Remitly, the Seattle-based digital remittance startup, hired its first chief people officer as it expands to more than 700 employees globally.
Ayesha Pacholke, previously the executive vice president of human resources at Kirkland, Wash.-based Wave Broadband, brings to Remitly more than 25 years of legal and human resource experience.
She has previously led human relations and talent development roles at companies including Washington Mutual, digital media tech company RealNetworks, and Optimum Energy. She will help build “a more strategic human resources function” at the startup, the company said in a press release.
“As we continue to grow our global footprint and build our diverse workforce, Ayesha’s human resources background will be critical to our success,” said Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer in a press release. “Her background working with large companies and rapidly growing startups will be invaluable as we expand to meet the demand of our services.”
Pacholke said in the release that she feels the connection between Remitly’s mission and inclusion creates business opportunity. “Our ability to hire, listen to and appreciate our globally diverse workforce provides us with additional insights that drive deeper customer and employee appreciation and satisfaction,” she added.
Remitly recently raised a $115 million venture round in October and announced in May that users are sending $5 billion a year through the service. It also expanded into Australia, making it the fourth country (after the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.) where people can send money to loved ones around the world, including to the Philippines, Mexico, and India.
—Stephan Noll is leaving Bellevue, Wash.-based venture capital firm Trilogy Equity Partners after 14 months as a venture partner. Noll joined the firm in March 2017 after returning to Seattle from Acton, Mass.-based consultant Affirmed Networks, which he co-founded.
“My hypothesis back then was that Seattle is at the cusp of a major break-through as one of the leading start-up tech hubs in the world,” Noll said in an email. “Today, I have even stronger conviction about the incomparable opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors in Seattle.”
Noll did not offer specifics on what he will be doing after leaving Trilogy, saying simply: “I will apply my energy, insatiable curiosity and entrepreneurial passion to find new ways of improving products, processes and people’s lives.”
—Snap, Inc. hired away Derek Andersen, who was a vice president of finance at Amazon, to hold the same position at the social media company, according to a report by Bloomberg. This move solidifies a growing trend at Snap — recruiting from the Seattle-based tech giant.
In May, Snap hired Tim Stone from Amazon to be its chief financial officer. Snap’s lead engineer, Jerry Hunter, used to do infrastructure for AWS.
Andersen’s first day at the social media company will be July 9. The hire comes amid a time when Snap is experiencing a high executive turnover rate after it went public in 2017. Though many of those management roles were filled internally, the Los Angeles-based company has looked to Amazon to fill some shoes.
—Silicon Valley Bank, which serves many tech companies and investors globally, announced that it hired Jane Ullman as managing director of its Portland team. The expansion of the Portland branch of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based bank also includes adding a local wine team to serve the Oregon industry. The bank has been in Portland since 1992, and serves the tech and wine industries in the area.
Ullman comes to SVB with 20 years of finance and operations experience. She has previously worked as the CFO of The Clymb, RuleSpace, ShiftWise, and myAgro, and as managing partner of Grow Partners.
The expansion banks on Portland’s increasing role in the innovation and tech world. “Oregon’s technology sector is dynamic and growing, its wine is world-class and the Pacific Northwest is a great place to live for our employees,” senior market manager of the West region Bruce Helberg said in a press release. “Our expansion is a reflection of these trends.”
—Phytelligence’s founder and chief science officer Amit Dhingra was promoted to a full professor of genomics and biotechnology at Washington State University’s College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences, the highest rank open to professors.
Dhingra founded Seattle-based Phytelligence, an agricultural technology company that provides smart plants to growers, in 2011 and will continue with the company as the chief science officer. He joined the WSU faculty as an assistant professor in 2006 and received tenure in 2012.
Phytelligence and WSU are currently embroiled in a lawsuit regarding the rights of the “Cosmic Crisp” apple variety.
“I am honored by the university’s recognition and eager to continue my research, instruction, and support of activities aligned with WSU’s mission on a more enhanced basis,” Dhingra said in a press release.
