Summer can seem like a bit of a slowdown in the tech realm. But more than a dozen local companies made big moves in July, adding new talent to their C-suites. In one of the biggest and most surprising moves, Firefly Aerospace parted ways with its CEO and appointed an interim leader from its board of directors.
Meanwhile, LeanDNA named a new CEO as its founder moved to a new role within the company, and one of the University of Texas' top artificial intelligence experts accepted a new leading role with Sony AI.
Let's check out all the big hiring news in Austin from July.
Content marketing firm Good Agency said July 9 it added Luke Frazier as its new chief growth officer. He was previously CEO of Parable Brand and previously co-founded Depression2Extinction. Good Agency, led by CEO Clay Vaughan, provides SEO services, video production and advertising services.
Austin-based Agilon Health Inc. (NYSE: AGL) said July 10 that its interim chief medical officer, Karthik Rao, has been appointed permanently to the CMO role. Before the interim gig, he had been senior medical director and vice president of network performance at the company since 2022. Before that, he was an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Agilon, led by CEO Steve Sell, has a platform and services to help physicians provide health care for seniors.
Austin-based financial services company Self Financial Inc. has appointed Shilpa Dhar as its first chief product officer.
Dhar, who previously held the post of senior VP and GM of commerce at Hubspot and also worked at Coinbase, Venmo and PayPal, has over 15 years of fintech leadership experience and a history of scaling products, platforms and teams at growth-stage companies, according to Self Financial.
Her “customer-first approach to innovation and her commitment to financial inclusion align perfectly with Self’s mission to increase credit access,” Self CEO Julie Szudarek said in a July 10 statement.
Self provides credit-building products for people with low or no credit.
Consulting firm Blue Sky Partners named Matt Glazer as its new CEO in July. Glazer has spent eight years as chief strategy officer at the Austin-based company.
Founding CEO Nathan Ryan will join Blue Sky’s advisory board in September, along with co-founder Tim Seaton, as part of their planned exits from the firm, the company said.
Blue Sky also announced that it’s transitioning its core focus to “social impact and social enterprise consulting” for local governments, nonprofits and universities.
"The work we’ve done with local governments, nonprofits, and universities is the work we’re best at and most excited to do, so it was clear that that’s where we should focus the firm as we position for our next phase of growth," Ryan said in a statement.
Austin-based real estate company Rastegar has named Fatma Tarlaci as CTO. Tarlaci, a former VP of Engineering at OpenTeams Inc., will be “responsible for developing best-in-class proprietary AI tools … that will support the firm’s bullish real estate investment strategy and long-term growth,” according to Rastegar.
Rastegar has made a name for itself through a variety of projects across the region, and CEO Ari Rastegar has said he has thousands of acres under contract around Austin.
Firefly Aerospace's board of directors appointed board member Peter Schumacher to serve as interim CEO after announcing the company is parting ways with former CEO Bill Weber. The company did not cite a reason for the exit.
"This change does not affect Firefly's programs and planned missions in 2024," a company spokesperson said.
Schumacher previously held the interim CEO role. He has been a partner with Miami-based AE Industrial Partners since 2019, and he was a principal with the firm before that. Prior to joining AE, he was a director of business development at GE Engine Services, a business development leader with GE Aviation and a services engineer at General Electric.
Austin-based LeanDNA, a supply chain platform for inventory management, said July 23 that it appointed Andy Ellenthal as its CEO. He takes over for founder Richard Lebovitz, who is becoming chief strategy officer. Both men are also board members.
Ellenthal was most recently executive VP of sales at MediaMath. Before that, he was CEO of STAQ, which was acquired by Operative in 2021. Before that, he was CO of Austin-based Metal Networks.
LeanDNA, founded in 2014, has raised $19.5 million in funding, including a $15 million round in 2019 led by Austin's S3 Ventures.
AlertMedia, an Austin company providing emergency communications and awareness, said July 23 that it added Jeff Dean as VP of global intelligence operations. He was most recently senior director of physical security and employee safety at Databricks. Before that, he held a similar roles at Citrix, Arrow Electronics and Securitas.
Alert Media, founded in 2013, had 259 local employees as of June this year. Austin-based PE firm Vista Equity Partners bought a controlling stake in the company in 2021.
Austin-based advanced manufacturing company Flex Ltd., which moved its U.S. headquarters to Austin last May, said July 26 that it promoted Michael Hartung to president and chief commercial officer. He's been with the company since 2005 when he joined as VP of sales operations. Since then, he has held several other VP roles and was most recently group president of Flex's agility solutions business group. He appears to be based in California.
Peter Stone, the Truchard Foundation chair of computer science and director of Texas Robotics at the University of Texas, has been named chief scientist at Sony AI, the company announced today. He was also appointed as deputy president of Sony AI, a role he shares with Pete Wurman, who previously co-founded Kiva Systems, which was acquired by Amazon in 2012.
Stone, who previously co-founded Cogitai Inc., has worked with Sony as executive director of its Sony AI America branch since 2019. Before that, he was a senior researcher at AT&T Labs.
Austin-based shipping and logistics company Auctane Inc. said July 30 that it appointed Laura Goldberg as its CMO. She was most recently CMO at Constant Contact. Before that, she was chief revenue and marketing officer at American Express' Kabbage and CMO at LegalZoom. Auctane, which operates ShipStation, Stamps.com and several other brands, is based in Austin and has offices worldwide.
Austin-based AI company Imandra Inc. said July 30 it named Zehra Akbar as its chief operating officer. She was previously chief strategy officer at Austin-based SkyGrid, which spun out of Austin-based SparkCongnition, where Akbar was previously VP of strategy. Before that, she was a senior consultant at Deloitte and a consulting specialist at Accenture.
Imandra, which was founded in London in 2014 by Grant Passmore and Denis Ignatovich, has developed an AI-powered platform that automates logical reasoning for financial and defense customers. The startup, which moved to Austin in 2019, has raised $12.6 million, including a $5 million round led by Austin's LiveOak Ventures in 2019.
Marketing software company Uptempo, previously known as BrandMaker Inc., said July 30 that it named Scott Ernst as its CEO. The startup's co-founder and former CEO Mirko Holzer will stay with the company as a member of the board. Ernst was most recently CEO at buyer engagement company Drift, which was acquired by SalesLoft in February.
Uptempo is headquartered in Germany and it has an office in Austin near The Domain.
