Arif Kareem
Arif Kareem

ExtraHop Networks, a Seattle-based company that monitors complex computer networks in real-time, has appointed former Fluke Networks President Arif Kareem as its CEO and president, seeking to enable a new wave of growth at the company.

Co-founder Jesse Rothstein, who has served as CEO since the company’s founding in 2007, will become CTO, also serving as board chairman and heading R&D. Co-founder and current president Raja Mukerji will become chief customer officer and will remain head of engineering services. Both founders were senior software architects at F5 Networks before they created ExtraHop.

“The number-one goal is to grow more,” Kareem said in an interview. “I want to make sure our execution is world-class and to get cash-flow positive as soon as possible. I’m going to focus on getting our brand even better known in the marketplace, gaining share and getting into new markets. There are a lot of levers we need to pull to go the next level.”

Matt McIlwain, managing director of ExtraHop investor Madrona Venture Group and a board member at the company, predicted in a statement that “Arif’s experience scaling larger companies in related areas will help ExtraHop become one of the next major enterprise companies in Seattle.”

extrahopBefore coming to ExtraHop, Kareem served as president of Everett, Wash.-based Fluke Networks for six years, where he helped increase revenue to more than $350 million while increasing operating margins. He also oversaw Fluke’s purchase and integration of Air Magnet and ClearSight Networks.

Fluke is probably best known for hand-held electronics used by technicians in multiple fields, but more recently it has also focused on fiber optics, network performance and WiFi security, Kareem said. “It’s a very good fit here, with what Fluke has become over the past six or seven years,” he said.

The leadership changes come at a time of rapid growth at ExtraHop. Earlier this year, the company announced its expansion into the Asia Pacific region. It set records for bookings, new customers and revenue last quarter, Rothstein said, declining to provide numbers.

The company said it has more than 500 enterprise customers in most vertical segments, among them Adobe, Alaska Airlines, Google, Lockheed Martin, McKesson, Microsoft and Sony. A $41-million funding round in 2014, led by Technology Crossover Ventures, brought total funding to just over $61.6 million. The company currently has just over 300 employees.

The business of monitoring computer networks has only gotten more complex with today’s computing trends, including the increasing popularity of the cloud, observed co-founder Rothstein during the interview. “The whole IT operations and network-management field is due for disruption because of those trends,” he said. “With Arif’s track record of success, we’re well positioned to take advantage of that disruption.”

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