Viral Nation Leadership

A born entrepreneur, Joe launched his first venture—selling recycled paintballs—when he was just 12. Later, his passion for technology and bringing ideas to life led him to partner with his high school friend, Mat Micheli. Together, they launched a series of ventures, including Viral Nation in 2014.

As Viral Nation’s Co-CEO, Joe has led the company’s transformation from a leading influencer marketing agency to a global digital and social innovation group that powers the social ecosystem through integrated solutions that align strategy, talent, media, and technology. Viral Nation now works with tens of thousands of influencers across the social landscape and fuels growth for the world’s leading brands, including Anheuser-Busch, The Coca Cola Company, Hasbro, Meta, Oculus, Tencent, and Uber.

A recognized expert in influencer marketing and social technologies, Joe is regularly cited in outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, WIRED, CNBC, Vox, Business Insider, Forbes, and Inc.

Joe’s commitment to fostering success extends beyond his business and into his larger community. He teaches marketing courses at Ryerson University and mentors aspiring business leaders as the first Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Toronto.

Joe is Strategic Advisor to Immutable Holdings, the parent company of NFT.com, and to Enlightened Capital, a leading credit facility for alternative financing solutions.

A serial entrepreneur since childhood, Mat Micheli has gone from selling smartphone cases out of his backpack in highschool to founding Viral Nation in 2014 with his business partner Joe Gagliese. As Co-CEO of Viral Nation, Mat oversees the company’s global operations, finance, and technology functions.

Mat has led Viral Nation’s transformation from a leading influencer marketing agency to a global digital and social innovation group that powers the social ecosystem through integrated solutions that align strategy, talent, media, and technology. Viral Nation now works with tens of thousands of influencers across the social landscape and fuels growth for the world’s leading brands, including Anheuser-Busch, The Coca Cola Company, Hasbro, Meta, Oculus, Tencent, and Uber.

A known authority in athlete influencer marketing and social technologies, Mat has been featured in Business Insider, Forbes, and Vox and provides insight to industry outlets including Sportico. Mat also participates in events and conferences to support diverse entrepreneurial communities, including the Rotman Commerce Women in Business (RCWIB) Women’s Leadership Symposium. Mat is a recipient of the EY Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award, which he was awarded in 2019 with Joe.

Jonathan Chanti is the Chief Growth Officer of Viral Nation Group & President of Viral Nation Talent. Jonathan was elevated to President in September of 2022, which acknowledged the important role he serves as a strategic partner, a leader of a large part of Viral Nations operations and growth, and as a forward-thinking business builder. As part of this executive role, Chanti oversees Creator Studios, Talent Ventures, and the motion picture group, which includes its talent, independent film group, media rights, and production departments.

Jonathan has over a decade of experience across business development, talent management, influencer and entertainment marketing, and SaaS technology. Prior to joining Viral Nation, Jonathan was Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Sales at Europe’s leading influencer technology company, InfluencerDB, driving the company’s global expansion into North America. Previously he held the role of SVP of Sales and Business Development for influencer marketing platform, HYPR Brands, leading the sales team to secure over 100 Fortune 500 brands and 25 of the world’s largest advertising and PR agencies as clients.

A recognized authority in the space, Jonathan has been featured in publications including The New York Post, AdWeek, Forbes, AdAge, Bloomberg, The Drum, Entrepreneur, and Digiday.

As CTO, Manny Kandola leads the design and development of Viral Nation’s SaaS technologies, overseeing the technology innovation lab, global engineering hubs, AI & data science teams, cloud computing infrastructures, and cybersecurity. Manny has a passion for igniting technology teams to reimagine business models and deliver exceptional user experiences.

Prior to Viral Nation, Manny was a fixture of the Toronto-area tech ecosystem as co-founder of several startups and CTO-in-residence for an early-stage incubator in Toronto. He brings 20 years of experience developing and commercializing innovative technology to accelerate business growth and scale. Throughout his career, Manny has spearheaded digitization and IS strategies and platforms within the marketing, insurance, education, and financial industries.

Manny holds a Computer Science undergrad from University of Toronto, and an Executive MBA and Masters in Artificial Intelligence from Queen’s University. He is passionate about mentoring young entrepreneurs and regularly shares his experience with educational institutions and industry organizations.

As the Chief Business Development Officer at Viral Nation, Emma is responsible for driving business growth through identifying new clients and customizing strategic approaches for their success.

Emma leads the new business and proposal development teams, evangelizing and delivering on the promise of an industry-wide marketing shift to digital while championing modern marketing services for B2B, B2C and D2C clients.

Throughout her tenure at Viral Nation, Emma has built a reputation for strategies that inspire virality across creative, influencer, performance media, social, and experiential campaigns.

Embracing the core values of integrity, innovation and growth. Emma is distinguished by her passion for business, her focus on collaborative team-building, and her commitment to meeting customer and market demands. Emma holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and is a valued speaker and educator on social transformation.

As in-house counsel at Viral Nation, Anthony oversees the corporate legal department and is responsible for the legal affairs of the organization.Anthony provides business-focused advice to leadership and implements initiatives and processes that set standards and reinforce a culture of integrity, quality, and responsibility across the business.

Anthony has over 25 years of experience in the legal field. Before Viral Nation, he was co-owner and in-house counsel for the award-winning assisted-living facility, Waterdown Manor. Prior to that, he was legal counsel at Stockey and Associates. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Windsor Law School.

As CFO, Rob Curcio leads all finance-related functions including financial reporting, core accounting, treasury, financial planning & analysis, tax, corporate financial strategy and operations, M&A, internal systems and controls, and investor relations. Throughout his career, Rob has spearheaded modernizing the Finance function from hindsight to foresight and is passionate about providing strategic insight to leadership as a key business partner.

Rob is a Canadian CPA, CA with over a decade of experience ranging from auditing private and public companies listed on the TSX and NYSE at PwC to scaling finance teams from Seed to IPO in the Toronto tech ecosystem. In his prior role as VP, Finance at TouchBistro, Rob helped the company raise over $250M CAD from Series B to Series E and led all IPO readiness activities.

His most important role is being a father and role model to his children. As an avid soccer (football) fan, you can find him playing soccer all over the city or being glued to the TV watching his club and country compete!

As Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Sutherland is dedicated to helping Viral Nation achieve its goals through the management and optimization of daily operations, including the development, execution and performance of strategic plans. With more than 15 years of experience in enterprise solutions, services and technology sales in both the private and public sectors, Andrew excels as a high-performance team builder, leader and culture creator.

Having worked within various organizations, from private equity-owned firms to Fortune 10 companies, Andrew thrives in diverse and challenging environments, solving complex situations through attentive listening and a comprehensive understanding of key objectives, underscored by his authentic leadership style and a well-rounded, people-centric approach.

John Birmingham is the General Manager of North America Clients with Viral Nation where he focuses on ensuring the success of our clients as their trusted business partner.

Becoming General Manager of Viral Nation’s digital products has become Heather’s most recent achievement in a long career built on tech consumer products. With over a decade of experience, she unites creativity, technical expertise, and an unwavering commitment to innovation.

Heather’s extensive background encompasses journalism, gaming, enterprise products, mobile apps, web3, and sports. She has been pivotal in shaping iconic AAA titles such as Madden, FIFA, Star Wars, and Battlefield, and she’s been a key player behind mobile disruptors like Game of War and TikTok. Her collaborations with organizations like the UFC, NFL, NFLPA, NBA, and WNBA have given rise to engaging games, products, articles, collectibles, activations, and commercials with marquee athletes and A-list celebrities.

Guided by a philosophy of experimentation, piloting, and test-and-learn, Heather’s approach to product design and app development transcends traditional boundaries. She continually challenges the status quo, inspiring her team and others in the industry to explore new horizons.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Heather’s passion extends into personal pursuits. As an avid gamer and NASM-certified personal trainer, she believes in empowerment and personal growth through continuous learning and exploration. Whether crafting next-generation products or inspiring others through writing and speaking, Heather’s multifaceted interests and skills create a well-rounded perspective, adding depth and resonance to her leadership role.

Neil Desai is executive vice-president with Viral Nation where he focuses on the commercialization of the company’s technology solutions with enterprise and government clients.

Prior to joining Viral Nation, he served on the leadership team of Magnet Forensics, a technology company that develops digital investigation solutions used by more than 4,000 police, national security and other public and private organizations in over 100 countries to investigate crimes such as human trafficking, child exploitation, terrorism and ransomware. There, he helped lead the growth of the company, from a start-up to its initial public offering in 2021 and $1.8-billion sale in 2023.

Neil is a senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation and entrepreneur-in-residence with the Rogers Cyber Catalyst. He is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News Network. Neil also serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Policy Forum, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Innovation Asset Collective, ClearRisk Inc. and is a past director of YMCA Canada. He previously served in the Government of Canada in senior roles at Global Affairs Canada and the Prime Minister’s Office.

As Viral Nation’s Vice President of International Operations, Vikash is responsible for building market share by boosting brand recognition and driving business development in international markets.

In this role, he oversees Viral Nation’s global technology infrastructure, develops financial opportunities with global partners, provides oversight for business and operational strategy, and leads global client and proposal development, and program execution.

Based in the Caribbean, Vikash has over eight years’ experience in international business development and information technology.

As Vice President, Creative and Content, Roxanne drives client growth by designing compelling social experiences and activations. Roxanne’s goal for the team is to make sure we create content that hits our clients’ KPIs, develop a strategy that builds the brand, and bring our clients’ creative to the highest level of craft.

With over 12 years, As an experienced strategic creative director, art director, and innovator, Roxanne is passionate about building and positioning brands through customized storytelling, creative thinking, and social media strategy.

Prior to Viral Nation, Roxanne was Creative Director at Oliver Agency, working onsite at Unilever HQ to deliver the overall creative vision for U-Studio, with clients including Love Beauty & Planet, TRESemme, Vaseline, Hellmann’s, Klondike, Popsicle and more.

Roxanne holds a BFA, in Graphic Design and Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design.

Where creativity meets formula.” This is a phrase that has continually guided Brandon over the last 8+ years as he’s navigated a career that has encompassed influencer and talent marketing, content marketing, social advertising, and content production.

Brandon is the Head of Business for VN Studio, the in-house content and creative hub within Viral Nation’s tech-driven marketing agency. As Head of Business, Brandon’s priority is to ensure that a cross-functional staff of creatives, producers, strategists, and content operationalists thrive as a unified division within an environment of intoxicating creative inspiration and cutting-edge content creation. This priority is supported by his work to ensure a seamless integration of the Studio into the broader marketing agency in order to facilitate the highest-quality creative and production work on behalf of Viral Nation’s roster of global brand and talent partners.

Brandon joins Viral Nation following the acquisition of Eight Seven Media, a boutique content production agency that he co-owned with his partner, Dylan Scance. Eight Seven Media provided video and photo production services for B2C and B2B brands, as well as video and photo production and monetization services for top-tier professional athletes.

An entertainment and media executive born in traditional Hollywood merged with the emerging digital entertainment landscape, focusing on branded entertainment, creative dealmaking, marketing, and representation of top-tier digital-native talent.

Before joining Viral Nation as VP of Talent, Damian was the General Manager of The ICON Agency, SVP of Talent at Bottle Rocket Management, SVP of Talent at Studio71, Head of Talent Development at AwesomenessTV, and Senior Talent Manager at Fullscreen, focusing on digital-native talent growth, development, and revenue generation. Before joining the digital entertainment business, Damian worked at Hollywood Management company, Untitled Entertainment, in Talent and Branded Entertainment departments.

Damian is also an associate professor at the University of New Haven in the Pompea College of Business, instructing Talent Management in the department’s Masters of Esports and Sports Management program.

As Vice President, Agency Operations, Alvin is responsible for cross-functional business enablement across the marketing agency, establishing & evolving core functions, implementing new technologies, and ensuring Viral Nation and its people are well equipped to continue providing innovative marketing solutions with the creator economy.

With over a decade of global experience in social media and influencer marketing, Alvin is passionate about driving measurable impact for Viral Nation’s clients and the industry as a whole. He has been instrumental in building the agency’s success to date and continues to focus on discovering, nurturing, and integrating top talent within the industry to expand the agency’s services and market positioning.

As Vice President of Viral Nation+, Alice leads the business and team for our upcoming B2C product launches for Viral Nation’s Technology division. Alice brings over 15 years of business building, brand building, creative advertising, content creation and digital design experience.

A collaborative leader with a belief that ‘great ideas can come from anyone’ and who’s pet peeve is ‘it’s always been done this way’, Alice is passionate about building products, businesses and brands that have outstanding user experience and keeps the consumer’s ‘why’ at its core.

Prior to Viral Nation, Alice was the CEO of an early-stage creator economy company and the Global Digital Business Lead for P&G brands at Publicis and Saatchi & Saatchi London, UK. She’s has worked at award winning agencies such as BBDO and JWT with clients including Walmart, Kia Motors, Intel, NFL, GE and LG.

Alice holds a degree in communications and business from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a London School of Economics Emerging Leaders Alumni.

Todd is the Co-Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and controlling member of Eldridge Industries, a holding company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Prior to founding Eldridge, Mr. Boehly was President of Guggenheim Partners and founded the credit business at Guggenheim.

Todd is Chairman of Security Benefit and MRC (which owns dick clark productions), and has investments in A24, Fulwell 73, and Penske Media (which owns Billboard, Rolling Stone, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter).

He is an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Sparks, Cloud9, and DraftKings. Todd sits on the boards of the Los Angeles Lakers, Flexjet, PayActiv, CAIS, Cain International, Kennedy Wilson (NYSE: KW), Vivid Seats (NASDAQ: SEAT), and Horizon Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE: HZON).

Todd received his B.B.A. from The College of William & Mary, where he later founded The Boehly Center for Excellence in Finance, and studied at the London School of Economics. He supports epilepsy research, Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Brunswick School, and The College of William & Mary.

John is the Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled growth and disruption investment strategies.

John is also the Founder of OMERS Ventures, which has invested over USD$500 million in over 40 disruptive technology companies across North America, including growth investments in Shopify, Xanadu, Wattpad, Wave, Hootsuite, Rover, Desire 2 Learn, Hopper, DuckDuckGo, TouchBistro and League. During his tenure at OMERS, John also formed OMERS Platform Investments, and led investments in Purpose Financial, PointNorth Capital, District Ventures, OneEleven and ArcTern Ventures.

As an active board member in the profit and not-for-profit sectors, John works with many leading innovative organizations including AI Partnerships Corp., engineering.com, Ether Capital, OneEleven, ArcTern Ventures, RIV Capital, the David Suzuki Foundation, the CIBC Foundation, the Royal Ontario Museum, Caldwell’s Top 40 Under 40, the Investigative Journalism Foundation, and the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Schulich School of Business.

Jeff Wilbur is a Principal at Eldridge. He arrived at Eldridge from Mediabistro Holdings (“MBH”), where he served as CEO and oversaw all activities of the business units and corporate functions of the MBH platform, which included the following brands: The CLIO Awards, Mediabistro, ADWEEK, and the Film Expo Group.

Previously, Jeff was the Chief Financial Officer of Prometheus Global Media and a member of the Corporate Credit Group at Guggenheim Partners. Mr. Wilbur currently serves on the Board of Directors of Aurify Brands and Dragontail Systems (ASX: DTS), and as Vice President for Horizon Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE: HZON).

He received his B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Williams College.

As the One Commercial Partner Lead, Suzanne helps businesses innovate, grow and achieve their full potential. An accomplished leader and sales executive with more than 33 years of experience in technology, Suzanne’s knowledge and expertise encompasses a wide range of industries, the Canadian channel, and customer engagements from the intelligent cloud to the intelligent edge.

Most recently Vice President of Sales for Fujitsu Canada, Suzanne spent much of her career at HP, where she held several increasingly senior roles, including Canadian sales leader, client executive for large Canadian financial institutions, Canada/US business unit director, and director of infrastructure services division. Prior to HP, Suzanne spent 10 years with IBM Global Services in technical and sales roles.

A strong advocate for women in technology, she volunteers her time mentoring women and is the executive sponsor for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at Microsoft Canada.

Manny has been a committed advisor, challenger, and confidante to the founders and firm since the beginning. As a committed disruptor of traditional marketing schemes, he found the marriage of influencer-led campaigns and the engaging vibe of Viral Nation’s creative imagination to represent the future of marketing.

Manny has a long corporate life in technology, having held product development, product management, sales, and marketing roles at Hewlett Packard, Symantec, Polycom, and AT&T.

As the Chief Marketing Officer for Symantec Corporation, Manny led all facets of the marketing function including branding, pricing, route-to-market strategy, demand generation, and field marketing for the consumer and enterprise markets.

Prior to his stint at Symantec, Manny had a long career at Hewlett Packard, where his last gig was serving as the Chief Marketing Officer for their B2B and B2C printer business.

Since pulling the ripcord on corporate life, Manny has been paying his bills by working as an advisor to spin-outs and start-ups pioneering new approaches in Martech, IT security, brand protection, and applied artificial intelligence.

Manny has a Masters of Management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Michigan State University.