Gilion, the growth financing and analytics platform formerly known as ArK Kapital has today announced the latest development in its growth phase with the appointment of seasoned industry professional Oscar Werner.
Werner most recently served as CEO of omnichannel communications giant Sinch. Active at the helm for just over four years, under Werner’s leadership Sinch scaled from $400 million to $2.8 billion in revenue, saw profits reach in excess of $300 million, and made no less than nine strategic acquisitions.
Today, Sinch’s client roster numbers well over 150,000 organisations hailing from across the globe, including eight of the 10 largest tech companies based in the United States including Google, Uber, PayPal and Visa.
Gilion co-founder and soon-to-be former CEO Oliver Hildebrant will remain with the company, now filling the role of Chairman of the Board. On the appointment of Werner and Gilion’s expansion goals, Hildebrant shared:
“We’ve reached a stage where we need a master scaler. Oscar scaled Sinch to one of Europe’s most successful technology companies alongside other Swedish stars such as Klarna and Spotify and is one of the most prominent tech CEOs from our region.
“As a founder and serial entrepreneur, I can’t think of anyone more suited to take on the role of CEO and guide Gilion towards becoming a global leader in transforming funding and growth forecasting for both tech companies and its investors”
As Gilion places an increased focus on the US market, welcoming the investment capital and perhaps more crucially, the expertise and network of former US-based private equity firm Blackstone executive John McCormick to the table, the appointment of Werner is the next logical step for the Stockholm-based firm.
Approximately one year after assuming the role of CEO at Sinch, Werner and his family relocated to the United States, where approximately 65 per cent of the company’s core business is located. In addition Atlanta, Georgia, home to Sinch’s Americas head office - Americas, Werner has experience operating out of two additional US regional markets, Seattle and San Francisco.
On the new appointment, Werner shared:
“Simply put, credit decisions will move from being made on static and old data to lots of real-time data. AI will complement the human ability to assess what is a solid business.
“This shift should logically happen, without question. Will Gilion be the winner? Well, after having presented lots of Gilion term sheets to startup CEOs, and looked at hundreds of companies on the Gilion platform — it is obvious that they’re onto something.”
Lead image: Oscar Werner via Gilion. Photo: Uncredited.
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