Management Team
Board
Mark Epstein is an experienced CEO, director, entrepreneur, expert in marketing, communications, technology and mobile. Mark is the co-founder of Krunch.ai a next generation insight and intelligence platform, IgniteAMT a digital transformation company and IgniteCAP an incubation and investment business. Mark also co-founded and was CEO on its AIM listing of the world's first Ethical Mobile Phone Network, co-founded the UK’s largest digital voter registration project as and has co-founded digital agencies that work with clients such as Channel 4, WWF and NHS.
Rama Uthayanan is a UK qualified accountant with over 35 years’ audit and accounting experience, including as Finance Director of AIM listed The People’s Operator plc from 2016 until 2019. He has been Finance Director at Krunchdata Limited, the Company’s 49% subsidiary since December 2018.
John is a highly experienced business leader with over 35 years' operating within financial markets and more lately the sports and gaming sectors. John has considerable expertise within e-sports, fan platforms and sports content which will complement Gana Media Group' business strategy going forward.
John has held numerous senior roles and the highlights can be seen as follows - Executive Director of Instinet (UK) Limited and then CEO and Head of International at Liquidnet, both of which were start-up companies to be successfully acquired by major financial institutions.
John was also a Non-Executive Director of Percentile Limited that was acquired by Torstone Technology and in the world of e-sports the Chairman of Phoenix Games Network Limited that was acquired by The Esports Entertainment Group, a NASDAQ listed company.
Stefano has over 27 year of investment experience at institutional level and is currently a Partner at Goldentree Asset Management, a $55 billion hedge fund and global asset manager with investments across the world. Before joining Goldentree in 2018 Stefano served as Partner at Hayfin Capital, a $31 billion global investment manager and also run, in senior roles, investment books in a number of other asset managers and banks across several cycles.
Stefano is also a serial investor in start-ups and growing companies and currently serves as Executive Director on the Board of Directors of Financial Guaranty UK Ltd, a regulated UK insurance company and on the Board of Advisors of Keo World, a leading B2B digital lender with operations in Mexico and Brazil.
Stefano graduated cum laude in Economics at the Luiss G Carli University of Rome and is a qualified chartered accountant.
Brian is the Founding Director of United Oil & Gas PLC. He is a qualified accountant and holds an MBA from Dublin City University. Brian has extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, having held senior finance and commercial roles with Tullow Oil plc and Providence Resources plc.
At Tullow Oil, Brian worked across finance and commercial functions on a wide range of production, development, and exploration projects in South America and Asia, where he was involved in numerous investment case evaluations. During his time at Providence Resources, Brian held senior finance and commercial positions and worked across a diverse asset portfolio spanning the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Ireland, onshore United Kingdom, and offshore Nigeria.
His background combines strong financial expertise with broad international operational experience.
A Chartered accountant and senior executive with 20 years’ experience in betting and gaming industry, currently CEO of NYCE and former CEO & CFO of Matchbook Betting Exchange.
A leader of significant business change including restructuring, governance, regulatory, financial control and exits. Led a series of iGaming acquisitions at Sportingbet PLC (2006-2012), its listing on the LSE in 2010 and subsequent sale to Entain Plc. As CEO of Matchbook, Farzad led the overhaul of the entire UK facing operations per the UKGC directives - establishing a gold standard of compliance, AML & social responsibility procedures.
Prior to NYCE, Farzad held Senior Advisory positions at leading African operator, Betpawa & London listed gaming brands, B90 Holdings PLC and Mobile Streams PLC (best performing AIM stock of 2024).
Farzad has until recently held a Personal Management License (PML) with the UKGC and ‘Key Individual’ status with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).
Ramon is a leading Mexican entrepreneur with a proven track record of building, scaling, and exiting high-impact businesses in the sports and entertainment sector. Known for combining strategic vision with operational execution, he has played a key role in shaping modern sports experiences for audiences across Mexico and Latin America.
Founder of Alive Entertainment, one of Mexico’s largest and most influential sports entertainment companies, operating across live events, media, and digital fan engagement. His work focuses on innovation, audience growth, and creating sustainable commercial platforms that connect fans, brands, and sporting culture at scale.
Senior Management Team
Tom Gutteridge is a multiple award-winning technologist who has over 20 years’ experience building ideas, products and businesses. As a digital pioneer, he built his experience through creating engagement technologies for brands such as Nokia, Pepsi, Vodafone, Sony and Adobe and was voted one of Marketing Weeks Rising Stars. He moved onto to pursue his own ventures, co-founding and listing the world's first Ethical Mobile Phone Network, co-founding the UKs largest digital voter registration project and co-founding multiple digital agencies that work with clients such as Channel 4, WWF and NHS.
Advisory Board
Alessandro Ciacchini is a senior financial executive based in Switzerland, advisor to numerous financial bodies and government institutions, and an expert in international banking and government relations. With a strong background in finance and strategic advisory, he plays a key role in shaping policies and fostering collaborations between the public and private sectors.
As an experienced investor in startups, Alessandro brings not only capital but also seniority, vision, and leadership to early-stage companies. His ability to identify high-potential opportunities and implement growth strategies has helped numerous ventures scale efficiently and achieve major milestones. By leveraging his deep industry knowledge and global network, he provides strategic guidance, connects businesses with key stakeholders, and ensures long-term success in competitive markets.
Paolo Fidanza has a deep knowledge of all the South America markets (where he operated various ventures and M&A), but especially in Mexico and Brazil, where Paolo has lead KEO, the world leading B2B fintech, to over $1bn transactions and helped hundreds of SME thrive.
Lorenzo Caci is a premier strategic architect in the global sports tech and iGaming sectors. With a career spanning over 18 years, Caci has established himself as a visionary who recognized the inevitable convergence of media and betting long before it became an industry standard. By championing the integration of real-time data into media broadcasts, he has fundamentally transformed how fans engage with sports, turning passive viewership into an interactive, data-driven experience. His leadership has been instrumental in shifting the industry narrative from viewing betting as a secondary utility to seeing it as a core pillar of modern fan engagement.
Beyond his vision for media, Caci is a specialist in global market expansion, with an unrivaled track record in identifying and scaling high-growth territories across Southern Europe, Latin America, and South Asia. He is widely recognized for his sophisticated approach to product localization, ensuring that global technology resonates with local cultural nuances and regulatory frameworks. Caci continues to shape the future of the digital sports landscape, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and the evolving needs of the global sports fan.
