ORION'S CORE TEAM

Alexey Koloskov | CEO + Co-Founder

Alexey Koloskov is Orion Protocol’s CEO and Co-Founder, with extensive experience spanning the two worlds of traditional finance and DeFi. He started his journey in the crypto space in 2016 as Chief Architect and Creator of the Waves DEX (now waves.exchange) - the most successful decentralized exchange to date. Despite only listing 18 coins, the peak volumes on the DEX cross $100M, and daily averages are regularly maintained at $10M. Prior to this, Alexey spent years creating software for some of the largest international banks (including Deutsche Bank and UniCredit). 

“Although it’s clear the future should be decentralized (after all, it’s what crypto is fundamentally built on), it’s impossible to ignore the prominence of centralized entities. Orion was born out of the need for an intermediate solution that bridges the gap between the centralized and decentralized worlds of crypto: building on decentralized technologies in the most critical parts of the system like custody and final settlement, while pulling liquidity from the major players in market — centralized exchanges.”

Kal Ali | COO + Co-Founder

Kal Ali is Orion Protocol’s COO and Co-Founder, with a background in traditional finance alongside a series of accolades from Rutgers’ Business School. He’s been heavily involved in the ICO scene since 2017, working with several blockchain projects both formally and informally through consultancies and advisories. Both his knowledge of the industry and network of contacts in the space are vast. His focus for Orion? Pushing beyond the limitations of “right now” to create sustainable solutions that the industry needs. 

“In my time in the space, I've seen booms and busts and have realized the importance of building technology that brings sustainable value to the crypto space. My ambitions for Orion have always been to push beyond what was currently possible. In what we’ve built to date and in our roadmap I believe we’ve done that, having built a protocol that will change the future of DeFi for the better.”

Timothea Horwell | Chief Marketing Officer

Timothea Horwell is Orion Protocol’s Chief Marketing Officer and is the most recent addition to the core team. Over the last decade, she’s worked with tech companies in the data, mobile, and fintech space to develop commercially-driven strategies that drive revenue and growth. From building business strategies at a start-up incubator, through to founding and leading the research division as Head of Marketing and Research at Telefonica UK, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, she’s focused on scaling businesses through commercially-led marketing initiatives.

“To me, few businesses in the space have bridged the gap between crypto marketing and traditional marketing. The space is nuanced, complex, and made up largely of informed enthusiasts, but the challenge lies in taking a crypto project to the masses. I joined Orion Protocol due to the sheer scale of solutions it offers to build a more sustainable and accessible future of finance, and I’m here to help bring these solutions to as wide an audience as possible.”

Yanush Ali | Chief Strategy Officer

Yanush Ali is Orion’s Chief Strategy Officer, and is the driving force for Orion’s strategic development across the board. His experience in fundraising for major projects in the crypto space over the last three years puts Orion in a great position to understand what token buyers are looking for — including the thirteen B2B and B2C revenue streams we’ve developed from our DeFi solutions.

“Joining the cofounders after hearing their concept of what is now Orion was the easiest decision I’ve made professionally. I’m deeply grateful to be part of something so amazing and beyond excited to work hard together with our talented team so that Orion reaches its true potential.”

ORION'S ADVISORS

David Atkinson | Commercial Director at Holochain

David is one of the core masterminds at Holo and loves to help people and businesses that are driven by purpose and a deep understanding and love for what they do. He is a member of the leadership team and focuses on business, community, and ecosystem growth, all of which have been integral in Holochain and Holo’s immense achievements.

Matt Jones | Client Partner at Accenture

Matt is currently Client Partner at Accenture, and is a passionate believer in the power of digital innovation to drive positive change. He has spent the last 20 years working with founders and c-suite executives to develop and launch digital products: delivering fundamental step changes to their organization. Matt’s area of expertise is bridging the gaps between marketing and technology, resulting in market-leading digital products experienced every day by millions of users around the globe.

Bradley Townsend | Co-Founder + Director at Latitude

Bradley is an experienced growth enabler with an extensive business acumen spanning 5 years of sales and networking. He is presently driving growth for projects in the cryptocurrency space as one of the founders of Latitude Services, a successful service provider for projects such as Celer, Ferrum and Celsius. A strong presence in the blockchain space, Bradley has built an impressive network of both C-level executives and notable grass-roots thought leaders, which he leverages to strengthen the presence of new and running projects, supporting short term growth for sustainable long term development.

Oliver Birch | VP of Global Communications at Wanchain

Oliver graduated from Lancaster University with a BA (Hons) Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Oliver first got into the crypto space in 2011, researching and writing academic papers at university about the rise of bitcoin. Oliver helped set up the MeDiNova network in Spain. MeDiNova is a Site Management Organization (SMO) with a network of 34 Investigator Sites (now acquired by ICON plc). Its principal aim is to conduct clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. He is currently VP Communications and Growth at Wanchain.

Damon Nam | CEO and Founder of Coin

A 20 year IT professional, Microsoft alumnus, and currently the Founder and CEO of Coinvest; an emerging financial services and technology company in the blockchain industry. During his 16 year tenure at Microsoft, he assumed a number of different roles within the Microsoft Services organization. Among these roles were Technical Account Manager, Resource Manager and lastly US Services Program Director where he was responsible for driving and managing the Preferred Services Partner program for the US subsidiary; a program with approximately seventy-five partner organizations and a total book of business of over $90 million in revenue.

Pranav Sharma | Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Woodstock Fund

Pranav has over 15 years of leadership experience covering Business development, sales & distribution, asset management, private equity & insurance. He is passionate about entrepreneurship, technology and renewable energy. Pranav is currently Co-founder & Managing Partner at Woodstock Fund where they focus on Public DLT, DeFi & Web 3.0 protocols & applications. He is also Managing Partner - Alpha Omega Capital Partners (Tokenized Fund focused on Security token ecosystem) & Advisor - Alliance Block (Decentralized Investment Banking Platform).