The Austin technology ecosystem had a difficult November, with a wave of layoffs, many of them at industry giants. But the month also brought 10 key hires designed to help local startups and tech companies thrive.
Let's take a look at the fresh hires. And if you want daily updates on hirings, fundings and other Central Texas startup news, sign up for the Beat newsletter.
Austin payments and project management company AffiniPay said Nov. 8 it added Ana Villegas as its new chief marketing officer. She was most recently CMO at Austin-based National Instruments. Before that, she worked in marketing at Dell. The Peru native is also active in locally based nonprofit Latinitas and Raven + Lily. AffiniPay, which acquired MyCase in June, was founded by Amy Porter in 2005. It is led by CEO Dru Armstrong. Its products and services include mobile technology, contactless payments and custom software integrations.
Local website monitoring company Uptime.com said Nov. 8 it added Jonathan Franconi as chief product officer. He previously worked for about a decade at VMware, most recently as director of engineering. Uptime, founded in 2013, is led by CEO Michael Esposito.
Austin software testing company Tricentis said Nov. 9 it has appointed Suhail Ansari as chief technology officer. He was most recently a senior vice president of engineering and operations at McAfee. His career has also included stops at Realtor.com, Pivotal Software and eBay. Tricentis was founded in 2007 and is led by CEO Kevin Thompson. It has raised $172 million in funding, with the most recent round coming in 2017, according to Crunchbase.
Austin-based pool service software company Skimmer said Nov. 9 it hired Greg Richards as VP of marketing. He was most recently VP of global marketing at SkuVault. It comes as the company is highlighting a successful past few months. It says it has tripled the size of its product and engineering teams, with plans to hire even more people and a move to a new HQ in downtown Austin. The company, led by CEO Jack Nelson, raised a $5 million round in January, according to Crunchbase.
Austin recruiting platform Job.com said Nov. 10 it added Jim Bradley as chief operating officer and Margaux Gillman as senior VP of people and culture. Bradley was previously chief administrative officer at Kelly Services. Gillman was previously chief people officer at Gathered Foods and prior to that was VP of talent and culture at Austin-based Vital Farms and VP of people at Austin-based Social Solutions. The hires come as the company has continued to acquire other companies at a rapid pace, making five acquisitions of other staffing firms in the past two years.
Austin file-sharing and collaboration software maker FileCloud said Nov. 15 it appointed Leigh Bradford as senior vice president of global sales. He was previously global head of commercial sales at ITRS Group. Before that he was VP of international sales at Kemp Technologies. FileCloud is led by CEO Ray Downes, who also previously worked at Kemp. The startup in late 2021 raised a $30M series A funding round, as well as a $10 million growth capital agreement with Avidbank.
Canada-based checkout and subscription retail software maker Bold Commerce appointed Peter Karpas as CEO. He succeeded co-founder Yvan Boisjoli, whose role is shifting toward business development and strategic partnerships. Karpas had previously been founder and CEO of myFanPark in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is still chairman of the company, according to his LinkedIn page. Bold Commerce, founded in 2012, has raised $44 million. While based in Winnipeg, Bold Commerce operates as a remote company and set up its first U.S. office in Austin in 2020.
St. Louis-based software and automation company Emerson on Nov. 29 named Peter Zornio as chief technology officer. Zornio, who is based in Austin, will continue his role on the board of directors of Emerson Ventures, the company’s corporate venture capital arm. Zornio previously was CTO of Emerson Automation Solutions. Before joining Emerson in 2006, he worked in tech and marketing roles at Honeywell.
Austin cybersecurity startup SpyCloud said Nov. 30 it promoted Damon Fleury to chief product officer. He was previously VP of strategy at the company. Prior to that, he was CTO and VP of cybersecurity at CyberDefenses Inc. He is also a managing partner at Austin-based Manifest, which helps founders grow and launch cybersecurity startups. SpyCloud, led by co-founder and CEO Ted Ross, was founded in 2016. It has raised $58.5 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.
