Lasha Machavariani

Lasha Machavariani founded SMH Global in 2016, establishing a company that has become a central player in the Eurasian iGaming and sports-media landscape. He began his career in the betting industry as Chief Marketing Officer of Adjarabet, one of the region's largest operators, and later served as CEO of an unspecified company before leaving that role to launch his own venture. Simultaneously, he became the regional ambassador for SBC in Eurasia.

Through SMH Global, Machavariani helped launch the SBC Summit Tbilisi, which now attracts over 2,000 delegates from 44 countries. He also played a pivotal role in building the premium sports content market in Eurasia by partnering with Setanta Sports, and later co-founded ventures such as Setanta Sports Media, La Gazzetta Dello Sport Eurasia, SBC Eurasia, and Kinkladze Global. These efforts connected global sports and iGaming brands with the CIS and Eurasian markets.

Machavariani is widely recognized as a key figure who turned 'pirate streams into real paying customers', significantly formalizing the sports content distribution ecosystem in the region. His work has integrated media rights, iGaming partnerships, and event organization into a cohesive industry presence across Eurasia.