Team

Darcy has over 20+ years of senior executive experience building successful companies and brands spanning, Asia, Europe and North America. Previous to Pioneer, Darcy was CEO of East Side Games Group (TSX: EAGR) (formerly operating under the name “LEAF Mobile Inc.”), one of Pioneer’s portfolio companies. During his tenure, he was responsible for leading the company through transformational growth including taking the company from a private issuer to reporting on the TSX.V and then subsequently graduating to the TSX in 2021. Darcy also led the company through over $150 million in M&A transactions. He has a proven track record in C-suite and senior leadership roles at IMG Canada (now Endeavor LLC), Logic Technologies Inc, JT International S.A. and MASEV Communications Inc, that was acquired by IMG Canada. His experience spans corporate, agency, and entrepreneurial environments across free-to-play Mobile games, FinTech, esports, Blockchain, FMCG/CPG, Digital Marketing & Media and Sports & Entertainment industries.

Jim is a CPA, CA and a CFA with over 20 years of finance experience. Most recently Jim was SVP, Finance and Acting CFO at Westport Fuel Systems and prior to Westport held senior roles at Amica Mature Lifestyles, Absolute Software and Cisco Systems. Jim has extensive capital markets, acquisitions, and international experience having worked for four years in California and two years in Russia. Jim articled with KPMG in Vancouver, British Columbia and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Mike has a wealth of experience in building and scaling technology companies in private and public markets, including the following:

• co-founded AreaConnect.com, a consumer content company which was acquired by Marchex, a Nasdaq listed company, in 2008.
• invested in early stage consumer companies such as Punch’d (later acquired by Google), Wander (later acquired by Yahoo), Summify (later acquired by Twitter), BlueBat Games (later acquired by Novomatic Group,  Retsly (later acquired by Zillow) and Password Box (later acquired by Intel).
• co-founded LX Ventures, a publicly listed consumer internet foundry that acquired and scaled Mobio Technologies.
• co-founded Growlab, a seed stage accelerator focussing on consumer facing digital product. Growlab later merged with Extreme Startups to create Canada’s Highline accelerator.
• co-founded Wyley Interactive, a mobile game engagement platform, which was acquired by Zynga, a Nasdaq listed company, in 2014.
• co-founded  Creative Labs, a venture capital backed startup foundry that builds consumer technology companies by leveraging the Creative Artist Agency’s access to talent and audience.
• co-founded Argo Blockchain PLC, an enterprise-scale provider of cryptocurrency mining services that listed on the LSE.
• co-founded Guild esports Plc, a global esports franchise listed on the London Stock Exchange.co-founded Leaf Mobile Inc, Canada’s largest mobile game studio, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
• co-founded Cellular Goods Plc, the first publicly listed cannabinoid company on the London Stock Exchange.co-founded NFT Investments Plc, will be the first publicly traded vehicle for this new asset class.

Mark Rutledge has over 25 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, C-level executive and strategic adviser with a particular expertise in structuring and financing technology start-ups. In the early stages of his career, Mark practised securities and entertainment law, and acted for clients such Viacom, Disney, Paramount, Time Warner, Showtime, USA Networks, and Canal + (France). He is currently CEO of Carraway Capital Corp., and co-founder and President of Sosido Networks Inc. a knowledge-sharing community for health-care professionals. He was until recently a Director of East Side Games, a leading mobile gaming company (TSE:EAGR), and is currently a Director of Streaks Gaming plc (LSE:STK)) the first “pure-play” conversational gaming company listed on the London Stock Exchange, and AQRU plc (AQSE:AQRU), a company focused on opportunities in decentralized finance (“DeFi”), helping to take all three companies public. He is also a Director of Aja Ventures Inc., a company at the forefront of carbon capture technology.

Julia brings almost 15 years’ experience in capital markets, business development and marketing communications to Pioneer’s Board. She has extensive experience developing and executing integrated investor and stakeholder communication plans for private and publicly-traded companies, as well as providing successful capital markets and funding strategies for companies across various industries including: technology, gaming and media. Julia is currently the VP, Investor Relations at CloudMD (TSX.V:DOC), as well as a Strategic Advisor to Paidia Gaming. Previously, she was Head, Investor Relations and Marketing at Enthusiast Gaming (NASDAQ: EGLX).

Olivia brings operational and corporate secretary experience to Pioneer’s board. She has experience with the reporting requirements for public companies in both Canada and the UK and has facilitated numerous financial raises in various industries including web3, gaming and carbon capture technology. Olivia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Systems: Mind, Language & Computation and a Master of Management from the University of British Columbia. She has also completed her Canadian Securities Course.