Cynthia Williams, a video game industry vet who recently departed Wizards of the Coast, was named CEO of Everett, Wash.-based pop culture collectibles maker Funko.
Williams was previously president of Wizards, the Hasbro-owned game company behind Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. She left the company last month.
During her two-year stint, Williams oversaw a period in which Wizards’ flagship games were both extraordinarily successful and frequently controversial.
Williams also worked in leadership roles with Microsoft’s Xbox team and Amazon’s finance and fulfillment departments.
“My extensive experience with the devoted fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Xbox will be highly beneficial in developing products that continue to appeal to Funko’s passionate fans, both core fans and collectors,” Williams said in a statement.
Williams in May will replace Michael Lunsford, who has been interim CEO since July, when he took over for former CEO Brian Mariotti. She’ll also join the board.
Funko stock was up 10% in after-hours trading. Shares are down nearly 40% over the past 12 months. The company laid off 12% of its workforce in August, and its president resigned in March.
Funko on Thursday reported first quarter revenue of $215.7 million, down from $251.9 million in the year-ago period. Net loss decreased from $61.1 million to $23.7 million.
Other key personnel changes across the Pacific Northwest tech industry:
— Bellevue, Wash.-based workflow automation company Nintex promoted two executives: Christian Lucarelli as vice president and head of the company’s global partner program, and Tony Thomas, vice president and head of global customer experience.
Lucarelli joined Nintex in 2015 and was most recently a VP for EMEA. He previously worked for AvePoint, IBM, and Siemens.
Thomas joined the company in January after stints with Skuid — which Nintex acquired in January — Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and EMC.
Private equity giant TPG Capital bought a majority stake in Nintex in 2021. Amit Mathradas, a longtime tech leader and former Avalara president, joined Nintex as CEO last year.
— Seattle-based cannabis company Leafly hired Peter Lee as its new president and chief operating officer. Lee, a longtime cannabis exec and finance veteran, was previously president of Merida Merger Corporation, which merged with Leafly as part of its SPAC deal in 2022. Lee will remain on Leafly’s board.
Leafly’s stock price has fallen more than 60% in the past year. The company on Thursday reported revenue of $9 million for the first quarter, down from $11.2 million in the year-ago period.
“We are excited by the recent historic announcement by the DEA of its plan to reschedule cannabis, which we hope will serve as a pathway for operators to redirect capital to invest in their own businesses,” Leafly CEO Yoko Miyashita said in a press release. “When the anticipated relief arrives, we expect cannabis businesses to increase their efforts to market to and attract new shoppers.”
— Levi Reed, a veteran of Seattle’s startup ecosystem, launched Twig Ventures, a new angel syndicate focused on companies in the sustainable consumer products sector. Reed is a entrepreneur-in-residence with Startup425; was previously managing director at Founder Institute in Seattle; and worked for Amazon for five years. He’s leading Twig Ventures with Intuit marketing manager John Sandoval.
— Ric Merrifield, a longtime Seattle tech and business leader, joined Seattle-based hydrogen energy company Hypowered Hydrogen as CEO and joined its board.
— Seattle real estate startup Far Homes hired Elaine Han as head of business operations. Han previously spent eight years at Redfin, most recently as a senior program manager.
— Seattle autonomous driving technology startup Overland AI hired Chris Merz as director of program management. The West Point grad previously was an engineering program manager at Google and spent nearly eight years with the U.S. Army.
