Our Team
Established in 2020, Joystick Ventures is a partnership between Nazca and Xsolla that leverages more than 20 years of combined, comprehensive venture capital and video game industry relationships and expertise.
Our panel of experts identify developers who demonstrate standout IP, team leadership, and collaboration skills and provide them with the financial investments and publishing and marketing guidance they need to successfully realize their vision.
Ivan Carrillo
Managing Partner
Ivan is an experienced Chief Technology Officer with a demonstrated history of working in Venture Capital and as an entrepreneur. He successfully launched 4 companies with a combined valuation of USD 100M+.
One of his latest achievements in gaming is a 106% score on Hollow Knight. Food and dog lover.
Dmitri Bourkovski
Managing Partner
Having over 20 years of experience in the video games business, Dmitri is one of the earlier pioneers of this industry in Eastern Europe. He established a games division for Noviy Disk, a leading local publisher, and helped to get Russia’s home market to a top-5 position worldwide. Dmitri has also created an exclusive distributor for Nintendo in Russia and was in charge of launching the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms there. With the market shifting to free2play and online/mobile in the late 2000s, he helped establish the online game publishing division for Mail.Ru, the largest internet company in Eastern Europe.
Follow Dmitri: LinkedIn
Justin Berenbaum
Principal
Justin "Dark Yoda" Berenbaum is Vice President of Strategy at Xsolla and GM of Xsolla Funding Club and has nearly 30 years of strategic development experience in the video game industry that includes Activision, 505 Games, Capcom, and many others. His career spans publishing, international business development, sales, customer support, game development, strategy, and licensing for game developers, publishers, and technology companies.
He is a former member of the Global Game Jam Board of Directors , was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Game Developers Association, and a former music director and radio DJ.
Ed Lin
Principal
Ed has over 20+ years of games experience across 7 publishers, studios, and startups, he launched 50+ titles on all major console/PC/handheld units with multiple game industry marketing campaign awards.
Oversaw major gaming franchises: Mortal Kombat, Injustice, Uncharted, Nickelodeon, Metal Gear Solid, F.E.A.R., Dying Light and many more.
Supported award winning Indie games such as Arise "A Simple Story", Bastion, and others
Follow Ed: LinkedIn
Ernest Chung
Analyst
Ernest is the Head Playtester and Analyst at Joystick Ventures and Xsolla. He has over 8 years working in the gaming industry and has played a major part in the formation of Xsolla Funding Club. His favorite titles to play competitively include Dota 2, CS:GO and Valorant but also enjoys casual games such as Subnautica, XCOM, and The Moonlighter.
Follow Ernest: Discord: KingErn#8486 • LinkedIn
Oscar Sanchez
Controller
Oscar Sanchez serves as Controller at Joystick Ventures (JV). Prior to JV, he worked at the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) for 10 years, supervising different financial industries; first Loans and Savings Entities (e.g., Kubo Financiero), then Credit Report Agencies (e.g., Buro de Credito) and during his last year, Payment Network’s Participants (Fintech industry), more focused on Aggregators (e.g., PayPal) and Payment Brands (e.g., MasterCard). He has an MA in Finance and Investment from the London School of Business and Finance, London, and holds a Financial Risk Management Postgraduate’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Technological University of Mexico, in Mexico City.
Andrea Navarro
Legal
Andrea Navarro de la Maza serves as Head of Legal at Joystick Ventures. She joined Joystick's legal team as an undergraduate student in 2020. She is a passionate learner and graduated from law school at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, where she graduated with honors.
Follow Andrea: Twitter