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Investment Team

BITKRAFT Jens Hilgers — Venture Capital for Gaming, Esports, and Interactive Media
Janitor

Jens Hilgers

Paved the way for esports to go mainstream. Co-Founder and former CEO of ESL, Co-Founder and Chairman of G2 Esports, and Co-Founder and former CEO of Bayes (formerly, Dojo Madness). Based in Berlin.

Jens is a Founding General Partner of BITKRAFT Ventures, a global early- and mid-stage investment platform for gaming, esports, and interactive media, which he started in 2015. Under his leadership, the firm has built a portfolio spanning more than 50 companies across North America, Europe, and Asia. BITKRAFT launched its inaugural $18M Pre-Seed Fund in 2017, and in 2020 raised a $165M Venture Fund I, featuring LPs including the family offices and investment firms of Bruce Karsh, David M. Rubenstein, and Jonathan Soros.

Jens is also Co-Founder and Chairman of esports team G2 Esports, one of the world’s most valuable esports organizations. Widely considered one of esports’ first entrepreneurs, Jens launched his first esports online platform gamers.de in 1997, which he sold in 1999. In 2000, Jens founded ESL and grew the company into the world's most prestigious esports brand during his ten-year tenure as CEO. In 2015, international entertainment company MTG acquired a majority stake in ESL, marking the first acquisition of an esports company by a traditional media organization.

BITKRAFT Malte Barth — Venture Capital for Gaming, Esports, and Interactive Media
Founding General Partner

Malte Barth

20-year media, games, and esports veteran with leadership roles at Modern Times Group, ESL, and DreamHack. Based in London and Lisbon.

Malte is a Founding General Partner of BITKRAFT Ventures based in London and Lisbon. Since 2014 he served as Head of Esports at Modern Times Group, which holds one of the largest esports portfolios globally with leading brands like ESL, DreamHack, ESEA, and others. He holds Board roles at ESL and DreamHack and since 2010, serves as an Industrial Advisor to EQT, a leading global private equity firm.

Malte graduated in Industrial Engineering and Business Management from Nordakademie and is active as an entrepreneurial leader, investor and operator in the media, games and esports space for over 20 years.

BITKRAFT Scott Rupp — Venture Capital for Gaming, Esports, and Interactive Media
Founding General Partner

Scott Rupp

Interactive entertainment entrepreneur, investor, and operating executive with over 20 years experience including at Modern Times Group, McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, and Carlyle. Based in Denver.

Scott is a Founding General Partner of BITKRAFT Ventures based in Denver. An interactive entertainment entrepreneur, investor, and operating executive for over 20 years, Scott served as USA Managing Director for Modern Times Group, a global leader in games and esports, where he led their venture capital fund and U.S. expansion.

Scott held co-founder and CEO roles at influencer marketing and digital content companies Digital Artists and Icebox and was an early leader in the U.S. online games industry as SVP of Corporate Development for Gazillion.

He advised the world’s leading entertainment companies on the games industry while at McKinsey, and previously served at Deutsche Bank and Carlyle Group. He has an MBA from Kellogg and an MPA from Harvard.

Partner

Carlos Pereira

Experienced growth equity and VC investor with a background in gaming, media, and interactive entertainment. Prior at Eldridge. Based in New York.

Carlos is a Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures based in New York. At BITKRAFT, Carlos focuses on crypto-centric opportunities globally, as well as expanding the funds' coverage in LatAm and India. Prior to joining the team, he worked at Eldridge, investing in private markets with a focus on growth equity and venture capital, especially in media and interactive entertainment. He also held strategy and finance leadership roles at VENN, a media startup at the intersection of gaming, media and UGC video.

Originally from Brazil, Carlos is a graduate of the Political Philosophy program at University of Virginia. He is passionate about Jiu Jitsu and games—mainly FPS & RPG—and will try to convince you that Call of Duty is the new Golf.

BITKRAFT Jasper Brand — Venture Capital for Gaming, Esports, and Interactive Media
Partner

Jasper Brand

Identifying and evaluating new investments and providing strategic and operational assistance to portfolio companies. Former experience at Amundi and Lakestar. Based in Los Angeles.

Jasper is a Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures where he identifies and evaluates new investment opportunities. Furthermore, he provides strategic and operational assistance to BITKRAFT portfolio companies while being a helping hand in their long-term positioning for growth. Jasper conducts market and segment deep-dives to develop investment hypotheses for the team.

Before joining BITKRAFT, Jasper gained experiences at Amundi Asset Management, a leading European asset manager, at BITKRAFT’s Seed Fund, and as an analyst at Lakestar, a successful European venture capital firm.

Jasper studied business administration and philosophy at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and Columbia University in the City of New York. Besides a history in traditional sports competing as a golfer on a national level in Germany, he has always been dedicated to esports since his early childhood, reaching the top percentiles of players across different major game titles.

Investor

Nicolas Vereecke

Identifying and evaluating new investments in gaming and crypto. Previously built multiple crypto and fintech startups. Based in Brussels.

Nicolas ("Nico") is an investor at BITKRAFT Ventures, where he identifies and evaluates new investment opportunities with a particular focus on the intersection of blockchain and games.

Prior to joining the BITKRAFT team, Nicolas invested in and built multiple crypto startups. He also spent a few years as a software engineer. He currently hosts two podcasts, The Metacast and The Wiser than Yesterday Podcast.

Nicolas holds a Master's in Economics from the KU Leuven and an M.B.A. from Vlerick Business School. Most weekdays at 7 am, he can be found either coaching or training crossfit. Nicolas enjoys collecting generative NFT art, cooking healthy food, and convincing people that esports will overtake traditional sports in the next few years. If you ever need help getting your first Warzone win, he is your man.

Principal

Justin Swart

Justin is a Principal in BITKRAFT's Investment Team. He is based in South Africa.

Justin expands the BITKRAFT global footprint as its first employee based in Africa. He joins the team from an early stage VC firm, where he led investments across the globe and led the firm's web3 investment focus. He has also advised a number of top tier South African startups, helping them to raise some of the largest seed stage funding rounds onthe continent.
Associate

Jamie Wallace

Jamie is an Associate at BITKRAFT, where his focus is to identify and evaluate new investment opportunities in the crypto space. Based in London.

Jamie is an Associate at BITKRAFT, where his focus is to identify and evaluate new investment opportunities in the crypto space.

Prior to joining BITKRAFT, he was a professional athlete and recently represented Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. He was also a co-founder of Block49 Capital, a digital asset research firm.

Jamie holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia. His passion for digital assets stemmed from frictions he noticed in traditional financial systems. This had led him to immerse himself full time into crypto as he thinks blockchain technology has the power to disrupt many legacy systems. He enjoys exploring how games can leverage blockchain infrastructure and tools to create more equitable gaming ecosystems that empower players. Jamie is also a high-level field hockey player, having played professionally in some of the best leagues in the world as well as major international competitions including World Championships and the Olympic games.

Investment Analyst

Jacopo Bonfiglio

Jacopo is an investment analyst focused on equities opportunities. Previously at Founders Global Capital. Based in Barcelona.

Jacopo joins BITKRAFT as an investment analyst focused on equities opportunities.

He was previously at Global Founders Capital, investing across a host of sectors.

A long-held interest in startups led him to work on building a social / events business while an undergraduate at USI Università della Svizzera italiana, where he majored in Computer Science.

Jacopo also holds a Masters from ESADE in Innovation / Entrepreneurship.

He is based in Barcelona.

Technical Analyst

Ben Naylor

Ben is BITKRAFT's Technical Crypto Analyst as part of the Investment Team. He is based in the UK.

Ben comes to BITKRAFT with a fascinating blend of creative and technical experience, having worked as both a sound engineer for major musical events and a senior softwaredeveloper within financial services. His time at BITKRAFT will focus on insights delivery in service of evaluating live investment opportunities and the discovery of new ones. He is based in the UK.

Portfolio Support Team

Global Head of People

Brooke Grabrian

Cultivating strategies and frameworks for highly successful People organizations to include Talent, Culture and HR at BITKRAFT and across our portfolio companies. Based in San Francisco.

Brooke joins BITKRAFT having spent the last 20+ years building teams and cultures that leverage high caliber talent and exceptional character to do extraordinary things, primarily within the gaming space. She will bring this expertise to bear as BITKRAFT’s first hire focused primarily on portfolio support. Brooke is based in the Bay Area.
People Operations & DEI Specialist

Amanda Timm

Career tech & gaming recruiter focused on streamlining operations and developing meaningful DE&I strategies in support of the BITKRAFT portfolio. Based in San Francisco.

Amanda Timm (she/her) has a research background in social psychology with an emphasis on intersectional approaches to reducing barriers for women and ethnic minorities in S.T.E.M. fields. She started her career in talent acquisition by recruiting for tech companies before shifting to the games industry in 2020. Since then, she has worked with multiple studios to develop DEIB programs and initiatives to increase representation and foster belonging. She is thrilled to join BITKRAFT and drive efforts to streamline operations and develop meaningful DE&I strategies.

Amanda recently relocated back to the Bay Area after 7 years in New Orleans, where she met her husband, Eli and adopted their dog, Otto. She misses live music and Cajun cuisine but is glad to be closer to family. When not at work, you can find her perusing local bookstores, ice skating, and watching baking competition shows.

Operations Team

BITKRAFT Martin Garcia — Venture Capital for Gaming, Esports, and Interactive Media
Chief Financial Officer

Martin Garcia

Kauffman Fellow responsible for all operational and financial activities. Leveraging fund management knowledge and experience from work across almost 20 countries.

Martin is the CFO of BITKRAFT Ventures. He carries out many duties at BITKRAFT, including all operational and financial responsibilities. His international background and fund management knowledge are key to ensure that BITKRAFT maximizes its efforts as it invests in and supports portfolio companies’ growth.

Prior to BITKRAFT, Martin was the Operating Partner of a Palo Alto-based VC firm with over $250mm in AUM. Martin started his professional career as a consultant at PwC where he performed financial due diligence in almost 20 countries. Martin has an MBA from the University of Chicago and is a CPA. He is also a graduate of the Kauffman Fellows Program.

VP, Finance

Adrian Galea

Following his experience in early-stage investing across Europe, Adrian is responsible for tracking the BITKRAFT portfolio. He is a finance and legal services professional on regulatory and taxation matters. Based in Madrid.

Adrian is a financial services professional with experience in dealing with international clients seeking corporate, taxation, and regulatory advice across Europe. His professional development includes time at local audit and legal firms in his native country of Malta, where his focus was on corporate services for private clients, managing their investment holdings, trusts, and family office affairs. He is a qualified accountant by the ACCA (UK) and holds a Masters in Financial Services. Adrian later transitioned into early-stage investing where he helped develop a pan-European platform for early-stage Investors, based in Switzerland and operating across several European countries. He led the investment team having closed Seed and Series A deals in a portfolio of more than 100 startups across Europe.

At BITKRAFT, Adrian manages portfolio tracking, seeking to build relationships with the management teams of our portfolio companies, tracking financial and other performance indicators, whilst identifying the optimal manner to allocate the fund`s follow-on investments. He is an avid reader of innovation and technology blogs, enjoys traveling, follows the NBA and European soccer, and believes that technology will enable people to pursue a more fulfilled life.

Finance Manager

Mariana Gutiérrez Bonifaz

Managing communications with investors, advisors and portfolio companies, Mariana has international experience in global banking and venture capital. Based in Madrid.

As Finance Manager, Mariana carries out investor relationships and manages communications with BITKRAFT's fund advisors and portfolio companies. She also carries out the analysis and reporting of fund financials and performance metrics.

Mariana previously worked at BBVA, J.P. Morgan, and Gerbera Venture Capital both in Mexico and Spain, gaining wide experience in corporate finance, trust services, and cash management. She has a business degree from IESE Business School and is an industrial engineer from Universidad Iberoamericana.

She believes that technology’s purpose is helping advance society and create a more connected world.

VP, Legal

Antonio de la Esperanza

Antonio is BITKRAFT's legal counsel with extensive experience in cross-border debt and venture financing. Based in Madrid.

Antonio is an attorney with extensive experience in cross-border debt and venture financing. He worked for a US-firm in their Madrid, Washington DC and Mexico City offices, advising development financial institutions in international project and corporate financings and venture capital investments. He is qualified to practice in Spain and New York and holds an LLM from Georgetown University. After returning to Spain, Antonio started his solo-practice advising start-ups and founders in early-stage rounds.

At BITKRAFT, Antonio acts as the firm's legal manager, assisting the investment team in the relationship with investors, portfolio companies, service providers and other stakeholders and ensuring that the firm remains compliant with all regulations.

Antonio is passionate about the possibilities that blockchain technology and in-game economies will bring for underdeveloped economies. He is also a bad but enthusiastic gamer and golfer.

Finance Executive

Oliver Stad

Following his experience in a family and friends fund, Oliver is responsible for managing and tracking the BITKRAFT portfolio. Interest in disruptive technologies, crypto and data analytics. Based in Madrid.

Oliver is a Financial Executive at BITKRAFT Ventures, where he is responsable for managing the portfolio, tracking financials and key performance metrics to help the team make better decisions on follow-on rounds and portfolio allocation.

Prior to working at BITKRAFT, Oliver worked at a family and friends fund and has run his own fund. Both of them focused on disruptive technologies and crypto. During his undergraduate studies in Business Economics - Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina - he gained internship experience in a tech consulting start-up working as a data analyst.

He is passionate on how fintech and crypto are democratising money and believes that tech will improve every aspect of human beings. On his free time he enjoys playing piano and travelling the world.

Executive Assistant

Becky Harold

Supports the BITKRAFT operations team across core functions. Based in Madrid.

Becky provides administrative and organizational support to the operations team and helps drive the day-to-day priorities of the firm.

Marketing & Communications

Head of Content & Events

Michael Pedicano

Leads the BITKRAFT marketing and communications functions. Former MTV, Bleacher Report. Based in New York.

Michael joins BITKRAFT as Head of Marketing Communications, where he is focused on
growing mindshare for the firm and its portfolio companies, as well as further advancing
BITKRAFT's position as an industry thought leader.

He previously held roles at MTV as their VP of Digital, leading all things brand voice and
digital strategy across an audience of 80M+, and at Bleacher Report as Head of Content
Operations, where he owned strategy, process, and planning for B/R’s content business.

Advisory Board

Advisor

Vatsal Bhardwaj

Chief Product Officer at Skillz. Based in San Francisco.

Vatsal is currently the Chief Product Officer at Skillz.

Before Skillz, Vatsal was General Manager at Amazon Web Services, leading the engineering and product teams.

Prior to AWS, he was part of the product management team at Facebook that launched the industry’s first consumer VR platform, Oculus.

Vatsal holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Duke University.

He is based in San Francisco.

Advisor

Antoine Blondeau

Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC). Based in San Francisco and Hong Kong.

Antoine Blondeau is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC), a venture capital fund investing in deep algorithmic science-based artificial intelligence companies globally. A seasoned entrepreneur and investor, Antoine has 25 years of experience in the technology industry, having held senior leadership positions at Good Technology, Salesforce.com, and Sybase.

Antoine’s career highlights include leading Dejima as CEO—the company that powered DARPA’s foundational CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes) project that evolved into Apple’s Siri. Antoine was also COO of Zi Corporation, whose predictive text software was embedded in hundreds of millions of devices. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Sentient Technologies, a massively-scaled AI software platform company.

Antoine is a personal investor, advisor, and board member in technology companies in the U.S., Greater China, and Europe. He is an advisor to Pictet & Cie, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), and Adagia Partners. He started to code at age 11, holds an M.B.A. from the Paris Graduate School of Management (ESCP) and has studied at Chuo University in Tokyo. He is the author of 6 patents.

Advisor

Enrico D'Angelo

Vice President of Product for Roblox's Economy. Based in San Francisco.

Enrico D’Angelo is a digital leader and executive with more than 20 years of experience in the Tech, Media and Interactive Entertainment sectors. He currently serves as Roblox’ VP of Product for the platform’s Economy, which encompasses Avatar Marketplace, Advertising, Subscriptions, Payments and Developer Payouts. He previously led Product for Roblox’ Developer Group.

Prior to Roblox, Enrico was responsible for Activision Publishing’s PC and Mobile free to play businesses. In that capacity he led Activision’s efforts in China and was responsible for Call of Duty Mobile, one of Activision Blizzard’s top grossing free to play games.
Previously, Enrico was the Head of Strategy for Activision Blizzard, where he worked closely with divisional heads to drive engagement and monetization initiatives across Activision’s portfolio, including kicking off Call of Duty’s microtransactions’ business.

Before Activision, Enrico spent 10 years at McKinsey & Co. as a strategy consultant, advising early and late stage Investors, Media, Tech and Interactive Entertainment clients on growth strategy and operations.
Enrico graduated Magna cum Laude from LUISS University in Rome with a Degree in Business Administration and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a passionate gamer and retro game collector.

Advisor

Pany Haritatos

Head of Games at Snap. Based in San Francisco.

Pany Haritatos is a veteran game entrepreneur and executive with deep experience in game development, publishing, and platforms. He is currently Head of Games at Snap.

Prior to Snap, Pany spent several years at the game publisher and platform Kongregate, joining first to establish the company’s highly successful mobile games business and later taking on the role of COO. There, he helped grow the company through several important milestones including a sale to MTG in 2017, the acquisition of several game studios, and taking the lead as CEO in 2019.

Before Kongregate, Pany was an executive at social gaming giant Zynga, leading teams on several of the company’s early franchises. He is an avid game maker and player, having founded and sold two game studios as well. Pany has a degree in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Advisor

TQ Jefferson

Chief Product Officer at Survios. Based in Los Angeles.

TQ began his career in games at Activision; starting in QA and moving through the ranks into Productions. Then went on to management roles at Pixar, Telltale and Skybound; as well as Executive roles at Marvel, FoxNext, and most recently as a VP in Disney’s Games & Interactive Experiences group. With over two decades in the industry, he has exhibited a special knack for steering franchise expansion for companies looking to leverage IP in the world of gaming. This expertise covers everything from TV standouts like “Family Guy,” “Archer,” and “The Walking Dead,” to film series such as “Predator,” “Avatar,” and “Alien” to iconic cross-media IP such as the Marvel Universe and Pixar.

As Chief Product Officer for Survios, TQ Jefferson defines the product roadmap as the company looks to level up from scrappy startup to developer with legitimate AAA aspiration. This stewardship will encompass all projects currently in development, including those with partners such as AMC and MGM, as well as expanding the company’s vision to new partners and projects.

Advisor

Jen MacLean

General Manager of Creator Partnerships for Xbox. Based in Boston.

Jen MacLean is the General Manager of Creator Partnerships for Xbox, where she leads a team dedicated to empowering game developers around the world and helping them grow their games, communities, and businesses on Xbox, Game Pass, xCloud, and the Windows Store.

Jen started her career in game development as a playtester at Microprose, expanding her roles to direct product development, business development, and management teams at large and small companies. Most recently before joining Xbox, Jen led worldwide business development for small and mid-sized game studios for Amazon Web Services.

Jen is a life-long gamer, an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusivity, and mentor to game developers around the world. She earned a B.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. in International Business from Columbia Business School and London Business School.

Advisor

Bernhard Mogk

SVP of Global Sales and Business Development at ESL. Based in Berlin and Cologne.

Bernhard Mogk leads worldwide business development for ESL, pioneering and innovating at the forefront of the esports industry for over a decade. He has been instrumental in the company‘s growth to become the world’s largest esports and gaming lifestyle company. In his prior responsibilities at ESL, including as SVP of Global Sales, Bernhard was responsible for all group-wide revenue, building and overseeing all commercial units, launching blue-chip companies into the esports sphere, and creating game-changing and award-winning global partnerships and joint ventures across industries.

Bernhard started his career in digital marketing and sales at RTL Group. He then moved to the startup world, where he held roles in commercial partnerships, strategy, and business development at various companies before founding Four Media Network. This entrepreneurial endeavor culminated in the leading gaming advertising technology platform in the EMEA region and Four Media Network was acquired by ESL and MTG to strategically strengthen their footprint in media sales, ad tech, and in the programmatic space.

Bernhard studied at Rheinische Hochschule Cologne and Westminster Business School London and has a degree in business and management. He is invited as a regular speaker to global conventions such as Mobile World Congress, DMEXCO, and DELF.

Venture Partners

Venture Partner

Dennis Fong

The first-ever professional gamer. Co-Founder & CEO of GGWP. Based in San Francisco.

Dennis is a founder & CEO with ≈ $1B in exits in gaming and SaaS, as well as the the world champion gamer known as "Thresh". He has been called the "Michael Jordan of video games" by the Wall Street Journal, "King of the Gamers" by the Washington Post, is an Esports Hall of Fame inductee, and recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's first professional gamer.
Venture Partner

Piers Kicks

Founding Partner and gaming lead at the investment arm of Delphi Digital. Based in London.

Prior to his role at BITKRAFT as Venture Partner, Piers was a Principal within the firm, focused on the intersection of gaming and crypto.

Piers is Founding Partner in the investment arm of the leading institutional research firm covering the digital asset market—Delphi Digital.

Piers acquired his first bitcoin at 13 years old in exchange for virtual currency in Runescape. He reached a top 100 global position in the videogame Rainbow Six Siege, is a first-generation virtual-reality user, and has grown up immersed in crypto. With a computer science and philosophy background, he leverages his insight into the undercurrents of the web to uncover exceptional opportunities. Piers also runs a podcast called Metaverse Musings where he hosts conversations with founders and investors at the bleeding edge of decentralized technologies.

Venture Partner

Sebastian Park

Esports, sports, and technology executive. Former VP of Esports at Houston Rockets & Creator of Clutch Gaming. Based in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Sebastian Park is a Venture Partner of BITKRAFT Ventures based in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. He was formerly the Vice President of Esports for the Houston Rockets, where he created Clutch Gaming, a franchised team in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). Hired in 2016, Sebastian was the first dedicated esports front-office executive in North America and in the NBA. In 2019, he and the Rockets sold Clutch Gaming to HBSE, which merged the entity with Dignitas. Sebastian also serves as a Board of Director for SportsTek Acquisition Corp.

A Los Angeles native, Sebastian's experiences include product management, user acquisition, and sponsorships at Namecheap, where he was the Head of Esports, and at startups in the Bay Area prior to his entry into esports.

Sebastian holds a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science with an emphasis in imperfect information decision-making from Yale University.

Venture Partner

Ryan Wyatt

CEO of Polygon Studios. Former Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Gaming at YouTube. Based in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Ryan Wyatt is a Venture Partner of BITKRAFT Ventures based in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. He is a New York Times Best Selling Author, was named to Forbes 30 under 30, The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Rising Executives 35 and Under, Fortune's 40 under 40 lists, and nominated for a Shorty Award in the Gaming category.

He recently joined Polygon Studios as their CEO, where he is aiming to facilitate frictionless inroads for Web2 developers to integrate Web3 elements into their games.

Earlier in his career, he was instrumental in negotiating a variety of complex agreements across Google, including Creator acquisitions, Esports Leagues, and Publisher partnerships. He led YouTube Gaming, responsible for all cross-functional programs by collaborating closely with executives across Product and Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Legal, Strategy, and PR/Comms.