Nela Richardson
Nela Richardson

—Redfin is following in the footsteps of Zillow and Trulia, appointing the Seattle online real estate company’s first-ever chief economist. Housing market expert Nela Richardson is joining Redfin after serving as a former senior economist with Bloomberg Government.

Before that, she worked as a research economist at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and was a member of its Dodd-Frank financial reform rulemaking team. She was also a researcher at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and a senior economist at Freddie Mac. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.

“Redfin has an arsenal of data on the housing market that can’t be found anywhere else, including real-time demand numbers, agent insights and customer surveys” Richardson said in a press release. “I am thrilled to be its first chief economist and help people across the nation make informed housing decisions.”

Both Zillow and Trulia have chief economists on staff, and with Richardson in the new role Redfin could be looking to amplify its role in the real estate industry. In fact, Richardson will contribute to national housing market discussions in the new role.

The appointment comes as Redfin embarks on what could be the largest expansion in its history. The company is currently looking to hire real estate professionals in 46 markets in 19 states.

Howard Green
Howard Green

—X2Biosystems, which is developing technologies to minimize concussions in sports, military and work environments, named former Apple exec Howard Green as CEO. At Apple, Green launched the company’s first videoconferencing product, serving as senior director of QuickTime Media. Current CEO Christoph Mack will move to the role of CTO, focusing on product development. 

“X2’s mission of managing brain injuries is very compelling and topical. We don’t think an athlete should have to choose between the love of their sport and their long term health, and the same holds true for military and industrial personnel,” said Green. “I’m very excited to be part of such an outstanding team of technologists, clinicians, and sports and military leaders.”

The 4-year-old company — which has a partnership agreement with the National Football League —  raised $5 million in funding last December.

—Wavii founder Adrian Aoun, who reportedly sold his Seattle startup Wavii to Google for $30 million, has left the search giant to start a new company, reports TechCrunch.

—Viableware, whose RAIL device RAIL device allows restaurant patrons to peruse a digital copy of the bill, calculate tips, split the bill, answer survey questions and then “self swipe” credit cards at the table, appointed Gary McGrath to the role of executive vice president of sales. McGrath most recently served as vice president of sales and marketing at Hopunion, and before that worked in sales roles at Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Pyramid Breweries.

“There are more than 400,000 full-service restaurants in the United States that need an elegant way to accept all types of payments – from gift cards to Smart cards – seamlessly from the table,” McGrath said.  “The RAIL from Viableware has gained a groundswell of support from elite restaurant organizations from around the country and is on the cusp of much broader adoption.”

Viableware raised $6.5 million last year to continue developing the electronic payment device.

Buuteeq grows its team
Buuteeq grows its team

—Buuteeq, the Seattle startup that provides a digital marketing system to hotels, named Joe Mele chief experience officer and Betsy Steckler senior vice president of global customer success. Mele previously worked at Razorfish for 14 years, while Steckler previously held marketing roles at Microsoft and The Cobalt Group.

“It’s not every day you gain not one, but two, incredible colleagues,” said Buuteeq co-founder and CEO Forest Key. “Both Joe and Betsy’s rich backgrounds across a broad spectrum of business expertise will support our goals of perfecting the customer experience and strengthening our relationships with leading hotel brands worldwide.”

Buuteeq is backed by Madrona, Concur and others.

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