Every month we recap the biggest tech hires and departures in the D.C. area over the past month. To get hiring and other local innovation news daily, sign up for The Beat. Here’s our list of the top hires in D.C. innovation for November:
Spin
Dockless bikeshare company Spin added some pretty notable names to its advisory board on Nov. 7. The San Francisco-based company, which entered the D.C. market in September, is adding former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to its group of advisors. Gabe Klein, the former transportation chief in D.C. and Chicago, will also join as an advisor, along with Molly Turner, former Airbnb public policy director and urban innovation professor at UC-Berkeley. The three advisors will help Spin expand into even more cities where public transportation is either limited or nonexistent. O'Malley served as governor from 2007-2015, and he lost the Democratic bid for president in the 2016 election cycle.
LookingGlass Cyber Solutions
Reston, Va.-based LookingGlass Cyber Solutions added a few executive team members on Nov. 15. Michael Taxay joined the team as its chief risk officer and general counsel, and Jeremy Haas joined as chief security officer, according to a press release. Most recently, Taxay was at the FBI Cyber Division working on the Bureau's counter-cyber intrusion program. Haas comes to LookingGlass after 24 years at the CIA and the U.S. Air Force supporting intelligence activities.
Optoro
Optoro has a new executive amongst its ranks, according to a press release on Nov. 16. Jim Kelly took on the role of executive vice president of business development and client success. He joined from IBM, where most recently he was the vice president of cloud, cognitive & analytics for retail, consumer product goods and travel industries. Kelly will focus on growing the company's success even further, which might not be too difficult given that Optoro has landed $170M in total funding from investors like UPS and Kleiner Perkins, according to their Crunchbase profile.
iStrategyLabs
iStrategyLabs has a new, yet familiar, person at the helm as of Nov. 1. DJ Saul, one of the company's first employees, is now the CEO. Peter Corbett, who founded the company, has stepped down from the role and is now at iStrategyLabs purely as "founder." Saul is a member of NextGen Venture Partners, the World Economic Forum's Young Global Shapers and the Forbes Communication Council.
NEA
Kavita Patel, a former Obama administrator and practicing physician at Johns Hopkins, joined NEA as a venture partner, according to a press release on Nov. 17. Patel, who is D.C.-based, is also a nonresidential fellow at The Brookings Institution and former managing director of clinical transformation at the Center for Health Policy.
Verodin
Reston, Va.-based security company Verodin has a new vice president of product. According to a press release on Nov. 20, Mark Bagley joined the company from Cisco where he was the director of product management. In his new role, Bagley will oversee product development.
