Austin's tech and startup scenes have had a pretty rocky time as we find a new normal after the frothy years of 2021 and 2022. Layoffs have become a regular part of the headlines, and funding drifted back to pre-pandemic levels.
Those haven't been particularly good signs. But this month brought some positive data.
Tech job postings in the Austin metro climbed to 3,137 in May. That was up 18%, or 479 job postings, from April, according to a tech jobs report from industry group CompTIA. Meanwhile, June brought a bunch of new executive hires, including several new chief executives. Let's take a moment to retrace the top local tech hires of the month.
Austin-based employee experience platform WorkTango said on June 3 that it appointed Monique McDonough as its new CEO. She had been chief operating officer at the company since 2021. Before that, she was a managing vice president at Gartner. WorkTango's prior CEO, Patrick Manzo, is leaving to pursue new endeavors, according to an announcement.
WorkTango, formerly based in Toronto (it still has an office there), was acquired by Kazoo Inc. in 2022. Kazoo was formed after Austin-based Vista Equity Partners acquired YouEarnedIt in 2018 and merged it with HighGround.
Senior-focused health care company Agilon Health Inc. said June 5 that it appointed Jeff Schwaneke as its new chief financial officer and vice president, starting on July 1. He was most recently vice president of health care enterprises at Centene Corp. He succeeds Timothy Bensley, who is retiring from the company.
Austin-based Agilon, led by CEO Steve Sell, helps physician groups transition to total care models for senior patients.
Austin-based environmental solutions and engineering company Atlas Technical Consultants Inc. said June 7 it named Jeanne DiBella as its new CFO. She was previously CFO at construction services firm The Arcticom Group. The company, led by CEO Jacque Hinman, has over 100 offices in 43 states. Last year, it was acquired by PE firm GI Partners for about $1.05 billion.
BitTitan Inc., a cloud migration company that has its corporate headquarters in Austin, said June 5 that it appointed Aaron Wadsworth as general manager. He first joined the company in 2020 as a senior manager of business development. Before that, he was director of inside sales at NetAlly.
BitTitan, founded in the Seattle area in 2009, was acquired by Houston-based Idera in 2021.
Austin-based mobile advertising company Digital Turbine said June 10 that it named Michael Akkerman as its new chief business officer. He was most recently general manager of mobility advertising at Uber. Before that, he was chief product and strategy officer at Cardlytics, and, prior to that, he was global head of partnerships at Pinterest.
Digital Turbine, led by CEO Bill Stone, is one of a growing number of publicly traded companies headquartered in Austin. In the ABJ's recent survey, it had 80 of its total 777 employees in Austin and about $666 million in revenue in 2023. It IPOed in 2015.
Sevco Security, an Austin cybersecurity and asset intelligence platform, said June 10 that it named Michael Persechini as senior vice president of global sales. He was previously senior vice president of global sales at Interpres Security. Before that, he held exec level roles at Hunters and Mandiant.
Sevco, founded in 2020 and led by co-founder and CEO J.J. Guy, has raised a total of $38.7 million, according to Crunchbase.
Austin-based Research Bridge Partners, which helps academics developing biomedical startups develop IP and product strategies, said on June 10 that it named Lydia McClure as its CEO. She takes over from co-founder and prior CEO Isaac Barchas who has transitioned to a position as a special advisor and board member of the company.
McClure joined Research Bridge Partners in 2017 as a vice president. Before that, she was an advisor and coach at the National Science Foundation and the Austin Technology Incubator.
Austin-based commercial real estate investment platform CrowdStreet Inc. said June 11 that it appointed John Imbriglia as its new CEO. He'll start the role on July 15, taking the place of interim CEO Jack Chandler, who will continue on the company's board. Before this, Imbriglia was managing director at alternative investment marketplace iCapital. He was also recently a general partner at venture capital and private equity firm Platform Capital Management.
Austin-based 3D home printing startup Icon Technology Inc. said June 13 that it hired Jared Kuhn to a newly created role as vice president of real estate development and sales. He'll be in charge of working with developers who partner on construction projects in the private sector. He was most recently executive vice president and sector leader for multifamily developments at Ryan Cos. Before that, he was a group vice president at Soave Enterprises and director of development for the southeast region with Titan Development Ltd.
The new hire comes as Icon nears completion on Wolf Ranch, a development of about 100 homes that represents the largest-scale development of 3D-printed homes in the world.
Austin-based dating and networking company Bumble Inc. said June 17 that it promoted Elizabeth Monteleone to chief legal officer. She has been a legal counsel with the company since 2018 and was named acting chief legal officer earlier this year before making it permanent. Before joining Bumble, she was an associate at Winstead PC.
Bumble, founded in 2014 and currently led by CEO Lidiane Jones, recently announced plans to acquire a social networking app called Geneva for an undisclosed price.
Autonomize AI, an Austin startup developing generative AI tools for the health care industry, said on June 24 it appointed Laksh Krishnamurthy as its vice president of engineering. He was most recently vice president of AI/ML engineering at Tecnotree Corp. Before that, he held similar leading roles in AI development at CognitiveScale and IBM's Watson Group.
Along with the new hire, the startup announced it got SOC2 Type 2 certification, which helps validate security systems and controls.
Austin data privacy management startup Osano said June 25 that it named Ryan Macia as its CFO. He takes the place of former CFO Jonathan Grant, who will stay with the company as a senior strategic advisor.
Macia has a long history with Austin tech startups. He was most recently vice president of finance at QuotaPath. Before that, he was in the same role at Praetorian and director of finance and revenue at TrendKite, as well as a corporate development manager at SolarWinds.
Mythic, a locally based AI processor company, said June 27 that it has named Taner Ozcelik, founder and former vice president and GM of NVIDIA's auto division, as its new CEO. Mythic co-founder and CEO Dave Fick, meanwhile, will become CTO.
After his decade tenure at NVIDIA, which ran from 2004 to 2014, Ozcelik became a senior vice president and general manager at ON Semiconductor. His most recent role was as executive vice president and general manager at Luminar Technologies.
Mythic, which was founded in 2012, has raised about $165 million from investors including DCVC, Atreides, Lockheed Martin Ventures and Lux Capital, according to Crunchbase.
