Swedish headquartered inriver has strengthened its senior leadership by appointing two executives. Brooke Cunningham was named Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), and Brad Habansky, Chief Sales Officer (CSO). The appointments show the importance of the US market to the product information management vendor. Cunningham is based in Austin, Texas, and Habansky is in Chicago.
The appointments come after the appointment of Niels Stenfeldt as the company’s new CEO and the majority investment from THL partners in May 2022. Over the last year, the company has also seen success, with 125% and several net new logos, including twelves with over $1 billion in revenue. Its customer base includes 700 customers and over 1,600 brands.
Stenfeldt commented. “We’re very excited to have Brooke and Brad join the inriver team. Attracting proven senior talent like theirs validates the health of the PIM space overall and specifically that inriver has the market’s most differentiated solution, particularly for mid- to large-sized enterprises. We look forward to further accelerating our go-to-market to support our highly engaged customers, as well as reach new organizations.”
A new but very experienced CMO
Cunningham joins from Datto, where she was CMO for only 9 months. However, her departure was almost certainly triggered by the acquisition of Datto by Kaseya shortly after she joined. She spent seven years at SAP before leaving to hold increasingly senior marketing positions at vendors such as CA Technologies, Qlik and Splunk. At Splunk, Cunningham played a key role in growing the company’s revenue from $650M to more than $2.5B by maximizing the value of partner ecosystems.
Cunningham commented, “Simply put, inriver has the most sophisticated product in the PIM space with big-name customers like Ethan Allen, Vestas, and Alfa Laval, as well as a highly valued partner ecosystem. I saw the opportunity to elevate the inriver brand, as well as support our growth and global expansion. As CMO, I look forward to applying my passion for driving integrated marketing models, delivering go-to-market growth outcomes and bringing customer and partner ecosystem stories to life.”
On LinkedIn, she gave a more personal message and indicated that inriver has a marketing budget to spend. She said, “I’m so pleased to share I’ve joined inriver as Chief Marketing Officer. inriver is a software company that powers the entire product journey with revenue-driving product information management (#PIM) across every customer touchpoint. The future is bright. And for my network, we’re hiring!”
A boost for sales globally
The new Chief Sales Officer, Brad Habansky, joins from Elastic Path, where he was SVP of Global Sales driving 400% growth in his first year. Before Elastic Path, he was VP of sales at commercetools GMBH, and he also spent time at Salesforce, Oracle and Capgemini.
Habansky commented, “I’ve been an admirer of inriver for many years and see a massive opportunity in the PIM space. After spending the last 6.5 years in commerce, I’ve observed commerce functionality commoditize. As commerce becomes increasingly digital, and with inriver’s ability to manage product data and create a unique experience wherever the customer lives, I’m so excited to be a part of a team that can bring unparalleled value for our customers.”
2023 a year of accelerated growth and product
The press release that announced the appointments also shared some insight into what customers can expect in 2023. This is the year Stenfeldt will want to make a difference with his new leadership team.
Inriver promises new product features, including advanced workflows and user management, enhanced syndication and digital shelf capabilities, and increased enterprise performance and scaling.
It will also look to develop its partner ecosystem by adding new certifications and integrations. The company already has 350 partners. It is also looking to strengthen its relationship with SAP. inriver is already SAP certified and is available on the SAP Store with its connection to SAP Commerce Cloud, which was launched in 2021.
inriver will also host physical customer conferences again this year. One in Chicago on April 27 and the European Summit in Malmö, Sweden, on May 9. It expects over 1,000 attendees at the PIMpoint summits.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
There is a natural progression in companies taken over by investors. The majority backing by THL has seen a new CEO put in place. This has now been followed by a new Sales and Marketing team that he expects to help grow the business. It shows the serious intent to conquer the US market with both appointees based in the US. It is also interesting that Stenfeldt did not decide to appoint a CRO. One question yet to be answered is how quickly Cunningham will extend her team with two job openings in marketing already available.
