Uptake just hired another group of executives away from General Electric as the Chicago startup looks to steal customers from GE's struggling digital business.
Uptake recently announced that it has added four GE veterans to its team: Kelly McGinnis, the former CFO of GE Power Digital, was named CFO; Ravi Marwaha, GE Digital's previous chief success officer, was appointed head of customer success; Scott Bolick, the head of software strategy and product management at GE Power and Water, joined as head of portfolio strategy and industries; and Jay Allardyce, the chief product and marketing officer for GE Digital, was named head of corporate development & partnerships.
The hires come as Uptake takes aim at GE's digital customers, including those using GE's Predix software system. Last month, Reuters reported that GE hired a banker to organize a sale of its digital assets, which have suffered from technical issues and poor sales.
Uptake recently launched a landing page that publicly targets current GE customers, and it includes a video by Uptake President Ganesh Bell as a call to action for businesses to move to Uptake. Bell himself was plucked from GE, joining Uptake in February after serving as GE's first-ever chief digital officer.
Last year, prior to Bell's appointment, Uptake announced it hired Michael Donohue and Tom Anderson, two former GE c-suite executives, to its executive team.
"With recent news that GE is selling its digital business and breaking it apart from its industrial businesses, we understand the risk this poses for your company," Uptake's landing page reads. "While the leading hardware OEMs, like GE, always had the right intent, a different approach is needed to protect your investments and accelerate your digital journey."
Uptake is also offering businesses a free, one-year subscription to its internet of things software.
Uptake, which has raised around $260 million since launching in 2014, is one of Chicago's most valuable tech startups. The company, which makes predictive analytics software that helps large industrial companies like Caterpillar and Berkshire Hathaway Energy know when their machines are likely to fail, was last valued at more than $2 billion.
