Seattle entrepreneur Matt Hulett is now working at Pioneer Square Labs as an EIR.

Pioneer Square Labs is adding some bench strength. The Seattle-based startup studio, which has already spun out companies such as AdLightning, LumaTax, Boundless and JetClosing, has tapped longtime Seattle entrepreneur Matt Hulett as an entrepreneur-in-residence.

Hulett is focusing on ideas in the eSports sector, signaling that Pioneer Square Labs sees opportunities in the burgeoning area of professional video games, which some see mushrooming into a billion dollar industry and is now attracting the likes of Turner and the NBA.

Hulett has a history in the gaming industry. He previously served as chief revenue officer of RealNetworks’ RealGames unit, and also served as president of the company’s GameHouse division. He also worked at Expedia for four years, serving as president of the travel giant’s business travel group Egencia. Before that, he worked at WRQ and served as past president of Atom Entertainment, an early dot-com that looked to pioneer short video content.

He most recently served as chief product officer for Seattle startup TinyPulse, where he was recently featured as GeekWire’s “Working Geek,” providing tips on running meetings and balancing time with family.

Matt Hulett

“Several of us have known Matt for many years, and we think he is one of those rare entrepreneurs that has the talent and skill set to build the next great, iconic company in Seattle,” said Pioneer Square Labs co-founder Greg Gottesman via email. “We are happy to share more when the timing is right.”

Hulett also wasn’t saying much about the eSports ideas he’s kicking around.

Whatever it is that Hulett, Gottesman and the rest of the Pioneer Square Labs team are working on, they sure do seem excited about it.

“It’s the first time in a long time that I felt like I was on the ground floor of something iconic,” Hulett told GeekWire. “Not since my Expedia and RealNetworks days.”

Pioneer Square Labs launched nearly two years ago with $12.5 million from more than 50 angel investors and 13 venture backers, including Greycroft Partners, Madrona Venture Group, Maveron, Menlo Ventures, MHS Capital, Sinclair Digital, Techstars Ventures, Trilogy Equity Partners, Bezos Expeditions, True Ventures, and Voyager Capital.

In addition to Gottesman, who previously served as a managing director at Madrona Venture Group, Pioneer Square Labs’ founding team includes angel investor Geoff Entress; former aQuantive executive Mike Galgon; and former Madrona Venture Labs co-founder Ben Gilbert.

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