Jennifer Bolton. (Photo courtesy of Koverse)

—Secretive data company Koverse recruited Jennifer Bolton as its senior director of marketing. Bolton has made the rounds at successful Seattle-area startups, leading teams at F5 Networks, Smartsheet and Allrecipes.com.

Koverse was founded by former NSA data scientists Paul Brown and Aaron Cordova to solve big data problems for governments and large corporations. The company counts Peter Thiel’s Palantir Technologies among its competitors.

“Koverse offers cutting-edge technology, industry-leading customers and a dream team of talent. I’m thrilled to help bring our world-class solutions to market,” Bolton said in a statement.

“Jennifer has significant strategic and tactical experience launching innovative products in emerging categories,” Koverse CEO Jon Matsuo said in a statement.

Jessica Zeaske. (Photo courtesy of Echo Health Ventures)

Jessica Zeaske has joined Echo Health Ventures as a partner, where she’ll help spot innovative health tech investments for the Seattle-based VC firm.

In the past, Zeaske led health care investments at GE Ventures and was at healthcare-focused Lemhi Ventures prior to that. Zeaske also sports her own entrepreneurial chops, having spun out startups at the University of Minnesota and Oregon Health & Science University.

“Jessica is a seasoned venture capitalist with public health roots and a legacy of building deep, high-value relationships with portfolio companies throughout her career,” said Echo Health Ventures CEO Rob Coppedge in a statement.

Echo also announced that Dr. Richard Popiel had joined as an advisor. Popiel recently served as corporate chief medical officer at Cambia Health Solutions.

Lara Gamble. (Photo courtesy of the University of Washington)

—The University of Washington appointed Professor Lara Gamble as director of the UW Molecular Analysis Facility (MAF). Gamble first came to UW as a master’s student in the 1990s and has worked at the university since 2003.

The high-tech facility houses instruments to aid in the fields of microscopy, spectroscopy and surface sciences. Professor Dave Castner, longtime head of MAF, recently retired.

“At the Molecular Analysis Facility, we work hard to meet the needs of the many researchers we serve — from academics characterizing unique nanoparticle features to startups looking to improve materials or devices,” Gamble said in a statement. “I am grateful to have been able to work closely with Dave Castner for so many years — he’s been an incredible mentor and I am honored to be passed the reins to this top-tier research facility.”

Allison Billings. (Photo courtesy of Zipwhip)

—Business texting service Zipwhip plans to tag team North America by appointing two leads to spearhead industry development. Alison Billings will handle the U.S. efforts and Paul Wheeler will take control of the company’s Canadian territory.

Billings joins Zipwhip after a decade at T-Mobile, where she led a strategic partnership with Google.

“I worked with Zipwhip throughout my tenure at T-Mobile and was always impressed with their clarity of vision, innovative spirit and technical acumen,” Billings said in a statement. “Their ability to take the most basic of wireless communications – the text message – and create an entirely new industry is incredible.”

Seattle-based Zipwhip raised $22.5 million in 2017 to expand its operations. Its platform helps companies to connect with customers through text on North American wireless carriers.

Paul Wheeler.

Wheeler most recently served as VP of client services at Canadian telecom firm Impact Mobile, and was COO at Full Spectrum Telecommunications before that. Wheeler is also an entrepreneur, having started and sold two digital entertainment companies, Max Interactive Media and Smart App Mobile.

“Zipwhip is uniquely positioned to usher in the next decade of business messaging in a way that protects the integrity of the messaging ecosystem while at the same time promoting growth and allowing all channel partners to benefit,” said Wheeler.

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