Talking about investment in iGaming often sounds more dramatic than it needs to be. People call it risky, unpredictable, or “not for the faint‑hearted.” But when I sat down with Vladimir Malakchi, CEO and Managing Partner at Xanada Investments, the picture he painted was far more grounded — and far more human.

Before launching Xanada, Vladimir spent years inside the industry. But the idea of running an investment fund wasn’t something he discovered late in his career. It was there from the start.

He told me he had been thinking about it “for about seven years… even before I came to the iGaming industry.” What pushed him toward it wasn’t money or status. It was the satisfaction of helping people grow. As he put it, “I’m seeing what they’re building now… and I remember when they earned $500 per month.”

For him, the fund became a way to support more than one or two people at a time. “The fund in the whole ecosystem is an option to give it to tens of people at the same time,” he said. It wasn’t a sudden turning point — more like a natural step.

Launching Xanada meant stepping into a space that didn’t really have a venture capital mindset. Some people encouraged him. Others warned him. And both groups helped.

He explained that the cautious voices were useful: “They were correcting some things… we changed some strategies of investment exactly in this industry.”

His conclusion is refreshingly honest: iGaming doesn’t behave like a typical venture market. “You can invest in this industry… but it’s not a usual venture. It’s another strategy.” In his view, you either have enough capital to buy many companies, or you already run an ecosystem where new projects can plug in. Anything else becomes slow and expensive.

Vladimir has seen thousands of pitch decks, and his advice is simple: clarity beats everything.

“Keep things simple,” he said. He’s seen great teams ruin their message by overloading slides with numbers and features. If a child can’t understand the basic idea, the deck is too complicated.

He also believes founders should stop sending the same deck to hundreds of investors. “I don’t think this is the right strategy,” he said. Instead, he suggests researching the market, finding a small group of investors who actually fit, and tailoring the deck to them. “Somebody focuses on profits, somebody on capitalization, somebody on market coverage.”

One moment he shared says a lot about what sticks. At a pitch event, a founder used a few small, creative touches to engage the audience. Vladimir doesn’t remember the name of the company — but he remembers the pitch. “If I need to find it, I will find it,” he said. That’s the power of being memorable.

In the US, storytelling is a core part of pitching. In Europe, founders often lean on numbers. In iGaming, Vladimir says neither approach works on its own.

“Nobody will invest in your story. Everybody cares about numbers,” he said. But he also believes that a story still has value — not as a replacement for metrics, but as a way to show commitment. “You invest in the person… if the person is coming and you trust that this person really wants to do this business.”

There is no single metric that works for every business. For operators, revenue means nothing without unit economics. For game providers and traffic‑driven companies, growth patterns matter more.

If he had to choose one thing to look at, it would be the direction of growth. “It shouldn’t be like a rocket… it should be fully understandable.” Investors want to see how the team plans to reach its goals, not just the goals themselves.

Vladimir doesn’t expect a dramatic shift in what gets funded. Instead, he sees new markets opening and content changing. He mentioned founders experimenting with new ideas and having the resources to build them. He also sees retention and content blending more closely, and SEO‑driven products rethinking how they attract users.

Some people say the industry is too unpredictable to scale. Vladimir disagrees — but with nuance. “Our industry is chaotic… but the balance can be,” he said. Risks can be managed with planning and diversification. Larger companies can adjust faster, but even smaller teams can reduce exposure by not relying on a single market.

This part of the conversation was blunt and important. Sending your deck to everyone is not only ineffective — it can be dangerous.

“The biggest problem is if you receive investment from one investor,” he said. The wrong investor can limit your options, slow you down, or block future opportunities. Many investors promise support, but only a few can actually provide it. Founders need to understand who they’re partnering with and what that partnership means long‑term.