EmpowerYourPlay - redefining how digital entertainment brands connect with their users

Welcome to NEXUS Startup Diaries, the number one place to discover the hottest and most inspiring startups and founders.

Today we're excited to meet Tiffany Santisteban Lagos of EmpowerYourPlay...

So Tiffany, tell us more about EmpowerYourPlay

At EmpowerYourPlay, we’re redefining how digital entertainment brands connect with their users. Headquartered in London with global aspirations, we’ve just secured our first pilot to showcase how we make spending and losing less painful and play more meaningful in the new year.

Our solution is simple but powerful: a widget that lets players select and support a charity of their choice—easily and at no extra cost. It integrates effortlessly into online rewards programs, lotteries, betting, gaming, and streaming plattforms. Think cashback—but for a charity of choice.

Players stay engaged longer, operators see improved retention and loyalty, and together, we create a better tomorrow. Because fun never felt so good. For me, founder of EmpowerYourPlay, this is personal.

With over a decade spent building deeper customer connections and driving retention through innovation, EmpowerYourPlay is proof that profit and purpose can and should go together.

Join us on our mission: To make giving fun; and give fun meaning; making your brand unforgettable!

How did you come up with the business idea and what problem are you looking to solve?

EmpowerYourPlay was born from a mix of personal experience and professional insight. Watching my father battle dementia and my mother recover from a life-altering stroke taught me how fragile life can be—and how vital the support of others, often through charities, truly is.

It also sparked a question: What if our downtime could be more than just an escape? What if it could make a difference in ways that truly matter to us? After all, charity begins at home.

With over a decade in iGaming, working to improve customer retention and engagement, I saw rising acquisition costs, declining retention, and an experience that felt highly self-indulgent to users. Spending and losing felt transactional and meaningless to many customers I spoke to.

And a new generation—Gen Z and Millennials— set to be worth $100 Trillion by 2030 according to financial experts like Ken Costa, are demanding that brands stand for more than just profit. Even the best of the existing rewards couldn't fill this void; an absence of meaningful connection.

That's how EmpowerYourPlay was born, turning every lottery ticket, bet, play or even every loss into an opportunity to design a better tomorrow the way our users see fit.

At the end of the day, it’s not the yachts or mansions that leave a legacy—it’s the lives we impact. EmpowerYourPlay is about transforming our self-indulgent downtime into something bigger: a way to support charities around the globe doing what we love; without having to spend a cent more.

What made you want to start your own business?

Starting my own business has always been my ultimate goal—a way to channel my passion for solving problems and creating meaningful change. I’ve spent over a decade in the digital entertainment industry, learning the ins and outs of customer retention and engagement.

That journey gave me a front-row seat to the pain points faced by both operators and players, inspiring me to disrupt the space with something truly impactful.

As far as entrepreneurial experience goes, I ran my own consultancy for two years, helping businesses tackle R&D projects and build loyalty programs tailored to their audiences.

Through this work, I gained even deeper insights into customer needs and trends, which shaped my vision for EmpowerYourPlay. But consulting was only the beginning. I wanted to create something bigger—a product that not only addressed the gaps I saw but redefined how we think and feel about downtime.

EmpowerYourPlay is that vision come to life: a product that combines tech, innovation, and social impact to make our leisure time unforgettable.

What stage is your business currently at?

We've just secured our pilot integration for early next year, so until that's live it's product, product product.

After that, we're hoping to leverage our commercial case study to launch into fundraising mode for a £1 Million Seed round to enable us to hire more talent full-time, enhance our product, share our insights with our customers, and launch a D2C version of our product.

What do you love most about being an entrepreneur?

Being able to leverage my creativity, passion and problem-solving to bring products to life.

What is the number one business tip you've learned that you'd like to share with fellow budding entrepreneurs?

Ask yourself: If you could do anything (including nothing) would you do it? If the answer is yes. Execute with conviction.

Who are your startup heroes?

My startup hero is Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike and author of Shoe Dog. His journey resonates deeply with me because it’s a story of relentless perseverance, scrappy problem-solving, and the courage to take risks for a vision that seemed impossible.

Knight’s ability to combine passion with purpose—creating not just a product but a brand that inspires millions even today. Though closely followed by Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos and their customer obsession.

Is there a favourite podcast, book or series you'd like to share with the world?

The YCombinator podcast and Eric Reis's book "The Lean Start-up" are gold!

Where can people find you online?

Please add me on LinkedIn to carry on the conversation!

It's been really great to chat today Tiffany! Good luck in the future with your business and we look forward to catching up with you soon.

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