Local veteran business executive Bob Wood has moved from being CEO of Reviver to being chief operating officer of OnSight Technology.
The change moves him from a Granite Bay-based digital license plate technology company to a Folsom-based robotics startup focused on the solar energy industry.
Wood said he had worked previously with OnSight CEO Derek Chase over a decade ago, and the move is an opportunity to work “with an incredibly talented team of executives and engineers.”
Wood had been CEO of Reviver since January 2020, and he said he’s done all he is able to do there in bringing Reviver up to having sales and sale channels, he said.
“They really need someone now with deep consumer electronics product experience,” Wood said.
Reviver is now being led by Interim CEO Joe Campbell, a retired automotive executive as the company searches for a permanent CEO.
Wood has worked in operations or executive positions at solar and energy companies, a law firm and several banks.
Wood said he is still involved with Reviver to make sure all its current initiatives get traction and to help work through the transition with investor calls.
The two companies share some similarities. Like Reviver, OnSight is selling a brand-new technology in an evolving industry. And both companies are portfolio companies of Folsom-based venture capital firm Moneta Ventures.
“Derek has been working on this for four years, and he needs executive leadership to realize its potential,” Wood said.
OnSight’s Bulldog product uses machine learning, computer vision and robotics to create autonomous robots that can examine utility-scale solar photovoltaic arrays to make sure the cells in panels are working correctly. They also communicate in real time with the managers of the solar systems. OnSight recently introduced an autonomous fire, smoke and heat detection system for rooftop and remote-location solar arrays called the Owl. OnSight says it is selling Owls faster than it can make them.
Reviver is a 2009 startup that moved to Granite Bay from the East Bay in 2020. It is working to get its digital license plates approved for sale in more states. The digital license plates can offer features including geofencing, registration renewal and transponder toll payment. Through reciprocity rules, license plates legally issued in one state are legal throughout North America.
Wood has worked all over the region at some high-profile companies in many different industries. He was previously chief operating offer of Trimark Associates Inc., a Folsom-based company that works with utility-scale electric power providers. He was also COO of Sacramento-based law firm Weintraub Tobin.
Wood spent nearly six years as chief operating officer of Roseville-based Solar Power Inc., and he spent nearly six years, until its sale, as chief technology officer of Calnet Business Bank, of which he was a founder. Calnet opened in 2001 with veteran local banking executives. Two of its products were a real-time payment card that was disposable and anonymous, and a continuing-use card with money management and account statement information tied in. Before that, he was chief information officer with Sacramento-based River City Bank.
