Technology  September 30, 2014

SendGrid hires new CEO to shepherd growth, possible IPO

Dholakia

BOULDER — SendGrid Inc. has hired Sameer Dholakia as its new chief executive and board member as the Boulder-based provider of email delivery services continues to grow and considers an initial public offering.

Dholakia previously was group vice president and general manager of the Cloud Platforms Group at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Citrix Systems Inc. He replaces Jim Franklin who has served as SendGrid’s CEO since 2011.

The Colorado Technology Association’s chief executive Erik Mitisek told BizWest in January that SendGrid is one of several Colorado-based tech companies that are “serious IPO candidates.”

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David Friedman, a SendGrid spokesman, said on Tuesday that there is no timetable in place for an IPO, but the company is considering it in the future.

“Most startups have two exit strategies, either acquisition or IPO, both of those are still on the table,” Friedman said.

Friedman would not comment on whether or not the change in leadership is linked to an IPO.

Isaac Saldana, who founded SendGrid in 2009 and serves as its president, said Franklin has been instrumental in the growth and success of SendGrid over the last few years.

“Under his leadership, SendGrid has evolved from a startup with 20 employees and several thousand customers to where we are today – an industry leader in email delivery with over 250 employees and over 175,000 customers,” Saldana said in a prepared statement. SendGrid specializes in application email infrastructure using a cloud-based platform.

Dholakia said SendGrid has an “incredibly bright future.

“With the combined foundation of SendGrid’s superior technology, dedicated team and industry-leading customer support, we are well positioned for future success. I am excited about our prospects and look forward to accelerating our business to the next level,” he said in a prepared statement.

Founded in 2009 as part of TechStars, SendGrid is backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Foundry Group, Highway 12 Ventures, Bullet Time Ventures, SoftTech VC, 500 Startups and several notable individual investors such as Matt Mullenweg and Scott Petry.

 

Dholakia

BOULDER — SendGrid Inc. has hired Sameer Dholakia as its new chief executive and board member as the Boulder-based provider of email delivery services continues to grow and considers an initial public offering.

Dholakia previously was group vice president and general manager of the Cloud Platforms Group at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Citrix Systems Inc. He replaces Jim Franklin who has served as SendGrid’s CEO since 2011.

The Colorado Technology Association’s chief executive Erik Mitisek told BizWest in January that SendGrid is one of several Colorado-based tech companies that are “serious…

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