THE FORMER chief executive of daily fantasy sports business FanDuel has taken up a directorship at wood-fired oven business Ooni six months after raising finance for his own new venture.
New York-based Nigel Eccles, who left FanDuel at the end of 2017, will sit on Ooni’s board as a non-executive director, having joined alongside new chairman Paul Ross.
Like Mr Ross, who will remain as managing director of drinks business Edrington’s super premium brands division, Mr Eccles will continue in his role as chief executive of group-messaging company Flick.
READ MORE: Former FanDuel chief raises $4m for new venture Flick
Headquartered in Edinburgh, Ooni was founded by husband and wife team Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland in 2013 and claims to be the creator of the world’s first portable wood-fired pizza oven.
Calling both Mr Eccles and Mr Ross “legends”, Ms Garland said the pair had come on board because they were “excited by what we’ve achieved with our team thus far and the huge opportunity that lies ahead of us”.
It comes after Mr Eccles, who launched Flick alongside fellow FanDuel founder Rob Jones, closed a $4 million fundraising for the new business last year.
READ MORE: FanDuel cofounder Lesley Eccles secures $2.2m of backing for new firm
Initially envisaged as an eSports firm, Flick has now morphed into what its website describes as a “live mobile engagement platform” that “redefine[s] how you organise, chat and consume media together”.
Meanwhile, this week another FanDuel founder, Tom Griffiths, raised $3.6m in seed finance for his new venture Hone, a San Francisco-based business focused on workplace training for virtual teams. At the end of last year FanDuel co-founder Lesley Eccles raised $2.2m for her new firm Relish.
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