RFRSH Entertainment and BLAST expands: Opens London Office

In November RFRSH Entertainment launched BLAST Pro Series, an esports concept and live tournament that broke several viewership records during the World Premiere, and just last month Istanbul was announced as the first stop of 2018 in the new international series.

With several new international events and concepts in the pipeline, the company has just announced the addition of 3 highly experienced capacities to the management group, all based in London, as well as internal restructuring to strengthen the organization around BLAST Pro Series, original media concepts and live entertainment.

Nikolaj Nyholm, CEO of RFRSH Entertainment, comments:

- Over the past 16 months, RFRSH Entertainment has set new standards with regards to team management, innovative trendsetting performance initiatives and we have launched the newest and most energetic live format of esports. We have taken the first major steps to break into the mainstream market, and we have seen some impressive results in connection with the World Premiere of BLAST Pro Series.

- We are constantly growing all our properties and expanding into new areas, and over the coming months we will announce a range of new, innovative initiatives and original media concepts together with new international stops in BLAST Pro Series. With this in mind, I am extremely pleased we can now announce some significant additions to our management team together with a restructuring of our existing resources. This will enable RFRSH Entertainment to strengthen and build on the existing success to move into new areas of the esport business.

- We have recently brought in Alexander Lewin (VP Programming & Distribution) and Ben Oliver (VP of Creative & Original Content) and last week Robbie Douek joined us as President & CCO. They will be based in London, but together with the rest of the management team they will be responsible for the further development of RFRSH Entertainment and BLAST Pro Series, including new concepts within originals, reality- and live products and productions, the CEO explains.

Over the past 12 months, the RFRSH organization has grown significantly with a lot of focus on developing BLAST Pro Series. This development continues with renewed focus on creating and producing live and reality content as well as original productions.

- We are continuously strengthening the organization around the teams, BLAST, content and sales. e have freed up Frederik Byskov from Astralis, who we have taken in as new Director of Esports Operations. Frederik brings an extensive network and experience and he will be joining the newly founded team headed by Jordi Roig, VP and Executive Producer in RFRSH and BLAST, Nyholm says.

- I don’t think you’ll find many stronger organizations in esports, but with the ambitions of RFRSH and BLAST, this is the way to go. And we’ve really just begun, the CEO concludes.

The new content concepts and development of BLAST Pro Series and dates for 2018 and ‘19 will be announced over the coming months.

Management team bios:

Nikolaj Nyholm, Founder and CEO

Before founding RFRSH Entertainment in 2016, Nikolaj was General Partner at venture capital firm Sunstone, having invested in companies such as Seriously, Neo4j, Podio, and GetYourGuide. Before Sunstone, he spent a decade co-founding companies such as Polar Rose (acquired by Apple), imity (acquired by Zyb/Vodafone), and Speednames (acquired by NetNames).

Robbie Douek, President and CCO (London)

Robbie is responsible for all P&L related operations,sales and product execution in RFRSH. Prior to joining RFRSH, Robbie spent 3 years at Disney & Maker Studios where he was Vice-President Digital, Disney Partnerships, EMEA and Managing Director of Maker Studios, EMEA. Before this, Robbie spent 5 years at Google, in London and Paris, where he had different roles including Head of Branding & YouTube Solutions across SEEMEA; Head of Mobile, SEEMEA and Head of Mobile France.

Ben Oliver, VP of Creative and Original Content (London)

Ben joins from VICE where he oversaw editorial and branded content across EMEA. Before that he pioneered blending stories with technology as a Creative Lead at AKQA on Nike’s and Xbox’s global accounts. He specialises in creating films, franchises and formats engaged with by millions around the world and is an expert in making meaningful, culturally-led content whatever the platform or channel.

Alexander Lewin VP Programming and Distribution, (London)

As VP Distribution & Programming Alexander oversees all of RFRSH’s global licensing activities to TV, Online, Theatrical and beyond, as well as programming strategy. Prior to RFRSH, Alexander was global Head of Distribution & Programming at Disney’s Maker Studios, following five years at VICE. His earlier stints include a digital VOD start-ups and linear TV channel distribution.

Frederik Byskov, Director of Esports Operations, BLAST Pro Series (CPH)

Frederik joins RFRSH from a position as CEO of Astralis, which he founded back in 2016. Over the past 13 years, Frederik has worked in basically all areas of esports; from running the very first Valve CS:GO Major, managing a number of esport teams, being tournament director at dozens of esport events, to operating news sites and running online leagues. Frederik is one of the most experienced within the esports business.

New / extended roles:

Jordi Roig VP and Executive Producer, RFRSH & BLAST Pro Series (CPH)

Jordi joined RFRSH in November 2016. He has a livelong background in marketing within pro-sports and entertainment. He has worked with established brands, like 10 times Danish Soccer Champion Brøndby IF, developing existing brand- and fanbases into prize winning digital marketing assets and with new sport entertainment brand handball team AG Copenhagen Outside pro-sports, Jordi has worked for Nordisk Film helping commercially develop entertainment clients like major Scandinavian opera- and music houses, rock festivals and musical producers etc.

Nicolas Estrup, Director of Product, BLAST Pro Series (CPH)

Nicolas joined RFRSH in December 2016. With a background in content production in the early years of esports, Nicolas later went on to gather 10+ years of experience working with video production, concept development and creative strategies for clients such as Red Bull, Microsoft, Google/YouTube etc.He has worked with a large variety of content types, such as TV commercials, pro sports content, documentary films and live streaming.

Kaare Breinholt, Director of Production, BLAST Pro Series (CPH)

Kaare joined RFRSH/BLAST in August 2017 with the global responsibility of the production of BLAST Pro Series. With more than 20 years of experience in the event industry, Kaare has worked with several Danish and international clients. He has worked organizing and executing several major sport events including World Championship in Road Biking, Taekwondo, BMX and Handball as well as outreach events during the IOC conference in Copenhagen. Kaare was one of the partners to roll out the Fun Run phenomena “The Color Run” throughout Scandinavia and he worked as the DR Outreach Event Manager of the EUROVISION 2014 in Copenhagen.

Steen Laursen, VP Comms & Brand, RFRSH Entertainment & BLAST Pro Series (CPH)

Steen joined RFRSH in January 2017 with the Brand and PR responsibility for all properties within RFRSH Entertainment. He has worked for more than a decade with communications, PR and media relations in sports and entertainment, including roles as Communications Director, Media Director and PR Manager in Brøndby IF, AG København and with FC Nordsjaelland in UEFA Champions League. He has had similar roles building Brands and Media internationally in Amazing and Endless Jewelry.

Jakob Co-Founder and EVP Sales RFRSH Entertainment & BLAST Pro Series (CPH)

As a co-Founder, Jakob has been with RFRSH from the very beginning. Over the past 10 years, Jakob has been one of the most significant names in the Danish as well as international scene of esports. As a founder and co-founder of several esports teams and organizations, and with his experience and deep understanding of the facettes and unique commercial possibilities in esports, Jakob holds a key role in the commercial results of RFRSH Entertainment, BLAST Pro Series and the teams.