Gaming-focused talent management company Loaded has tapped former 100 Thieves advisor and 3BLACKDOT exec Irina Shames as its chief commercial officer.
Shames joins from G2 Esports, where she served as chief revenue officer. She’s also served as a strategic advisor for 100 Thieves, was EVP of revenue and strategy at 3BLACKDOT, and has held executive roles at CNN, WarnerMedia/Discovery, MTV, Subvrsive, and Kevin Hart‘s Hartbeat Productions.
At Loaded, she’ll be working with both the company’s core business (where it manages content creators like Shroud, DrLupo, CouRage, Myth, Summit1G, and CohhCarnage) and with its Open World production/consultancy arm, which it launched in 2022.
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She will “oversee all aspects of the sales, business development and strategic partnerships for both businesses, and support forthcoming M & A efforts to accelerate company initiatives and overall growth,” Loaded tells Tubefilter.
She’ll report to Loaded/Open World CEO Josh Swartz.
“As our business units evolve, we’re thrilled to be able to bring a leader like Irina into our executive team,” Swartz said in a statement. “Her work will help to ensure that our commercialization strategies keep pace both with the products and service layers we’re building, and those that we’re looking to acquire in order to better serve the gaming and interactive industries and communities.”
“Loaded and Open World are undeniably among the market leaders when it comes to gaming–from working with creators to advising brands entering or operating in the space,” Shames added. “I’m thrilled to bring my experience to the table, and support this next chapter as we look to grow our core businesses, build new offerings for the market, and acquire strategically aligned entities.”
Loaded says Shames is joining the company at a time of “explosive” growth. It raised $20 million in a Series A round last summer, recently picked up its first VTuber, Vienna, and is planning a season of mergers and acquisitions.
