filing published on Monday, Winvia had sought to raise funding to take advantage of the ‘roll-up’ opportunity emerging from the UK’s prize draw market.
To roll-up means to acquire and merge a number of smaller companies within a fragmented industry to establish a bigger consolidated entity.
The company also believed the listing would help enhance brand equity and awareness to improve customer and stakeholder trust.
Winvia said the listing would also improve brand equity and awareness, as well as customer and stakeholder trust. In addition, the group said it would benefit from the “discipline and structure” of being a listed company.
Established in 2024 when Crowd Entertainment and its sbsidiaries were brought together, the company operates in the UK and Romania. It focuses on prize draws, skill games and iGaming.
Winvia counts BOTB and its ‘Dream Car’ competition among its brands, while it also added Click Competitions to its suite earlier in 2025. As for Romania, Winvia runs both the Princess Casino and Luck.com iGaming brands.
Aside from this, Winvia offers a range of supporting technologies, which the company bills as the “backbone of the business”. These include proprietary platforms and technology solutions, delivered to partners through B2B arrangements.
LSE listing a ‘defining moment’ for Winvia
Mihai Manoila, CEO of Winvia, welcomed the listing. He said it is a “defining moment” for the business and the next step in its ongoing growth strategy.
“We’ve built a profitable technology-led business across two dynamic markets,” Manoila said. “Listing provides the visibility and momentum to accelerate our next phase of growth.
“I’d like to thank our team and investors for their confidence and support.”
Manoila is one of several experienced executives who make up the Winvia senior team. He has held key leadership roles focused on product innovation, technology, user acquisition and customer experience.
Other senior team members include CFO David Perry, who spent 14 years at Deloitte London. He also worked as chief corporate officer at Games Global. Meanwhile, Jo Bucci, former managing director of People’s Postcode Lottery and chair of the Lotteries Council, serves as non-executive chair at Winvia.
Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO acted as reporting accountant for the listing.
Jo Davenport, a BDO deal advisory partner who led the project team, said: “After a quiet period for London listings – both on AIM and the main market – it’s very encouraging to see momentum building once again.
“We’ve been delighted to support Winvia on its IPO. We wish the company well on the next stage of its journey.”
Changing face of UK prize draw market
The prize draw sector in the UK has faced scrutiny from the legacy lottery industry. Earlier this year, Baroness Fiona Twycross, minister of state for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, revealed plans for a voluntary code for prize draws and competitions operators, after lottery stakeholders called for the government to unify regulations across the vertical.
However, under the voluntary code, prize draw operators will not need to secure a licence from the Gambling Commission.
Jumbo Interactive in October purchased Dream Car Giveaways (DCG), a UK-facing digital prize draw competition platform. This deal marked the operator’s entrance into the UK prize draw market.
Not long after, Jumbo also agreed to acquire Dream Giveaway USA, granting it access to the US prize draw market.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/strategy/winvia-lists-on-london-stock-exchange/
