About VGW
Who We Are
VGW is an interactive entertainment company, harnessing technology and creativity to deliver world-class, free-to-play games.
With high-quality, acclaimed brands including Chumba Casino, Global Poker and LuckyLand Slots, we entertain and delight over one million players in North America. As pioneers in sweepstakes promotions for online social games, we also offer our players the opportunity to redeem incredible prizes.
At VGW, one of our core values is “our players come first”. This means always striving to deliver a safe, responsible and positive player experience.
VGW Group operates the widely popular online social games platforms – Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and LuckyLand Slots.
OUR VALUES
Our People
We owe our success to our people. Our supportive, collaborative and creative culture is a reflection of the people in VGW and the work that we do. Collectively we have created a diverse, rich and cultural workplace that not only empowers us to embrace new ways of thinking, but that also gives everyone at VGW a place to belong and reach their full potential.
We have a passion for creating great games, but more importantly we are committed to cultivating a safe, secure and responsible environment for our players to enjoy their game experience.
Board of Directors
Laurence Escalante
Founder, Chairman & CEO
Laurence Escalante is a gaming and technology entrepreneur with a background in the financial services sector.
He has been an angel investor, founder and entrepreneur in the games industry for 15 years, founding White Knight Games in 2004, and was a founder and angel investor in Anino Mobile, one of the Philippines’ premier game development studios (which was acquired by Playlab in 2014).
Since founding VGW in 2010, he has led the raising of approximately $16 million in early-stage funding, the invention of multiple innovations in online social games (including VGW’s Social Casino sweepstakes gaming products) and the development of VGW’s global and highly specialised development and operations teams.
Laurence studied Economics and Actuarial Studies at university before ultimately attaining a financial planning qualification and spending 10 years in the industry as a technical and investment specialist.
Mats Johnson
Executive Director & Chief Marketing Officer
Mats Johnson is an accomplished technology and online gaming leader with significant experience in establishing and growing online businesses globally.
Over the last 20 years, he has led the growth of several well-known online gaming companies including Centrebet, Coral Eurobet, Playsafe and Expekt.
He has led large and often geographically dispersed teams and formulated global expansion strategies delivering significant and profitable growth in both new and established markets.
He has expertise in digital marketing, both acquisition and retention, and in-depth experience in successfully building and managing online brands globally. He also has extensive mergers and acquisitions experience having been actively involved in six successful exits of online gaming companies, including the £2.18 billion sale of Coral Eurobet to Gala Group.
Lorenzo Escalante
Non-Executive Director
Lorenzo Escalante is a highly-experienced business intelligence specialist and IT professional with a focus spanning almost 20 years in big data analytics for major Australian corporations.
He has provided specialist business intelligence services to Woodside, BHP Billiton and Commonwealth Bank of Australia and has been employed by OnePath (ANZ), AAPT and Landcorp.
He has extensive experience across multiple business intelligence platforms, in particular SAP Business Objects.
He is the founder of Lance East Corporation, the founding shareholder of VGW, and has guided Laurence Escalante’s knowledge of big data analytics as it applies to VGW’s social gaming business.
Our Story
VGW was founded
Laurence Escalante founded VGW with a vision of creating a virtual world where no matter who you were or where you came from, you could join a community of like minded individuals in order to enjoy limitless entertainment experiences.
2010Chumba Casino Launched
Laurence coupled his passion for social entertainment with a dedicated team of developers and a game changing product was born. Chumba Casino revolutionised the online social games market by utilising sweepstakes promotions and providing players with the ability to interact with social games in a way they never had before.
2012VGW grows
Chumba Casino grows from strength to strength. The VGW team expands to support the explosive growth and to further improve the games offering and player experience.
2012 - 2016Global Poker launched
The technology used to make Chumba a market leader is incorporated into a new social poker site. The brand is an instant success and one of the fastest growing online social poker websites available to players in the United States.
2016LuckyLand Slots acquisition and launch
VGW acquires an established social games business and develops a second social casino brand. LuckyLand Slots is launched and is an instant success with its fun games, unique features and gamified user experience.
2018