Evive announced as the first innovation to be featured at Pitch! – Regulating the Game 2026 Sydney
Pitch! @RTG is the spark that ignites innovation, champions compliance, and accelerates progress across the gambling sector. More than a stage, it’s a marketplace of ideas — a crucible for change where policy meets practice, new technologies are unveiled, and fresh approaches to regulation and sector leadership are tested.
Evive embodies this spirit perfectly. Representing the alchemy of lived experience, clinical insight, and savvy technology, Evive is an app designed to help people change how they play or seek support for gambling harms. Currently available in the United States, Evive is being localised for Australia to strengthen harm prevention and support through evidence-based, user-centred design.
Created by Sam DeMello, a tech specialist drawing on his lived experience of gambling harm, and supported by Jay Robinson, a safer-gambling expert with over two decades of harm-minimisation and prevention experience, Evive Australia delivers personalised tools, resources, and pathways for anyone seeking to reduce risk or access help.
“Evive brings together real-world experience, clinical expertise, and technology to create an accessible and credible platform for change,” said Paul Newson, Principal at Vanguard Overwatch and founder of Regulating the Game. “Pitch! was conceived to spotlight exactly these kinds of innovations — ideas that challenge convention, improve safeguards, and reimagine the future of regulation and industry practice.”
Whether someone is thinking about cutting down or already on a help-seeking journey, Evive provides a one-stop shop for support, insight, and behavioural change, while giving operators and regulators confidence that effective, evidence-based harm minimisation tools are being deployed.
“Evive isn’t just another app. It’s a bridge between lived experience, behavioural science and practical support”, said Jay Robinson, a safer gambling expert. “It shows that compliance and compassion can coexist, and when they do, everyone benefits. The app gives regulators and operators confidence in credible harm reduction tools, while giving people a safe, stigma free path to change.”
“We built Evive to make gambling support as accessible, personalized, and data-rich as gambling itself by using the same technology that has fuelled the rapid growth of the industry. We believe that by combining empathy and evidence, we can help people improve their relationship with gambling, on their own terms, without stigma or judgment.” said Sam DeMello, CEO and Founder of Evive, who has deep lived experience through his own recovery from gambling harms.
From enhancing operational effectiveness to strengthening consumer safeguards, Pitch! is where tangible advances in capability are born — and the future of the sector is imagined.
About Regulating the Game 2026
The 2026 program will also feature:
Pitch! at the Sydney Opera House (9 March, evening) – the high-energy marketplace of ideas.
RTG Global Awards & Gala Dinner (10 March, evening) – celebrating leadership and innovation.
Industry Spotlight Sessions – 15-minute showcases for established sector leaders.
Expert Masterclasses and an expanded exhibition showcase.
Now in its sixth edition, Regulating the Game continues to attract global speakers and attendees, reinforcing its status as the leading forum for regulatory and industry excellence.
Early bird tickets are now open, with discounted rates for early registrants. Group packages are also available but strictly limited.
