Sightline Payments announced an expansion of its senior management team Monday, saying its recent $100 million funding earlier this month allowed the Las Vegas-based financial technology company to recruit executives with payment processing and gaming industry experience.
In a statement, Sightline Payments CEO Joe Pappano said the expansion of the executive team brings on individuals who have worked with recognized companies and will have an “instrumental role” in managing the company’s “hyper-growth” and expansion.
“In the near- and long-term, we plan to invest significant capital in recruiting diverse and expert talent to drive key Sightline priorities around market growth and innovation,” Pappano said. “Our goal is to have the most talented and diverse team in the gaming and payments industries.”
Sightline has named John Gronen as chief financial officer, Jennifer Carleton as chief legal officer, Muriel Lotto as chief marketing officer, Katrina Sevier as chief people officer, and Felicia Gassen as chief of staff.
The company recently raised $100 million through a group of investors, with the lead investment coming from Cannae Holdings, a firm headed by Bill Foley, majority owner of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. Another investor is Genting Group, the Malaysian conglomerate that is developing the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas and owns Resort World casino properties in New York, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Searchlight Capital Partners provided a strategic investment to Sightline in December.
Gronen will oversee all finance operations for Sightline, including mergers and acquisitions activity and growth strategies. He most recently served as CFO for payments processor VPay and head of operations for VCE, a subsidiary of EMC, Cisco Systems, and VMWare. Gronen previously held senior finance and accounting roles with Technisource, Alltel, and Delta Trust and Bank.
Carleton, who spent part of her legal career as the in-house counsel for tribal gaming operations in the Midwest, has been a private practice gaming attorney in Las Vegas for the past 14 years, advising numerous private gaming operators and investment companies.
Lotto brings over 25 years in international marketing to her new role overseeing the company’s drive to increase brand awareness through public relations, creative, and advertising partners. Lotto has worked in France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and in the United States with Nestle, Unilever, Royal & SunAlliance, Bupa, and Western Union.
Sevier will be tasked with growing the Sightline Payments’ team, which the company expects will double in size this year. Sevier’s work history includes financial services, technology, media, and advertising industries including.
Gassen will serve as chief of staff to Pappano and the executive leadership team. She is the former executive director of Global Gaming Women where she managed the executive board of directors, committees, sponsorship, and global membership.
Sightline has focused its growth efforts on several gaming markets, including the casino, lottery, and sports betting industries.
Since 2019, the American Gaming Association has advocated for the casino industry to adopt cashless or digital payment solutions to help modernize the industry. In the past year, spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes took place.
In January, Sightline announced a strategic partnership with Shift4 Payments to jointly develop online gaming and sports betting payment systems for casinos and sports venues. The goal is a product that merges Sightline’s online wagering system with Shift4’s payment processing technology.
Sightline also partnered with Boyd Gaming and Aristocrat Technologies on a cashless wagering platform for Blue Chip Casino in Indiana.
Sightline’s primary product is Play+, a solution for secure pay-and-play with more than 1.5 million enrolled accounts. Play+ is a cashless mechanism that allows users to store money and fund their entertainment online, on the gaming floor, and on sports betting platforms with instant access to their funds.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
