Vikas Gupta, President and Chief Executive Officer
Vikas has the privilege of working with an extraordinary team and, together with them, is establishing TransGaming as a global leader in the development of innovative products for the electronic entertainment industry. TransGaming has been featured as a PROFIT Hot 50 company as well as ranking third in the TSX Venture Top 50.
Prior to joining TransGaming, Vikas was the founder and President of InterLogic Systems, a telephony consulting and systems integration firm dedicated to delivering innovative and creative enterprise solutions to Fortune 1000 clients in the areas of Computer Telephony Integration, Interactive Voice Response Systems, and fax processing systems. InterLogic was acquired by Prima Telematic and Vikas served as President of Prima Canada and Executive Vice President of Prima Telematic.
Vikas plays an active role in advising and mentoring a number of start-ups, is Chair of the non-profit organization, McCluhan Festival of the Future, and sits on the Board of Interactive Ontario. Vikas is also a frequent speaker and lecturer at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business and Ryerson University's Business and Technology program. In 2008, Vikas was the recipient of the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has also been featured in a broad range of print and television media. Vikas is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, Canada's premier high-tech educational institution.
Gavriel (Gav) State, Founder and Chief Technology Officer
As Founder and CTO of TransGaming, Gav brings exceptional technical expertise in the areas of portability technologies and significant engineering management experience. Prior to founding TransGaming, Gav founded and led Corel's Linux Applications Development team, and later served as its Software Architect. While he was responsible for Corel's use of the Open Source Wine project as a solution for moving Windows applications such as WordPerfect Office 2000 and CorelDRAW to Linux, Gav also led the CorelDRAW Macintosh development team.
In addition to portability technology and graphics, he has also worked on development tools at both Microsoft and Metrowerks, as well as on network distributed virtual reality systems at the University of Waterloo.
Dennis Ensing, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary
Dennis has over 20 years of hands-on experience in corporate finance, operations, planning and reporting. At TransGaming, Dennis is currently CFO and Secretary and is responsible for corporate accounting, treasury & finance, taxation, public company reporting, and risk management. Prior to joining TransGaming, Dennis was a Vice President within the Corporate Finance practice of Ernst and Young where he provided transaction advisory services to emerging companies. Dennis has also held various finance and operational positions, including CFO and COO, for various start-ups and $50 million high growth companies. He has raised over 50 million dollars in the past three years through his counsel on strategic transactions, financing and fund-raising options for various companies - an activity he continues today.
Dennis is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. Dennis served as Chair of the Selection Committee for the Annual Toronto Venture Fair in 2002 and 2003 and currently serves on the board of directors of the TechAlliance of South Western Ontario.
Paul Nowosad, VP Marketing and Licensing
Paul leads TransGaming's marketing and online initiatives and also handles strategic business development and licensing.
Prior to joining TransGaming, Paul led the corporate strategy team at Ontario Lottery & Gaming (OLG), Canada's largest lottery and gaming corporation. Prior to OLG, Paul held senior management positions at Yahoo!, Transcontinental, and the Walt Disney Company. During his tenure with Yahoo!, Paul was focused on the growth of Canadian partnerships, leading the team to establish the Rogers-Yahoo! ISP relationship visible today across Ontario.
Paul plays an active role in the University of Toronto – Rotman Business Management School, offering his time as both a program advisor and student mentor. Paul is also on the Rouge Valley Health Foundation Hospital Board and is part of several not-for-profit charity activities. Paul holds a Masters degree from Northern Colorado, and two undergraduate degrees from the University of Calgary, and University of Western Ontario.
Blake Lewin, President TransGaming Digital Home
As President of TransGaming's digital home division Blake brings an extensive background to the company, most recently as VP, Media and Entertainment Platforms for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) Platform R&D Group. Lewin is the inventor of GameTap, Turner's first broadband entertainment network, and was responsible for its design and development. He was executive producer on Cyan Worlds' Myst Online: URU Live and on TBS virtual worlds launched within Kaneva; has filed three patents for Turner on iTV and broadband systems; has led the production and management of web and interactive TV applications on various emerging platforms over the past 17 years; and has licensed and produced CD-ROMs and games such as Hell Cab, Dinotopia, The Pagemaster and Carl Sagan's Murmurs of Earth.
Early in his career, Lewin was a musician with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music composition, a minor in electronic music, and an associate's degree in audio technology from Indiana University. Lewin worked for inventor Emmett Chapman (The Chapman Stick), did transcriptions for artists such as Frank Zappa and Allan Holdsworth, and served as music coordinator for major motion pictures, including Thelma and Louise, Company Business, and Man In The Moon.