Dragon Den Reality Show invested in Bingo Affiliation

Are you partial to a bit of Dragon’s Den? Do you love turning on the telly and checking out what the formidable investors have to say about the most recent spat of inventions and business ideas? Well if you’re a fan of Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis then you’re in a for a treat, because we can reveal that the Dragons may well be as much a fan of online bingo as you are of their show – well, Theo Paphitis, anyway!

You may not even remember this deal as it was way back in 2007, Theo Paphitis, one of the best known investors in this hit BBC reality show, fearlessly invested an incredible £200,000 for a 30% share of an online bingo UK affiliate site named Gaming Alerts Limited, which is owned by Edward Stevens and Emmie Matthews. Initially Theo Paphitis turned down a share of 10% and then 25%, ruthlessly gunning for that 30% share, which, naturally, he got!

Gaming Alerts was initially founded with the intent to promote all branches of the online gaming world but Emmie Matthews and Edward Stevens quickly realised where the real money was – online bingo! – and the decision to place emphasis on the growth of their online bingo affiliation was made. They then launched a brand new Spanish online bingo site which they dubbed Feria Bingo, with Edward Stevens stating that, “After finding out how saturated the market is in the UK, we’ve decided to focus our attention on other European markets. We’re excited about the new opportunities we have in the works with Theo and hope Spain proves to be a success." With that being said, however, Gaming Alerts then launched www.onlinebingoforum.co.uk – a UK site which was focussed on inviting bingo fans to discuss everything bingo-related whilst not actually offering bingo games.

It would seem only naturally from the owners of Gaming Alerts to decide to focus their attention on online bingo. The epic promotions, bingo bonuses and oodles of terrific prizes that have bingo fans hooked do not feature as heavily within other aspects of online gaming, which is perhaps the reason that online bingo consistently experiences massive growth, even though the recession. Bingo – both online and off - still remains the most popular leisure activity for women of all ages in the UK, with the online bingo industry enjoying over 100 million fans worldwide, over 50% of which play online bingo every single day. With statistics like that, it’s no wonder Gaming Alerts found themselves such a keen investor!