OUR SPEAKERS
Vicky Cheng
Global Director of Esports (Sportskred)
Global business leader with 20+ years of experience in Sports/ Esports, Media & Entertainment Technology ( ex. Microsoft, IBM). Currently, Global Director of Esports at Sportskred, leading the esports brand – ESPORTSKRED ( www.esportskred.com): We are the SaaS solution to help gaming and esports organisations create, manage and monetise their ambassador network.
Abdiqani H. Ahmed
Founder & CEO (Lionscreed)
Riley Soley
Media, Community and EDI Executive (Esports Insider)
As the Media, Community and EDI Executive at Esports Insider, Riley is a passionate advocate for Diversity in esports. With a background in marketing, she hopes to boost ESI’s brand, and help them be recognised as a voice for marginalised people in the industry.
Mika Kuusisto
CEO (ENCE)
Mika Kuusisto is the CEO of ENCE Esports Oy, one of the best known esports brands in Europe competing at the top of the world in several games. He comes with 20 years of experience growing technology and games companies on a global scale. In addition to running ENCE Mika keeps advising early stage tech startups with their growth strategies.
James Fraser-Murison
Director of Learning for Esports (Queen Marys College) & Business Manager (Yoyotech)
National award-winning Director of Esports and esports teacher with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Proud to have helped create the first-ever BTEC in esports, speaker at World Education Week, BETT, The Festival of Education, and contributed to the book ‘Esports in Education’ and current NASEF mentor.
Current esports consultant and business development manager for Yoyotech.
Sam Cooke
Co-Founder and Managing Director (Esports Insider)
As the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Esports Insider, an international esports business focused media, events company and agency, Sam has led the growth, development and day to day of the company since 2016. He’s also a co-founder at ‘corporate’ esports tournament series, the WFH League, and is an advisor at the venture fund Rewired.gg.
Matthew Bintcliffe
Esports Partnership Coordinator (Alpine Racing)
Matthew Bintcliffe joined Alpine F1 Team in 2021, to help spearhead their renewed investment into esports and gaming. As partnership coordinator he generates new business for the team whilst managing existing partners. Matthew is considered the gaming guru within Alpine and the key person for idea generation.
Christopher Sword
Founder & Managing Director (Viperio)
Founder & Managing Director of Viperio – the North East of England’s leading esports club since 2013. Starting his team at the age of 13 in a North Shields bedroom, Chris has grown Viperio into one of the most recognisable brands competing in the national leagues of the UKI & Nordics, across leading esports titles Rainbow Six Siege, League of Legends and Counterstrike. Viperio has played in some of Europe’s biggest online leagues such as Ubisoft’s European Challenger League and in venues such as Wembley Stadium.
Charlie ‘The Sarge’ Sarginson
Esports Manager
Dedicated professional who has worked within the EU Esports scene for the past 3 years. Specialising in tournament operations, project planning and talent relations, I have helped establish and grow key events for the grassroots esports scene, as well as enable high quality broadcast solutions for some of the industry’s leading publishers
Edward Gregory
Senior Marketing Manager (Fnatic)
Edward joined Fnatic in 2019, having previously been CEO of Accelerate Sport in South Africa. Originally joining the organisation to look after their endemic partners, he has been involved in some of their biggest new partner pitches with ASOS and Crypto.com. Merging his knowledge of traditional sports and esports he is very keen to educate the market on the value that exists and help them navigate it successfully to create real tangible ROI. He has since been promoted to Senior Marketing Manager where he oversees all partner, esports and apparel marketing for Fnatic
Jonathan Baker
Brand Manager (CloudKid)
Jonathan Baker is the Brand Manager at CloudKid, a music label and curation channel on YouTube with over 5 million subscribers. Jonathan is in charge of building the CloudKid community and creating meaningful strategic partnerships that resonate with CloudKid’s audience that push the brand into new spaces. He has over 12 years of experience in communications, community and brand, spanning across music, tech, digital marketing, and gaming
Jack Curtis
Head of Business Development (ITB Esports)
Jack has a wealth of experience in esports and marketing, boasting a total of eight years in the industry. His focus is on game-changing strategic partnerships and looks to differentiate any deal he acquires
Craig Ryan
Co-Founder and Director (Pixel Bar)
As a director at Pixel Bar, Craig works to maintain fun and inclusive venues that balances traditional late-night hospitality with the rapidly growing esports and gaming industries. Opening in 2019, Pixel Bar quickly rose to become one of the most popular nightlife venues in Leeds. Pixel acts as an approachable entry point for the general public to get a taste of the esports industry
Robin Gray
Co-founder and Co-CEO (Gray Jones Media)
Robin Gray (he/him) is the co-founder and co-CEO of Gray Jones Media, a future-thinking LGBTQ media company headquartered in Birmingham and with offices in New York City. He is widely recognised not only as an LGBTQ entrepreneur, influencer and cultural evangelist, but also as an advocate for diversity and representation in the video game world, speaking regularly at industry events around the world championing the growth of representation both in-game and in the workplace.
Lex Alexander
Head of Global Business Development & Strategy (Media Exchange Group)
Lex uses his breadth of experience across a variety of new media, in particular working with influencers and Esports teams, to deliver well balanced campaigns for clients. Lex has a real passion for gaming… even if he isn’t very good at it.”
Sam Cook
CEO and Founder (ITB Esports )
Sam is the CEO and Founder of ITB Esports and BeCosy Fashion. After completing a Double MSc in International Relations at the LSE and PKU, Sam worked several years in strategy consultancy before making the full-time transition to CEO earlier this year. He’s an avid gamer, primarily playing Dota 2 and Starcraft 2 which he has done for the past 10 years
James Dean
Founder and CEO of the ESL UK
James Dean is the founder and CEO of the ESL UK subsidiary, building the ESL brand and community on a regional level. ESL is the world’s largest esports company with 15 offices spanning the globe. The UK office has maintained 50%+ year-on-year growth since its foundation. It operates the UK’s longest running national esports tournament, the ESL Premiership currently spanning 4 gaming titles.
Josh Kingett
Founder and CEO of (X7 Esports)
Josh Kingett a professional organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom with a particular focus on the Asian player transfer markets. After nearly 5 years in the British Army, Josh built up extensive knowledge within several different industries, which include eGaming/gambling; data analysis; software engineering; cyber security; and crypto/blockchain. He also works as an Esports Executive for the Isle of Man Government, driving forward their esports strategy and helping to grow the islands economy