Niles Heron

Niles Heron

Niles Heron

Director of Tech-Based Programs

Biography

A proud product of the Eastside, Niles is the senior director of Tech-Based Programs at TechTown Detroit. He joined the team in late 2024 after spending nearly a decade as an entrepreneur, advisor and investor across a range of sectors including fintech, environmental science, entertainment, SaaS and sports. He left his last venture, Loaded Holdings (a management and analytics firm in the gaming and livestreaming industry), in 2024, after helping guide it to $30 million in equity investment and close to $500 million in gross revenues over seven years.

At TechTown, the Tech-Based team’s work aims to empower local entrepreneurs as they ideate, build products, gain traction and scale their companies through a series of programs ranging from early founder education, product development, capital strategy and scaling tech businesses.

Niles spent the better part of the last decade as a co-founder and early partner in the leading management and brand consulting firms in Gaming, Loaded and sister-brand Open World. His strategic focus has allowed him to work successfully across creator management, content development, innovative partnerships, and campaign development and consultation for consumer, tech, product and gaming brands. Loaded, under his leadership, architected and fulfilled creator and brand partnerships with Adidas, Epic Games, Activision, Spotify, P&G, Twitch, YouTube, Red Bull, Pepsi, Chipotle, Postmates and more.

Niles was honored by Crain’s Detroit Business as a 20 in their 20s award recipient in 2015.