With her new venture, Defy the Odds (DTO), Kehn is building a launchpad for the next generation of founders. We sat down with her to discuss why "industry fluency" is more valuable than cash, why DEI is actually a risk-management strategy in the age of AI, and what she hopes to see on stage at ICE London.

From Advocacy to Action

iGaming Times: You spent seven years measuring the industry with the All-In Diversity Project. Now with Defy the Odds, you are building a launchpad. Was there a specific moment where you realized measuring wasn't enough anymore?

Kelly Kehn: Both are essential, but my energy shifted. Seven years of data showed progress stalls without a pipeline, so with DTO I chose to build with the people who will shape the industry’s future - founders - rather than lobby big businesses alone.

Entrepreneurship across gaming is still somewhat homogenous but not for lack of capability or passion. New founders from varying backgrounds just need the invite, a group of people supporting them and the resources to build.

iGaming Times: DTO’s mission is to close the "success disparity." Beyond funding, what is the single most critical resource that underrepresented founders are currently starved of?

Kelly Kehn: Beyond capital, founders need industry fluency. This means the vocabulary of revenue models, how the ecosystem works, what customers’ real pain points are, and access to networks.

It is easy to make gaming a closed network. We have all benefited from our 'specialised knowledge' but gatekeeping doesn't help anyone. We are building something much bigger; a system where large companies and new startups alike embrace new ideas and new perspectives to help the entire industry grow.

iGaming Times: You recently wrote that "Belonging is emerging as the new way for companies to stand out." In a hyper-competitive B2B market, how does a startup practically monetize "belonging"?

Kelly Kehn: Belonging is a hard metric in a startup. Small teams can’t over-hire, so everyone must feel part of the mission. Internally that slashes attrition. Externally it builds communities and customer bases that cut CAC through referrals, lift activation and LTV, and reduce churn.

We also see startups benefit when they can create solid B2B partnerships that grow as they grow. They are monetizing it through co-created features and partner pilots, and can measure it with retention, renewal, and time-to-market.

The Investment Landscape

iGaming Times: You highlighted that in 2024, companies with at least one female founder accounted for 23% of total VC investment. Is this a permanent structural shift?

Kelly Kehn: I hope it’s structural. As wealth transfers to Millennials, capital sits with investors carrying fewer legacy biases.

What I have learned is that constant criticism and recycling old stats that don't serve us doesn't help. We should be promoting the momentum, keeping pressure through incentives and results, not "doom-stats," and making more people feel part of the change.

iGaming Times: Through your new "Office Hours," you help founders understand if they are investable. What is the most common fatal flaw you see in pitch decks?

Kelly Kehn: The fastest killer is founder-investor misfit. Decks that don’t speak the investor’s language - specifically how it makes money, why you, why now, and the path to profitability - are a problem. They often bury the story, traction, and ask. Busy investors won’t decode what you haven’t made clear.

At the early stage they need to believe in you, your experience, your story, your vision. Later, VCs need to see that you can get the company to profitability through scale. If you don't understand their needs, they certainly won't have time to understand yours.

iGaming Times: Do you believe the future of iGaming innovation lies in external VCs, or should the Tier 1 operators be doing more to incubate these startups internally?

Kelly Kehn: I’d love more intrapreneurship at Tier-1s, but tight margins and core-product focus limit it. In practice, external capital drives most innovation. To be fair, the companies you mention do a good job with the resources they have.

One of the initiatives we have at Defy the Odds is to bridge that gap. We want to bring outside capital into gaming, de-risk it with learning and guardrails, and plug startups into Tier-1 partners so innovation scales faster than internal budgets or timelines allow.

Culture, DEI & The Future

iGaming Times: You’ll be speaking at ICE about why DEI has become so political. For a CEO trying to navigate this landscape in 2025, what is the smart move?

Kelly Kehn: The companies that believe in the benefits of DEI will continue to practice it. The fact of the matter is, as we sit at the dawn of AI, jobs will be lost initially, making it even more important to embrace creativity and critical thinking. AI will not replace these skills.

We don't get creativity, open thinking, or real problem solving without different perspectives and a safe place to articulate those ideas. We should be framing DEI as performance and risk management, not politics.

iGaming Times: You are hosting the startup/accelerator day at ICE. If you could change one thing about how the industry treats startups at these conferences, what would it be?

Kelly Kehn: I'd like VCs and investors to be a bit braver and fund some of the startups live at pitch competitions. The in-kind and media prizes are good, but they aren't great.

These founders need the industry to see that they are backable. Replace in-kind prizes with micro-checks, pilot pledges, or term-sheet windows on stage so founders leave with capital or customers, not just a photo or headlines.

iGaming Times: Looking ahead to 2030, what does the "face" of the typical iGaming founder look like if Defy the Odds succeeds?

Kelly Kehn: Haha, the irony! In my perfect world, there won’t be a "typical" iGaming founder.

If DTO succeeds, founders in 2030 will be young and old, women and men, from every social, economic and cultural background, united by capability and conviction. With better resources, role models, and open networks, choosing to build will feel normal, faster, and far more accessible.