Heading into the beginning of September, a CompTIA analysis of job posting data from Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights showed the number of open tech positions in the region declining slightly from previous months. But announcements made throughout the month could be changing that trend.
Last month, tech firms like Silicon Valley unicorn Tipalti, clothing resale company ThredUP and online grocer Misfits Market announced plans to set up various operations in North Texas, creating nearly 3,000 new jobs in the coming months. And that’s without counting giants in the industry like Amazon making plans to hire more than 11,000 in the region.
In September, NTX Inno and the Dallas Business Journal tracked more 25 tech companies making hires to the leadership, including 13 that made C-suite editions. Four organizations – Nuerolens, Digital.ai, Match Group-owned Tinder and SMU’s Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation – named new CEOs.
To help you keep track of who is entering the North Texas ecosystem, we’ve rounded up the top hires from September.
Pro tip: You can read daily updates on hirings, departures, funding, M&A and VC activity in our newsletter, The Beat.
Hirings:
After becoming the first company to receive a $500,000 interest-free loan from Microsoft’s commitment to fund Black-owned startups, McKinney-based CourMed is adding to its leadership. The company, led by CEO Derrick Miles, added Debra Barcuch as its fractional chief marketing officer. Barcuch holds a similar position with outsourced marketing firm DB Marcom Inc. This isn't the first fractional C-suite position for CourMed. The company added James Griffin, founder and CEO of McKinney custom health care software startup Invene, as its fractional CTO in recent months.
Coppell-based maker of prescription lenses that “link optometry and neurology” Neurolens named Pierre Bertrand as its new CEO earlier this month. Now, Bertrand says he is looking to simplify the company’s leadership structure and has named Mark Kremer as its new CRO. Kremer joined Neurolens last year as vice president.
Argano, a Plano-based business and tech service provider formed in May out of three firms, named Tim Harris as its new group chief strategy officer. Harris held a similar role at Argano portfolio company Arbela Technologies since 2020, the same company the produced Argano's COO, Mark Hermans, which Argano acquired in June. That move brought Argano’s headcount to around 600 employees. In an interview with the Dallas Business Journal, CEO Chip Register said the company could reach up to 1K employees by the end of the year.
According to Axios, Leslie Shribman joined Fort Worth- and San Francisco-based investment firm TPG as its new senior director of external affairs. She joins the firm following a more than 13 year-stint at Goldman Sachs, where she most recently served as VP of corporate communications.
Shotwell Hydrogenics, an oil and gas-focused chemical manufacturing company that’s part of Argyle-based chemical solutions holding company BPS Technology, announced naming Len Wall as its new director of commercial operations and Chris Acosta as its new regional sales manager in the Permian Basin. Wall joins the firm from a previous role as president of Mansfield-based Chemisol Energy Solutions, while Acosta previously served as a district superintendent for Basic Energy Services.
Irving-based fintech business holding company TF Holdings brought on Jason Dickard as its new COO and head of its commercial division. Specifically, Dickard will oversee operational improvements to TF's lending-as-a-service platform Cortex, its loan management subsidiary iQ Decision Engine, and its financial wellness app Thinkflow. Before joining TF, Dickard served as the VP of centralized collections and network risk operations at South Carolina loan company Regional Management Corp.
Irving-based molecular science firm Caris Life Sciences, valued at $7.83 billion earlier this year, announced adding Milan Radovich as its new chief precision medicine officer. Radovich is a former associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine and VP of oncology genomics at Indiana University Health. Since 2018, Caris has raised about $1.3 billion in outside funding, most recently with an $830 million growth equity round led by Sixth Street.
After landing a $16 million Series A round led by ReignRock Capital Partners earlier this month, Dallas-based surveillance software startup Evolon Technologies named Dave Dalleske as its new VP of sales and marketing. Before joining Evolon, Dalleske served as the senior VP of sales in the Americas for electronics maker and software developer Synetics.
TEZ Technology, a Plano-based parking and mobility startup, made some personnel changes. The company, which focuses on contactless parking and valet transactions, has promoted CRO Steve Resnick as its new chief strategy officer and hired Todd Dorsey to fill Resnick's CRO role. Dorsey previously served as the VP of sales at Indiana-based parking management solutions company T2 Systems.
Amid rumors of a potential IPO, Fort Worth- and San Francisco-based investment firm TPG named Todd Sisitsky its new president. Sisitsky joined TPG in 2003. In addition to his new role, he will continue to serve as co-managing partner of TPG Capital and co-head of the platform's health care investing efforts. The move comes amid other recent personnel changes at the firm. In May, Jon Winkelried was named sole CEO after serving with co-founder Jim Coulter for five years. In August, the firm also announced it had appointed Jack Weingart as its new CFO
In August, Plano-based property management platform ResMan was awarded $62.45 million from a lawsuit against Houston’s Karya Property Management and Expedien, stemming from claims the firms improperly accessed its confidential software to develop a rival product. That month ResMan was acquired by Tennessee-based Inhabit IQ for an undisclosed amount. Now, it’s making some leadership changes. The company promoted Michael Dunn to the COO role and hired on Tahlor DiCicco as its new senior VP of marketing. Dunn originally joined the company in 2019 as CTO and general manager of payments. DiCicco joins the ResMan from a previous role as SaaS management platform CoreView’s VP of global marketing.
Frisco esports franchise Complexity Gaming, which was acquired GameSquare Esports in a $27 million all-stock deal that saw Complexity owners take 47% stake in the Canadian firm, brought on esports streamer and influencer Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar to develop branded content for the organization. The move follows GameSquare’s acquisition of Los Angeles-based marketing agency Cut+Sew and its gaming-focused subsidiary Zoned in July, in a move to help better monetize its assets. GameSquare said its acquisition of Complexity put the combined companies on track to see $28 million in revenue by 2022.
Dallas nonprofit-focused marketing and fundraising firm Pursuant’s donor engagement platform arm GivingDNA announced two leadership moves, naming Dawn Galasso as VP of technology sales and Jackie Graziano as VP of marketing and communications. Dawn has experience with other nonprofit-focused tech firms, including iWave, RevUp Software and WealthEngine. Graziano also did a stint at WealthEngine and joined GivingDNA from a previous role as VP of marketing for MediaMax Network.
Vari, a maker of innovative workplace furniture and a "space-as-a-service" company, has created an advisory board and unveiled its new members. The announcement comes as Vari has into around 10 new markets since 2020, including Austin, Phoenix, Atlanta and Baltimore. Advisory board members include Margot Carter, Ka Cotter, Russell Denson, and Debra von Stoch.
Stephen Elop was tapped as the new CEO of Plano tech company Digital.ai. He has previously served as chairman of the company and has held leadership roles at Nokia, Telstra and Adobe Systems. He takes over for Ashok Reddy, who will serve as a “special advisor” to Digital.ai’s board. The company was created last year out of the combination of Georgia-based CollabNet VersionOne, Virginia-based XebiaLabs, and San Francisco-based Arxan Technologies.
CourMed, a McKinney-based concierge health services delivery startup announced naming J. Denise Huginnie as its new chief impact officer. Huginnie is also the president and CEO of local organization Impact Focus. According to a LinkedIn post by Founder and CEO Derrick Miles, Huginnie has been a “behind the scenes” mentor and advisor to the company’s growth.
Dallas dating app company Match Group has named a new lead for its most popular brand. Renate Nyborg took over the role of CEO at Tinder as its first female head. Nyborg joined Tinder last year as general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She takes over from Jim Lanzone, who is stepping down to take over the CEO role at Yahoo. Before joining Tinder, Nyborg worked as Headspace’s general manager in Europe.
Plano-based care management as a service company Orb Health, a 2014 Health Wildcatters grad, promoted Aneel Moolji to CFO and Tyler Downs to CTO. Moolji formerly served as VP and has held senior roles at companies like Fossil and Deloitte. Downs most recently served as VP of engineering. According to Crunchbase, Orb has raised close to $11 million from investors, including from local firms Green Park & Golf Ventures and Mount Vernon Investments.
BenefitMall, a digital benefits purchasing and enrollment platform, has a new C-suite exec. Mark Trivette was tapped as the Dallas-based company's CFO. Trivette has held similar roles at Aspira, ACTIVE Network and Exela Technologies. He takes over from Stephanie Bowman, who joined BenefitMall in 2015, after serving as executive VP and CFO on Tuesday Morning.
SMU has a new president and CEO of its nonprofit, the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking Foundation (SWGSB), headquartered in its Cox School of Business. Banking veteran Jeff Schmid was tapped for the role. Schmid has served in executive stints at places like American National Bank, Mutual of Omaha Bank, and Susser Bank and served for nearly a decade as a faculty and board member of the SWGSB. He replaces Scott MacDonald, who retired after 24 years in the president and CEO role. Check out the Dallas Business Journal’s Q&A with Schmid here.
Dallas medical devices startup Articulate Labs named Jeff Brown as its new board member. According to his LinkedIn, Brown serves as COO at aortic therapy-focused company Endologix. Before that, he has worked with companies like Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson. Articulate is currently working on a pilot study of its KneeStim device, which incorporates neuromuscular electrical stimulation, motion tracking software, machine learning and a proprietary joint modeling system into a wearable device around a patient’s knee at the Clinique Romande de Réadaptation in Switzerland. The company also brought on Jonathan Gelber as its new scientific advisor. Gelber currently serves as an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon in Minnesota.
BILT, a Grapevine-based app maker that helps users assemble items like furniture at home, hired Matthew Henley as its new director of brand support sales. He joins the company, which recently announced a $9 million investment raised from Austin firm Silverton Partners, from Microsoft, where he was a specialist in the tech giant's Dynamics 365.
Dallas esports and entertainment company Envy Gaming added two new leaders. It brought on Eric Duncan as its head of marketing and Erin Schendle as its senior VP of sales and partnership roles. Duncan joins the company from a previous role as a marketing lead for the digital media company Rooster Teeth. Before joining Envy, Schendle serves as a local sales manager for TEGNA-owned WFAA. The announcements come as Envy Gaming talks with NRG Esports and its Co-CEO Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez to merge its Call of Duty League team Dallas Empire with the Chicago franchise's OpTic Gaming according to Dot Esports.
