While the pandemic has hit certain industries hard with layoffs and furloughs, the local tech and startup scene has remained strong.
That notion was solidified in early November, with North Texas landing the No. 2 spot on the CompTIA Tech Town Index, which looks at things like IT job opening growth and cost of living, among other things. That marked a jump from the No. 7 spot last year, and put the region only behind Austin.
And with a number of new players in the scene and more companies relocating in the area, the region’s standing as a tech hub seems likely to continue to grow.
To help keep up with who is coming and going from the Metroplex, we’ve rounded up the top hires and departures in North Texas from November.
Pro tip: You can read daily updates on hirings, departures, funding, M&A and VC activity in our newsletter The Beat.
Hiring:
Taysha Gene Therapies, a Dallas-based biotech company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for monogenic diseases of the central nervous system, has added women to its board for the first time. The company announced appointing Kathy Reape and Laura Sepp Lorenzino to it board. Reape was previously the former chief medical officer for Spark Therapeutics and currently serves as the president of Ark Medical Consulting. Sepp Lorenzino currently serves as the chief science officer at Intellia Therapeutics and as a member of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s scientific advisory board.
Global PE firm Riverside Company announced promoting Drew Flanigan to partner of its Dallas office. According to the Dallas Business Journal, Flanigan has been with Riverside for about 10 years. The firm, which focuses on small- and mid-sized companies, has six offices in the U.S., with a 10-person team at it Dallas offices.
Andrea Roy, the current director of economic development for the town of Flower Mound, is taking over a new post in Bedford, where she will serve as the director of development of the city. The move marks another North Texas city, where Roy has work in economic development. Previously she has held positions with the cities of Coppell, Arlington and Carrollton. She takes over her new role in Flower Mound on January 4.
Dallas-based digital health care management company Medecision has named Dr. Terri Steinberg as its new chief medical officer and senior VP of analytics and population health. She joins the company from her previous role as chief health information officer and VP of population health informatics at Christiana Care Health Systems.
Lincoln International, a Chicago-based investment bank and financial services focused on the mid-market PE industry, announced hiring Matt Kessler as the new managing director of its technology, media and telecom group in Dallas. Kessler joins the company from his previous role as managing director for wealth management and PE firm Robert W. Baird & Co. According to Lincoln, Kessler’s hire marks a “commitment to expand our team in Dallas.”
Catalyze Dallas, a venture development firm specializing in the capitalization and commercialization of defense and industrial innovations, announced naming Ed Dolanski to its board of advisors. Dolanski is the former president of government services at Boeing and is the current owner of North Star Advisors. He joins seven other advisory board members, nearly all of with have public or private defense industry experience.
Hot off a $2.3 million seed funding it landed at the end of October, McKinney-based ShearShare, a B2B salon and barbershop rental marketplace, announced hiring Steve Chomik as its new senior director of strategic partnerships. Chomik joins the startup from his previous role as head of global partnerships and corporate solutions at Sabre. The announcement comes as ShearShare has added three new hires in in the last two months, bringing its total to 17 amid a 157 percent increase in users on its platform. The company was also one of four local startups to land a $300,000 investment from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.
Richardson-based wireless industry software provider Mavenir announced appointing Vishant Vora as its new president of global operations and managed services. Vora joins the Mavenir team from his previous role as chief technology officer for Vodafone Idea in India. The company recently announced delaying its IPO.
Frisco-based logistics platform Transplace announced naming Carmen Palo as its new chief marketing officer. She joins the company from her previous role as senior VP of marketing and corporate communications at HID Global.
Dallas-based COMSovereign Holding Corp., a connectivity and data transmission systems provider, is expanding its board of directors from six members to seven, adding Kay Kapoor to the newly created seat. Kapoor also serves as the CEO of end-to-end tech solutions provider Arya Technologies.
The Dallas Fuel, the Overwatch League team of Envy Gaming, completed its 2021 roster, adding Jung “Xzi” Ki-hyo as its eighth member. Ki-hyo joins the team from a previous sport on Paris Eternal. According to The Dallas Morning News, Ki-hyo’s recruitment gives Dallas Fuel an all-Korean roster.
As a former head of marketing and recruiting innovation for Allegis Global Solutions and founder of his own recruiting and marketing firm TalentNet Media, Craig Fisher knows a thing or two about what employers are looking for when hiring tech talent. Now, he’s taking that expertise to a new position as the new CEO of Knack.io, a Dallas-based personalized job board startup created “by engineers for engineers.” He took over the position in early November from Knack.io Co-founder and former CEO Leroy Ware, who is now taking on the role of chief technology officer at the company.
The Dallas Fuel, the Overwatch League team of Envy Gaming, has tapped Lee “Jecse” Seung-soo as the newest member of its lineup. He joins the team from its rival the Houston Outlaws. With the hire, the Dallas Fuel now meets the minimum headcount requirements of the league, The Dallas Morning News reports.
UT Dallas added nine new tech- and science-related tenure-track faculty to its Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Joining the university as assistant professors of bioengineering are Yichen Ding, Jacopo Ferruzzi, Caroline Jones and Girgis Obaid. Matthew Gardner and Kaveh Shamsi join as assistant professors of electrical and computer engineering. Chung Hwan Kim and Jin Ryong Kim join as assistant professors of computer science. And Guoping Xiong joins the university as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
The Dallas Fuel, the Overwatch League team of Dallas’ Envy Gaming, announced adding Lee “Fearless” Eui-Seok to its lineup. Eui-Seok joins the Fuel from the Shanghai Dragons. According to The Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Fuel now just needs two more players to finish out its new roster.
After landing a $5 million Series A round in June, Frisco-bases adaptive learning and training software startup Trivie announced adding Dustin Joost as its new executive VP of marketing and Eric Montgomery as its new executive VP of technology. Joost was previously the VP of sales and marketing at YourCause, while Montgomery joins the company from his previous role as VP of information technology for Susan G. Komen. Since landing the Series A, Trivie has been looking to expand into new markets.
Frisco-based ATX Networks, a broadband access and media distribution solutions company, announced naming Dan Whalen as its new president and CEO, as well as an ATX board member. He joins the company from his previous role as chief product officer at ADTRAN.
Cecil Cross has joined Dallas-based Idea Grove, a B2B tech company-focused PR and marketing agency, as its new associate creative director. In his new role he will help oversee the company’s visual brand strategy and digital asset creation.
Plano-based fintech startup Alkami Technology is adding to its board. The company announced naming Merline Saintil and Barbra Yastine to its board of directors. Saintil also serves on the boards of Banner Corporation, Lightspeed and ShotSpotter. Yastine joins Alkami’s board from her previous role as CEO at Ally Bank. Alkami said the move will help it expand into new markets and grow its client base.
Southlake-based fintech company Rev19 announced hiring Dustin Siner as its new CRO. He joins the credit card processing services company from his previous roles as senior VP of sales at payment processing company TSYS.
Departure:
Angela Lang, VP of marketing and communications for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas announced she would be stepping down from her position at the organization. She will be joining Indianapolis-based Givelify, an online donation app for churches and nonprofits, as its new senior content strategist.
