Anjouan as the startup licence of choice: a useful, self-interested industry brief
2026-08-14
This is our review of reporting published by Yogonet. We have not reproduced their article.
A review of Yogonet's sponsored piece on Anjouan as an entry-level iGaming jurisdiction, which offers a useful snapshot of the 'prove the model first' licensing trend but carries an obvious commercial agenda.
Yogonet has published a contributed piece by iGaming consultant Ron Mendelson of Fast Offshore, making the case for Anjouan as the natural first licensing home for startups and smaller operators. It positions the jurisdiction's 2023 regulatory overhaul against the six-to-twelve-month timelines and six-figure costs of Tier-1 regimes like Malta or the Isle of Man, framing Anjouan as a fast, flexible proving ground rather than a permanent home.
The piece grounds that pitch in concrete numbers: more than 1,400 licences supporting over 3,000 live sites, a 28-42 business day processing window, and zero gaming tax on offshore revenue. It also stresses the single-licence model that covers everything from casino and sports to crypto and provably fair games, which is genuinely attractive to operators who want to expand without re-applying.
For industry readers, this is worth a look despite its vendor-authored sales angle. It captures a real structural shift in how new operators enter the market: a deliberate "prove the model first" tier, where startups validate economics in a low-cost jurisdiction before graduating to stricter regimes. That staged licensing strategy is becoming more common as capital tightens and payment processors become more comfortable with mid-tier offshore licences.
The piece's obvious limitation is that its author sells the very licences and transition services it recommends, so it reads as a market brief with a commercial agenda. The bigger open question is whether Anjouan's explosive growth will eventually meet its supervision capacity, and how EU regulators and banks react as the jurisdiction's footprint grows. For the full cost breakdown, document checklist and the Fast Offshore pitch itself, the original is worth reading in full.