NetPlay TV, the parent company of Bingos.com, has raised £12.8 million in new funding and signed a deal to provide Playtech with live bingo and other gaming products.

Playtech will take live bingo, blackjack, roulette and fixed odds draw from NetPlay TV under a five year licensing agreement. As part of the deal NetPlay TV will move bingos.com and its other bingo brands onto Playtech software; the deal is a blow to Parlay Entertainment who have supplied bingos.com with bingo software since launch.

NetPlay TV said that it had conditionally placed 58,352,476 new ordinary shares at a price of 22 pence per share, increasing gross proceeds of £12,837,545. The shares are being purchased by Directforce Trading Limited, who are already important shareholders in Playtech.

Martin Higginson, CEO of NetPlay TV plc, said: “This agreement will take NetPlay TV to new heights. The investment of £12.8m into our business, along with the strategic relationship, both in terms of distribution and engineering with Playtech, will enable us to drive the development of our converged gaming solutions.”

Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech Limited, said: “We have been looking for a partner in the ‘live’ interactive gaming market for some time. Our clients and their customers are demanding ‘live’ products, and therefore, it is logical we offer them the best services available. This agreement enables us to offer our licencees unique TV quality gaming shows, this will also enrich their offering to gamers, and will boost Playtech’s Bingo offering, increasing Playtech’s bingo network liquidity significantly.

“We believe ‘live’ gaming is going to be very big in the coming years and, as such, a significant investment in this business makes perfect sense.”

Playtech has been keen on increase liquidity in their bingo network for some months and the deal is significant as one of Playtech’s largest bingo partners, Bet Fred Bingo, will soon switch to Virtue Fusion’s software.

Shares in NetPlay TV have traded at between 14p and 27p in the past 12 months and is currently valued at £34.9 million.