Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Localytics, a Boston mobile engagement software provider that is one of the more notable companies to come out of the Techstars startup accelerator.
Localytics announced on Tuesday it has named Oracle veteran Jude McColgan as its new CEO, replacing the company's co-founder and longtime leader, Raj Aggarwal. Aggarwal, who helped found Localytics in 2008, will remain "actively involved" with the company and will work alongside McColgan in a day-to-day capacity, as well as continue to serve on the company's board, though he hasn't been given a specific role for his post-CEO position.
In a phone interview, Aggarwal told BostInno that it was his decision to bring in new leadership as the company reached its next stage of growth — something he said he has discussed publicly and with employees over the past couple years.
In the company's most recent quarter, Localytics became cash-flow positive, Aggarwal said, which was the result of the company's decision to focus on growth and sustainability after it laid off 37 employees at the beginning of last year. Localytics' software, which helps app developers increase user acquisition, engagement and retention, is now being used in more than 37,000 apps by companies including ESPN, Fox and The New York Times.
"Now that we are able to get the company in a place where we’re sustainable, it gives us a lot of flexibility to do what we need to do to accelerate growth and further invest in the business," Aggarwal said.
Aggarwal declined to provide any information on Localytics' revenue, revenue growth or number of customers.
Before joining Localytics, McColgan held leadership roles that focused on mobile at cybersecurity company Avast Software, speech recognition company Nuance Communications and GPS technology provider TomTom. Prior to that, McColgan worked at Oracle for nearly a decade, ending his tenure there in 2008 as a managing director.
McColgan told BostInno he had been a Localytics customer through Nuance before Localytics' board and executive team interviewed him as part of the CEO search, which began earlier this year.
I asked McColgan if he was brought on to help put the company on the path to an exit, whether by going public or getting acquired, and he said that's something he will only think about 2-3 percent of the time. What he said will preoccupy him most of the time are "customers and having an obsession with understanding how they can benefit from the platform and how to be further innovative." He said his M.O. isn't to make any changes to the company's team.
"I want to come in and add a log on the fire and grow faster," McColgan said.
