The Virtua Team
Gary Bracey (Chairman, Co-Founder)
Gary is an experienced games industry professional, having spearheaded many IP and brand collaborations in his decades in the industry. Recognised as a leader and innovator in the tech space, he’s now turning his expertise to the metaverse through a senior advisory role at Virtua.
Jawad Ashraf (CEO, Co-Founder)
In a career spanning decades, Jawad has been at the forefront of innovation in emerging technology. Having pioneered software development in industry and enterprise, he’s been a driving force in the early adoption of progressive tech. As CEO and Co-Founder of Virtua, Jawad is an industry leader in NFTs, blockchain, and the metaverse.
Anoop Lal (CFO)
A seasoned strategic and innovative commercial finance and operations leader with over 30 years’ experience, Anoop is known for maximising operational excellence and delivering financial performance.
Anoop has extensive experience delivering business solutions in technology (sales $250m), media (x4 growth), F&B (sales $1.5b) and global FMCG (+$1b), serving across multiple geographies including the UK, Germany, Greece, Qatar and Dubai through expert performance management, a pragmatic approach to decision making, and problem-solving with rigorous business modelling.
Doug Dyer (COO)
Doug is a diverse business leader whose professional experience includes working with independent start-ups, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between. Throughout his career, Doug’s core focus has always been on media, gaming, and entertainment.
Doug’s extensive experience has seen him take on roles in games development and publishing, business and product development, licensing, payments, and compliance. His specialisms include interactive entertainment, AR/VR gaming, and blockchain gaming.
In his role as Virtua’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Doug leads on partnerships and games projects, and provides strategic counsel.
Pierre Dadd (CMO)
Pierre is a marketing professional with over twenty years’ experience working with top-tier brands, including LEGO, Disney, the BBC, and Auto Trader. Pierre specialises in virtual worlds, tech, toys, and collectibles, and has implemented innovative marketing strategies throughout his career. As Virtua’s Chief Marketing Officer, he oversees all facets of the company’s brand and marketing operations.
Rory Stewart-Richardson (Commercial Director)
Rory has a wealth of experience in marketing and business development. In his position as Commercial Director at Virtua, Rory plays a lead role in developing existing relationships with major brands, as well as growing new partnership opportunities.
Donna Chen (Marketing Director)
Donna is a Web3 Marketing Director who has acquired a huge range of experience in developing and delivering high-growth marketing strategies for Virtua.
As a highly experienced Marketing & Digital Director at world-leading brands from Walgreen Boots Alliance to GAME, Marks & Spencer, Toys “R” Us and Debenhams Group, Donna has a long track record of driving globally successful digital, marketing transformation, and growth initiatives. She is also an avid crypto enthusiast and closet sci-fi geek.
Jaka Kotnik (Head of Community)
Jaka is a collector, NFT enthusiast, and crypto investor who turned his hobby into a profession. Before switching to the NFT and crypto industry full-time in 2020, he ran his own company for 12 years and experienced every aspect of marketing in great detail. After discovering and enjoying everything that Virtua and their team has to offer in early 2020, Jaka first joined as an ambassador before quickly becoming Virtua’s Community Manager, taking care of the company’s community channels on Discord and Telegram.
After Virtua’s rapid growth, the company needed to expand its community presence across all platforms. Jaka was soon promoted to Virtua’s Head of Community, managing over 30 full-time employees across all platforms and focusing on community strategy and growth.
You’ll always find Jaka engaging with the community through Virtua’s various social platforms, sharing his vision and communicating with community members.
Bruno Santos (Head of Design)
With 15 years’ experience in creative advertising, Bruno has art-directed international campaigns for Sky, NOW TV, the RAF, King Games, Amazon AWS, London Pride, and many more. Since 2017, he has been diving deep into the metaverse and P2E spaces, actively contributing to projects in The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels, Decentraland, Somnium Space and others. A diehard NFT collector, gamer, and cryptohead, Bruno is focused on pushing Virtua’s brand towards a new frontier.
Harry Cole (Head of PR & Events)
Harry is a Communications and PR technology specialist, with considerable experience in associated areas of marketing.