Austin Woolridge

Austin Woolridge is the Co-Founder and CEO of Players' Lounge, a competitive gaming platform based in New York City. Before launching the gaming startup in 2014, he served as Head of Operations at the mobile app agency Fueled and worked in ecommerce operations at Master and Dynamic. Under his leadership, Players' Lounge transitioned from hosting local bar tournaments to a digital wagering platform that facilitates millions of dollars in monthly prize payouts for amateur gamers. Woolridge guided the company through the Y Combinator accelerator program and secured more than $4 million in funding from a syndicate of prominent investors, including Comcast Ventures, Marissa Mayer, and Drake. His current focus centers on expanding the platform's consumer technology infrastructure to scale head-to-head esports competitions, integrate Web3 features, and advance social wagering capabilities for casual video game players.