Golden Whale

Company History

Golden Whale was founded in Vienna, Austria, in 2022 by Eberhard Dürrschmid and Claudia Heiling. Dürrschmid previously founded and led Greentube from inception through its successful sale, while Heiling has extensive experience in B2C/B2B market entries and product operations. The company was established to address the iGaming industry's over-reliance on static rules, predefined segments, and batch-driven campaign logic by embedding a real-time AI decision layer.

Business Model

Golden Whale operates as a private B2B technology company. Its primary revenue comes from recurring licensing of its platform. Additionally, the company offers a funding model tied to operator acquisition cohorts through partnerships with financing firms such as House Advantage (HAF), linking its revenue to client growth outcomes. This 'Scale in a Box' model provides non-dilutive capital for proven operators while combining AI-driven optimisation.

Products and Platforms

The flagship product, FOUNDATION, is a real-time data intelligence and machine learning operations platform that ingests thousands of behavioural and transactional signals per player to drive automated, continuously adaptive decisions across the player lifecycle. BONUS PILOT is a predictive incentive optimisation layer that dynamically calibrates bonus offers, free spins, and other rewards in real time based on each player's current behaviour and predicted future value. For game studios, Golden Whale provides a self-service Data Analytics Portal offering free access to real-time data processing, retention analytics, and ML-driven recommendations for title optimisation.

Market Position and Competitors

Golden Whale positions itself as a pragmatic alternative to traditional CRM solutions that require large teams of data engineers and scientists. It claims its technology replaces the need for 10–20 data engineers per operator. The company emphasises operator control, transparency, and seamless integration with existing PAM, CRM, or engagement tools. Its client base includes leading operators, though specific names are not publicly disclosed. Golden Whale competes with other AI-driven iGaming engagement platforms and traditional CRM providers.

Leadership

Eberhard Dürrschmid (CEO & Co-Founder) previously founded Greentube and holds a PhD in Biotechnology with a focus on Data Science. Claudia Heiling (COO & Co-Founder) holds a Master’s in Information Management and has led multiple market entries. Thomas Kolbabek (CTO) has over 20 years building B2C/B2B platforms and previously scaled teams as CTO globally. Martin Huber (Lead Architect) has 20+ years in software development and architecture, with experience in NLP research. The leadership team combines deep domain expertise in gaming, data science, and engineering.

Recent Developments

Golden Whale has expanded its offering to game studios through a free Data Analytics Portal and partnered with House Advantage to offer acquisition funding. The company has not disclosed external funding rounds or valuation and remains privately held. Its technology is licensed on a recurring basis, and it continues to report strong uplift metrics from live deployments.