Examity, the Newton-based edtech company building an online proctoring platform, has tapped Jim Holm as its new CEO.
Founder Michael London, who had served as the fast-growing startup's CEO for the last seven years, has transitioned out of the executive position and moved into a more advisory role as chair of the company's board.
"I'm an entrepreneur first and foremost," London told BostInno. "Examity has been a really great success. I think there's a time, as an entrepreneur, where you hand over the reins, and the time felt like it was about now."
London previously served as founding CEO of Bloomberg Institute. He is also the co-founder of College Coach and the founder of EdAssist, both now owned by Bright Horizons.
Holm's involvement with Examity began last April. He joined the company's board when it secured a $90 million investment led by Boston-based private equity firm Great Hill Partners. Originally, he said, the intention wasn't to transition into a CEO role. But over time, as he and London discussed Examity's market opportunities in higher education, corporate environments and international markets, it became clear that Holm was a natural fit to take the torch from London.
Holm is a veteran of the edtech world. He most recently served as CEO of Performance Assessment Network (now PSI Online), which delivers 15 million tests per year to help Fortune 500 employers assess workplace readiness. Prior to joining PSI, Holm held senior executive roles at Pearson and Certiport.
"I absolutely love the ability to have an impact in making education opportunities more obtainable, and the resulting employment that can come from credentials and the way that can change people's lives," Holm said. "We're helping validate learning experiences so that individuals who might not traditionally have easy access to test centers can go in and have their semester finals be done in a convenient, highly secure way. I see a consistent theme through all of that, where I'm trying to help make education and measurement more accessible to people."
Holm's appointment is the second executive hire Examity has made recently. In December, Nicholas Malone became the startup's first chief financial officer. Malone was also the first CFO of online furniture retailer Wayfair.
