Austin continues to attract global tech talent, meanwhile local universities are churning out ambitious new innovators who are ready to make a big impact. This abundance of people with big ideas and in-demand skills means there's a lot of movement within the tech community -- from executive hires to layoffs.
We've rounded up the the most interesting moves of August below. And you can get this type of information as it emerges by subscribing to our daily newsletter, the Beat.
Alright, let's see who's settling into a new office.
Claire England, the long-time executive director of Central Texas Angel Network, is stepping down from her role to pursue other unnamed opportunities. “After almost five years with CTAN, I’m excited to delve into new opportunities and challenges,” she said in a statement. “Although I do not plan to announce my next move at this time, I expect to remain engaged in the Austin ecosystem and continue to put my energy and efforts into entrepreneurship and startup investing.” CTAN plans to take a month or two to search for a replacement.
Hypergiant Industries, an AI solutions startup, is adding two senior executives to its Austin office. It hired Mark Arnold as VP of corporate development and Marc Katz as deputy legal counsel. Arnold was mostly recently at Forecepoint as VP of corporate development, and he has experience at Symantec, Wrightspeed and Cisco Systems, as well. Katz was previously in-house counsel at Austin startup Dropoff, and he also has experience at Newgistics, CareerBuilder and Jenner & Block. Later in the month, Hypergiant announced it has hired Kristina Libby as its EVP of Future Science and Research. Libby, the former head of global consumer public relations at Microsoft, has most recently been advising corporations and high-growth companies on cybersecurity and emerging trends with her boutique agency SoCu, as well as teaching at New York University and the University of Florida.
Cosential, an Austin company that makes relationship management software for architecture, engineering and construction firms, added Matt Schatz as chief revenue officer and Randy Reynolds as VP of marketing. Schatz was previously head of global sales for SMB and enterprise business at WP Engine. He has also worked at Bazaarvoice, CityVoice and Rackspace. Reynolds was previously with ServiceMax in product marketing and sales. The hires come about a year after Cosential got a $34 million growth investment from JMI Equity.
Locally-based e-commerce software startup Volusion named Bardia Dejban as its new CEO. Dejban has been with the company for about four years, most recently as chief operating officer. He was the founder of Codalytics in L.A. He takes over for founder and CEO Kevin Sproles, who is becoming chairman of the board. The company, founded in 1999, has about 250 employees currently, down from a peak of about 500 in 2015, the ABJ reported.
Spiceworks, an Austin company that has a marketplace and network for IT professionals, is being acquired by New York-based Ziff Davis B2B, a global marketing company that operates brands including Mashable, PCMag and Offers.com. The deal led the companies to layoff 59 employees in Austin.
Frog Scooters, an Austin scooter startup, added Bradley C. Almond as its CEO. He was most recently CFO of Vertex Business Services in Dallas. He has also worked at KPMG, Nortel Networks, Entrust, Zix Corporation and Cambium Learning Group. Frog, which designs, builds and deploys its scooter fleets, operates in Portugal and Chile.
