Director at Brigadas Epicas
Portugal
Maksim Kananovich
Council Member
Maksim Kananovich is a technology entrepreneur and executive with over 20 years of experience in the software development and IT services industry, including more than a decade of C-level leadership. His career centers on founding, structuring, and operating cross-border technology services companies, with a deep specialization in the interactive entertainment and casino gaming sector.
Maksim Kananovich currently serves as Founder and Managing Partner of NOVACONIX LLC (January 2026 to present), a US-registered outsourcing and outstaffing company he built from the ground up. He established its full legal, accounting, and HR infrastructure and manages an international contractor network alongside client relationships and business development operations. In parallel, he co-founded PrimePlay Games (September 2024 to present) in Cyprus and Casual Games Studio EOOD (August 2024 to present) in Bulgaria, both focused on IT services and product development for the gaming market, each requiring him to construct the operational foundation from scratch while overseeing ongoing business direction.
He is also Founder and Managing Partner of ITGROUP L.L.C-FZ (April 2022 to present), a UAE-registered outsourcing and outstaffing firm he established and continues to operate, and co-founder and Managing Partner of Brigadas Epicas (January 2022 to present), a Portugal-based IT outsourcing company he set up from the ground up and has directed since launch. Additional co-founded entities in his current portfolio include Dvash Poland sp. z o.o. (November 2021 to present), a Polish outsourcing and outstaffing company he co-owns, and CGS - Custom Games Studio (August 2020 to present), which he co-founded and led as CEO, growing it into a recognized casino game development studio with over 150 game titles released and a client base engaging millions of players.
From November 2019 to December 2024, Maksim Kananovich co-founded and served as CEO of Custom Games Studio in Poland, an outsourcing and outstaffing company he built from scratch, establishing its legal entity, accounting systems, and HR operations while directing its growth into the iGaming services market.
At Sababa Labs (March 2017 to March 2026), a Minsk-based outstaffing company specializing in game development, he co-founded the business and managed its full operational cycle across HR and recruiting, accounting, legal, IT services, sales, and marketing, scaling the company to a team of over 140 employees.
Maksim Kananovich currently serves as Founder and Managing Partner of NOVACONIX LLC (January 2026 to present), a US-registered outsourcing and outstaffing company he built from the ground up. He established its full legal, accounting, and HR infrastructure and manages an international contractor network alongside client relationships and business development operations. In parallel, he co-founded PrimePlay Games (September 2024 to present) in Cyprus and Casual Games Studio EOOD (August 2024 to present) in Bulgaria, both focused on IT services and product development for the gaming market, each requiring him to construct the operational foundation from scratch while overseeing ongoing business direction.
He is also Founder and Managing Partner of ITGROUP L.L.C-FZ (April 2022 to present), a UAE-registered outsourcing and outstaffing firm he established and continues to operate, and co-founder and Managing Partner of Brigadas Epicas (January 2022 to present), a Portugal-based IT outsourcing company he set up from the ground up and has directed since launch. Additional co-founded entities in his current portfolio include Dvash Poland sp. z o.o. (November 2021 to present), a Polish outsourcing and outstaffing company he co-owns, and CGS - Custom Games Studio (August 2020 to present), which he co-founded and led as CEO, growing it into a recognized casino game development studio with over 150 game titles released and a client base engaging millions of players.
From November 2019 to December 2024, Maksim Kananovich co-founded and served as CEO of Custom Games Studio in Poland, an outsourcing and outstaffing company he built from scratch, establishing its legal entity, accounting systems, and HR operations while directing its growth into the iGaming services market.
At Sababa Labs (March 2017 to March 2026), a Minsk-based outstaffing company specializing in game development, he co-founded the business and managed its full operational cycle across HR and recruiting, accounting, legal, IT services, sales, and marketing, scaling the company to a team of over 140 employees.
As Site Director at Gambino (January 2016 to January 2020), a social casino gaming company, Maksim Kananovich built and led a team of over 70 specialists. He oversaw the end-to-end development and production launch of the Gambino application across web, iOS, Android, Amazon, and Windows platforms. He established production and customer support processes, created a business analysis and data analytics team, and implemented a monthly delivery cadence using LEAN principles with Kanban and Scrum methodologies.
At Playtika (September 2012 to January 2015), he served as Project Manager and scaled the local team from 5 to 50 employees. During his tenure, he led the full development and production launch of Caesars Casino, built for Caesars Interactive in the United States, organized production support processes, and implemented structured monthly delivery workflows using LEAN and agile methodologies. The project used .NET Xamarin for the front end and Java for the backend.
Earlier in his career, Maksim Kananovich served as Project Manager at External Games (October 2009 to September 2012), where he established an R&D function for small-scale game development projects and managed a cross-functional team of over 20 developers, UI/UX designers, artists, and QA specialists, delivering projects for clients including Big Fish Games and Peak Games. At TelesofService (December 2006 to October 2012), he set up a QA team of 20 engineers covering manual, automated, performance, and infrastructure testing for the Alfresco enterprise content management platform, and was promoted to Project Manager after two years, leading a team of over 30. He began his career at iTransition (April 2004 to December 2006) as an automation and performance QA specialist, where he built and managed a team of 10 engineers and developed internal training courses for automation and performance testing.
At Playtika (September 2012 to January 2015), he served as Project Manager and scaled the local team from 5 to 50 employees. During his tenure, he led the full development and production launch of Caesars Casino, built for Caesars Interactive in the United States, organized production support processes, and implemented structured monthly delivery workflows using LEAN and agile methodologies. The project used .NET Xamarin for the front end and Java for the backend.
Earlier in his career, Maksim Kananovich served as Project Manager at External Games (October 2009 to September 2012), where he established an R&D function for small-scale game development projects and managed a cross-functional team of over 20 developers, UI/UX designers, artists, and QA specialists, delivering projects for clients including Big Fish Games and Peak Games. At TelesofService (December 2006 to October 2012), he set up a QA team of 20 engineers covering manual, automated, performance, and infrastructure testing for the Alfresco enterprise content management platform, and was promoted to Project Manager after two years, leading a team of over 30. He began his career at iTransition (April 2004 to December 2006) as an automation and performance QA specialist, where he built and managed a team of 10 engineers and developed internal training courses for automation and performance testing.