Romanian gaming studio Amber hires a former Fortune 500 executive

"Roie is an exceptionally accomplished financial executive with over 20 years of experience, having worked for technology giants, including in the gaming sector. We are thrilled to welcome Roie to the team. Having a world-class CFO was the last building block we needed to be ready to take off on our aggressive growth plans. Together with Roie, we will work to efficiently raise the capital to fuel our growth in Europe, Asia and America. He will also ensure we have all the processes, systems and talent in finance and will be instrumental in helping us craft Amber’s strategy to access the capital markets successfully. Working with Roie in Electronic Arts was one of the highlights of my and Mihai Pohontu’s careers, and we are looking forward to working with him again. I cannot wait to see what we will achieve together,” stated Jaime Giné, CEO at Amber.

Roie Chizik has extensive expertise in global strategy, financial planning and analysis, and operations. Before joining Amber Studio, Roie served as CFO at Brightwheel, a SaaS EdTech start-up where he oversaw all aspects of finance, accounting, analytics, SysOps, legal and real estate. Throughout his career, Roie has also held executive roles in Fortune 500 companies such as Walt Disney, Amazon, and Electronic Arts, as well as in top-tier VC-backed start-ups. He has experience scaling businesses and supporting global growth, providing financial insights, and building and leading high performing teams.

"Amber Studio is a high-growth company with passionate people in the extremely dynamic gaming industry. I joined the Amber team because I love challenges and the opportunity to work with smart and motivated people. I have had the opportunity to partner closely with Jaime and Mihai in the past, and I am thrilled about Amber’s prospects and accelerated development plan, especially in the context where the global gaming industry continues to take center stage. I am confident that Amber has all the right ingredients to become an international capital markets success story, and I cannot wait to work alongside Jaime and Mihai to take Amber to the next level," stated Roie Chizik, newly appointed CFO of Amber.

In his new role at Amber, Roie will be responsible for leading all aspects of Amber’s financial and accounting functions, including implementing the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as well as providing strategic insights to support Amber’s significant growth and global expansion. He will also drive Amber’s financial strategy as well as will overlook the capital raising and M&A activity. Roie will be based in Amber’s office in San Francisco Bay Area, California and will oversee the global Finance & Accounting team of Amber, which is currently spread over two continents and is expected to grow in the coming months as Amber accelerates its capital markets plans. In his role, he will report directly to Jaime Giné, CEO and collaborate closely with Amber’s Board, led by Mihai Pohontu, Executive President.

In the first six months of 2021, Amber Studio registered a record turnover of 50 million lei (11.5 million dollars), an increase of 45% compared to last year’s same period. For the full year 2021, Amber estimates a turnover of 130 million lei (30 million dollars), a 51% increase compared to 2020. Amber Studio’s team counts over 800 employees who work across two continents, from offices in Bucharest, Botosani, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal and Guadalajara.