California-based VR outfit Jaunt has hired former MLBAM and NBCU exec George Kliavkoff as its new CEO. Jaunt has worked with numerous sports industry clients, including the MLB Giants, the ongoing Baseball HOF Tour, eSports operations ESL and Counter Logic Gaming and Basketball HOFer Shaquille O’Neal. Kliavkoff will relocate to Palo Alto from N.Y., where he was most recently co-President of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication and Hearst Ventures President. He succeeds former CEO Jens Christensen, who left the company in May.
Jaunt co-Founder Arthur van Hoff, who had been interim CEO, will return to his prior role as CTO. “In reviewing this entire space, it was quite clear to me that Jaunt was the best positioned video VR company out there, and when the CEO opportunity emerged, it was quite serendipitous and immediately obvious to me that was where I needed to be,” Kliavkoff said. “This is an exceptionally well-positioned, well-financed company.” Jaunt used One Degree Partners to aid with the CEO search process. “We feel very fortunate to have gotten George,” van Hoff said. “He has experience not only in digital media, but disruptive media, has experience running companies, and we are now looking to move from a start-up to a major player in digital media.”
