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Sharp Vision is a French technology and data-analytics company that develops platforms for gambling regulation, fiscal intelligence, and mobile-payment monitoring. Founded in 2022 in Paris, the company operates primarily in Africa, providing software and data services to state lotteries and regulatory bodies. Although Sharp Vision describes itself as a “responsible-gaming and anti-fraud innovator”, it has drawn criticism over opaque contracting practices, data-privacy concerns, and its relationships with African state gambling agencies.[1]
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Gambling regulation · Data analytics · Financial monitoring |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Founder | Cyril Casanova and Christophe Casanova |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
Area served | Sub-Saharan Africa |
Key people | Laurent Grimaldi (CEO) · Anna Martins (VP Public Affairs) |
| Parent | Sportyte / Honoré Gaming |
| Website | https://sharpvision.fr/ |
History and structure
Sharp Vision was established in 2022 in Paris as a subsidiary of SAS Sportyte, the parent company of Honoré Gaming, both co-founded by French entrepreneurs Cyril Casanova and Christophe Casanova. In 2023 Sportyte transferred its “regulatory-technology” branch to Sharp Vision through a partial asset contribution, formalizing the latter as the group’s vehicle for compliance and state-monitoring contracts.[2] The company maintains offices in France, Benin, Guinea, Ghana and South Africa, with projects also reported in Senegal, Mali, Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire.[3]
Operations
Sharp Vision markets three principal lines of services:
- Gambling-regulation monitoring – aggregation of betting data from licensed operators to assist governments in supervision and taxation;
- Behavioral-data analysis – algorithmic profiling of betting patterns, described by the company as a tool to “prevent gambling addiction and improve fiscal revenue”;
- Mobile-payment oversight – an API platform connecting to mobile-money providers to flag suspicious transactions in line with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.[4]
The company claims that its technology has enabled tax authorities in several African states to increase gambling-related revenue through automation and data analysis.[5]
Corporate structure and leadership
As of 2025 Sharp Vision lists 21 employees on LinkedIn. Chief Executive Officer Laurent Grimaldi is also a partner at the French investment firm Agila Growth, which invested €30 million in Sportyte / Honoré Gaming in 2023.[6] Vice-President for Public Affairs Anna Martins previously served in several French ministries. Sharp Vision’s founders, the Casanova brothers, remain majority shareholders through Sportyte SAS. The company reported profits of approximately €5.7 million in 2023, all generated outside France.[7]
Business relationships
Sharp Vision maintains close operational links with its sister brand Honoré Gaming, sharing infrastructure, staff and developers.[8] A 2023 financial statement showed significant receivables from the Senegalese technology firm Afitech SA, with which Sharp Vision concluded a multi-million-euro software-licensing agreement.[9] The company also lists the Senegalese lottery authority LONASE among its regulatory-technology partners.[10]
Controversies
LONASE partnership and procurement allegations
In 2023 Honoré Gaming, Sharp Vision’s parent company, entered a partnership with Senegal’s state lottery, the Loterie Nationale Sénégalaise (LONASE), to supply monitoring and data-collection systems.[11] The deal, signed by then-director-general Lat Diop, later drew criticism from Senegalese civil-society groups for having been awarded without competitive tendering and for favoring foreign companies.[12] Diop was subsequently charged with large-scale embezzlement unrelated to Sharp Vision, but commentators have questioned the due-diligence process behind the company’s contract.[13] As of 2025, no legal action has been reported against Sharp Vision or Honoré Gaming themselves, but local press and online commentators have accused the firms of benefiting from non-transparent procurement mechanisms.[14]
Data-collection and privacy concerns
Sharp Vision executives have promoted the company’s “AI-driven regulation of gambling” as an innovation that balances insight and player protection. Privacy advocates and media outlets have criticized this model, arguing that the company’s mass collection of user data across multiple African countries constitutes a new form of “digital colonialism.”[15] Observers have also questioned whether gamblers and national regulators have adequate oversight of where and how the data is stored or monetized.[16]
Relationship with Afitech and monopoly allegations
Sharp Vision’s African partner Afitech SA has faced scrutiny for alleged monopoly conditions in Senegal’s lottery-monitoring sector. In July 2025 the Agence de Régulation de la Commande Publique (ARCOP) rejected Afitech’s appeal to block new entrants, confirming that LONASE could appoint an additional monitoring provider.[17] Investigative outlets have reported that Sharp Vision and Afitech share technical infrastructure and that Afitech reuses Sharp Vision’s API libraries, though both companies describe the arrangement as a standard licensing agreement.[18] Critics have also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, alleging that Afitech both monitors and operates betting platforms under the same contract.[19]
Olofofo affair and press-freedom concerns
In June 2025 the Beninese investigative outlet Olofofo published a cover story portraying Sharp Vision as a “neo-colonial Trojan horse” for France’s state betting operator PMU, claiming the firm was advancing French commercial interests under the guise of regulatory reform. Two weeks later Olofofo’s founder, journalist Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè, was arrested in Benin after returning from exile.[20] While there is no evidence linking Sharp Vision or Honoré Gaming to the arrest, advocacy groups noted the timing and warned of a chilling effect on investigative journalism about European corporate activity in West Africa.[21]
See also
- Honoré Gaming
- Loterie Nationale Sénégalaise
- Gambling in Africa
