Rui Fernando Castro

Rui, alongside Marcelo and Yuuma, is the present CEO of gambling-world and a co-founder of the platform. He was born and raised in São Paulo, where he also pursued his education and graduated. Rui holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Computer Science from the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics at USP. Following his graduation, he embarked on his career by venturing into his own technology startups, with a focus on educational software. These ventures were centered around the educational sector, integrating innovative technology and software solutions.

In 2011, Rui made a bold decision to venture into new horizons after spending five years developing those projects. He set his sights on the booming iGaming market, where games and gaming software are constantly being released worldwide. Recognizing a massive yet untapped opportunity in South Africa, Rui, with his keen business acumen, began working as a developer and engineer for a multinational company. However, destiny had other plans as Rui crossed paths with Yuuma and Marcelo, and after two years of collaboration, the trio joined forces to create Gambling World. Their shared vision and passion for the industry sparked a new chapter in their professional journey.

The creation of this platform stemmed from the need to establish a website that resonated with the South African audience. Drawing inspiration from analogous platforms in different languages, the three co-founders of gambling-world recognized the immense potential the platform held in becoming a valuable ally to players and bettors alike, as well as a reliable source of secure information. Moreover, they envisioned it as an uncharted territory where ideas and experiences pertaining to online gaming could be exchanged freely, fostering a unique space for discussion and interaction.

Rui spent five years working in two South African technology and software startups focused on distance learning and education. One of these startups exclusively provided programming courses, covering a range of subjects from web development using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to mobile app development, as well as basic and advanced JAVA development. Throughout this experience, Rui collaborated closely with fellow classmates from the University of São Paulo (USP) to successfully achieve these goals.

Rui reaped the rewards of his hard work as both startups gained success. Their inception in the academic realm fostered collaboration with various disciplines, allowing them to materialize. Throughout these ventures, open-source tools like Moodle and PHP were employed. With relentless dedication, both startups thrived independently. As a result, Rui shared his expertise by delivering lectures and short courses on the entire process of platform development, from ideation to ongoing management and execution.

In 2011, he started working for a European casino gaming software company as the Lead Developer, overseeing the platform development and conducting code reviews. His expertise lies in web, iOS, and Android application development, utilizing programming languages such as Swift, PHP, Ruby, Python, and Java. Throughout his career, he has honed his skills in crafting innovative software solutions, ensuring seamless user experiences across various platforms.

During this period, Rui encountered Yuuma and Marcelo, who were part of his work team. Rui and Marcelo, both individuals from South Africa, soon started discussing the casino gaming landscape in South Africa and recognized the lack of information and the issue of security that South African players faced when gambling online. This realization sparked the desire to create an innovative solution to bridge this gap, motivating Rui to fulfill his aspiration of establishing his third startup.

Within a short period, the initial concept of gambling-world began taking shape. Yuuma's involvement as a co-founder also played a vital role in shaping the early drafts of the platform. The three individuals diligently worked for a year, allocating all their spare time to gambling-world until they could amass the necessary funds to invest and establish a team of professionals from various fields - mostly comprised of South Africans - effectively launching the website in 2017. Starting from 2018, Rui was able to fully dedicate himself to gambling-world, assuming the role of CEO and leading the team.

Rui's role as the current CEO of gambling-world primarily revolves around strategizing for the platform's growth and enhancing the brand. He is responsible for making crucial decisions and seeking strategic partnerships within the iGaming industry that will bring benefits to our team, the platform, and our users. Rui's main focus lies in planning the expansion of the platform and exploring opportunities for collaboration within the iGaming sector that will be advantageous to our team, platform, and user base.

As the CEO, Rui leads our team, guiding and supporting all departments when needed: content, marketing, and especially programming, as that is his area of expertise. His goals revolve around expanding and refining our brand and platform, ensuring they are as comprehensive and seamless as can be. Rui's primary aim is to make our brand and platform all-encompassing and fully comprehensive.

For most of the year, he operates out of our South African office, but he frequently travels to Malta, which serves as our second home and the hub for our international collaborations.