Arcos LLC, long one of Central Ohio's fastest-growing companies, has named a new CEO as 10-year chief Bruce Duff retires.
Odus “Boogie” Wittenburg has led high-growth teams at both private and publicly traded technology companies in Texas, including 10 years at Rackspace, the company said. He will lead the Columbus company from Austin.
Aiming for the next stage of growth, last year the software maker took on a new private equity owner. Vista Equity Partners bought out the majority stake from Cleveland-based Riverside Co., which focuses on growing smaller middle-market companies, in the second quarter of 2021 for undisclosed terms. Austin-based Vista also co-led last year's record-breaking $400 million VC round in Columbus' Olive AI Inc.
"Boogie has experience leading companies and mastering technology, including mission-critical software-as-a-service solutions," Duff said in a news release. “While he’s technically minded, he’s approachable – and likes to know the story and people behind the numbers. He’s a great fit for this role technically, operationally, financially, and culturally.
"I have no doubt he’ll take Arcos to the next level with the continued support of our investors, Vista Equity."
Now 150 employees strong, Arcos expects to add some 50 jobs this year, a spokesman said. Revenue is between $40 million and $75 million; the last publicly reported figure was $36.2 million for 2019, which in 2020 landed the company in Columbus Business First's Fast 50 list of the fastest-growing private companies for the 11th time in 14 years. In 2021 it was named to the Inc. 5000 list for the seventh time.
Arcos' resource management subscription software helps utilities, airlines, manufacturers and other critical infrastructure clients dispatch crews and plan equipment and supply movement.
Duff, CEO since 2011 after three years as vice president, is retiring after 40 years in the software industry. He will remain as strategic adviser through the transition. Under his leadership, Arcos grew from 25 employees and expanded to other industries from its start in utilities. Riverside bought a majority stake alongside other unnamed investors in 2013; the firm's backing along with increasing revenue funded a spate of acquisitions that amped up growth.
"Over the past 10 years, Bruce has helped transform Arcos into the high-quality business it is today," Wittenburg said in the release. “I am excited for this next chapter and privileged to help carry on Arcos’s mission of solving the toughest resource management challenges."
Wittenburg was hired last March as the first COO of Bold Commerce, which makes e-commerce software such as checkout and subscription tools for some 90,000 brands – leading to dozens of hires in Austin for the growing company based in Winnipeg in Canada, the Austin Business Journal reported.
Before Bold he spent six months as chief commercial officer of Austin-based Anaconda Inc., according to his LinkedIn profile. He was formerly president and executive vice president at Q2 Holdings Inc. (NYSE: QTWO), an Austin fintech firm, and former senior vice president and Americas general manager at Rackspace Hosting Inc., a cloud-computing company in San Antonio. In tech since 2000, Wittenburg has a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and MBA from Harvard University.
Wittenburg's father called him "Boogie" as a newborn, and the name stuck ever since.
