Facebook Gaming executive Phil Ranta has joined startup Wormhole Labs as chief operating officer.
Ranta, who most recently served as head of North America gaming creators at the social network, will help Wormhole launch its immersive and social platforms.
Wormhole, which in 2019 raised $8 million in seed funding from backers including West Coast Capital Partners, has created a social platform where people, in avatar form, can connect with each other as they would in the real world, an action the company calls “Wormholing.” Using the camera on a smartphone, users can digitize their surroundings in what Wormhole calls a “10 Dimensional Slice of Life” and then connect virtually with people in the space.
The company says its technology is in beta in more than 100 countries and has more than 41,000 users.
“Wormhole has the best solution for seamlessly connecting people, content, space, and time,” Ranta said in a statement. “It’s truly a new category in the tech industry, giving users a feeling of true presence for everything from protests to social-distancing that’s unmatched by any social platform on the market.”
Ranta spent the last year overseeing relationships with gaming creators at Facebook, signing and managing live streaming talent on the platform. A digital industry veteran, he has also served as COO at Studio71 and vp networks at Fullscreen.
“We are excited to have Phil help respond to the demand for more human-like and immersive live interaction, which we are seeing come from communities including students, gamers, influencers businesses and also people who need a sense of true community compounded recently due to coronavirus and protests,” Wormhole founder and CEO Curtis Hutten said.
