Hiring Up & Market Making Services
Wishpond Appoints Nicholas Steeves General Manager of PersistIQ and Announces Engagement of Market-Maker
Former Chief Product Officer takes the helm of Wishpond’s latest acquisition
VANCOUVER, BC, May 17, 2021 – /CNW/ – Wishpond Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: WISH, OTCQB: WPNDF) (“Wishpond” or the “Company”), a provider of all-in-one digital marketing solutions that empower businesses to achieve success online, is pleased to announce that Nicholas Steeves has been promoted from Wishpond’s Chief Product Officer to General Manager of Wishpond’s PersistIQ business unit. Mr. Steeves has been with Wishpond for 10 years and has held many leadership roles including marketing and support along with building the Wishpond product management department from the ground up and transforming Wishpond’s software into a premier all-in-one marketing platform.
Since the Company closed its acquisition of PersistIQ, Inc. in February 2021, Mr. Steeves has been instrumental in leading integration efforts and enhancing an already strong PersistIQ offering. Mr. Steeves was responsible for the recent launch of a new fully managed outbound sales solution combining PersistIQ’s platform and Wishpond’s outbound sales capabilities into one bundled recurring service offering that augments sales potential for small businesses. Since the acquisition, PersistIQ has optimized pricing, set up outbound sales, and hired additional sales personnel to accelerate growth. These actions have already resulted in a steady monthly recurring revenue (MRR) increase for PersistIQ.
“I am pleased to congratulate Nick on this promotion,” said Ali Tajskandar, Wishpond’s Chairman and CEO. “PersistIQ is a key component of our accelerated growth strategy and I am confident that Nick has the right skills to guide PersistIQ to significant revenue increases in parallel with Wishpond’s rapid growth. Nick is the ideal choice to head PersistIQ – managing its P&L, integrating PersistIQ into Wishpond’s platform, expanding sales, and driving product innovation.”
PersistIQ will continue to function as a separate business unit operationally while maximizing synergies between Wishpond and PersistIQ including capitalizing on up-sell and cross-sell opportunities between Wishpond and PersistIQ.
Wishpond is also pleased to announce the appointment of Wil Schmor as the Company’s new Director of Product Management, who takes on Mr. Steeves’ former product management portfolio as Mr. Steeves transitions to focus his efforts on the PersistIQ business. Mr. Schmor is an experienced leader in product management, design, and entrepreneurship having founded and sold his first startup early in his career. Most recently Mr. Schmor was in charge of leading product at Plusgrade, a global leader in the aviation software space, launching the innovative Dynamic Seat Blocker solution allowing airlines to offer social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Tajskandar continued, “I am delighted to welcome Wil to the Wishpond family. Nick laid a strong foundation in the product management department in terms of strategy, structure, and direction, and we are confident that Wil’s deep expertise will further amplify the innovation and value of our technology. Nick will be actively involved in the transition of Wishpond’s product management function to Wil, ensuring the transition occurs smoothly without any impact to our customers.”
In addition to the management updates, the Company announces that it has entered into a market-making agreement with Independent Trading Group (“ITG”) pursuant to which ITG has agreed to provide market-making services to the Company in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”) and applicable laws.
ITG will trade the securities of the Company on the TSXV for the purposes of maintaining an orderly market. None of ITG nor its affiliates or associates has any interest directly or indirectly in the Company or its securities, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest. In consideration of the services provided by ITG, the Company will pay ITG a monthly cash fee of $5,000 for a minimum term of three months, which will automatically extend for successive one month terms unless terminated on thirty days’ prior notice. The services provided by ITG will commence today. ITG will not receive shares or other securities as compensation. The capital used for market making will be provided by ITG.
About Wishpond Technologies Ltd.
Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Wishpond is a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions. Wishpond’s vision is to become the leading provider of digital marketing solutions that empower entrepreneurs to achieve success online. The Company offers an “all-in-one” marketing suite that provides companies with marketing, promotion, lead generation, and sales conversion capabilities from one integrated platform. Wishpond replaces entire marketing functions in an easy-to-use product, for a fraction of the cost. Wishpond serves over 2,900 customers who are primarily small-to-medium size businesses (SMBs) in a wide variety of industries. The Company has developed cutting-edge marketing technology solutions and continues to add new features and applications with great velocity. The Company employs a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model where substantially all the Company’s revenue is subscription-based recurring revenue which provides excellent revenue predictability and cash flow visibility. Wishpond is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker “WISH”. For further information, visit: www.wishpond.com.
About Independent Trading Group (ITG)
ITG is an independent, privately held broker-dealer based in Toronto, Ont., that provides a wide range of financial and investment services, and is registered with the Canadian Securities Exchange, NEO, Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX-V along with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).