16th September 2019 – Red Points Solutions SL has hired its first finance and operations chief, a hybrid position that will focus on adding U.S. staff to the software provider and managing the company’s data operation.
The Barcelona-based software-as-a-service company, which provides brand protections such as an intellectual-property-infringement detection and removal service, tapped Lena Shishkina for the role. The former Workday Inc. executive is expected to start in the position Monday.
Finance chiefs in recent years have absorbed more duties once assigned to chief operating officers. A recent study found that CFOs improve the quality of a company’s financial reporting when they shoulder COO responsibilities.
The position at Red Points will be split evenly between financial and operational duties, though there will be an emphasis at first on managing its data operations, Ms. Shishkina said.
“For me, finance and revenue operations are very closely tied, so it’s a perfect combination to find someone who knows both well,” Red Points Chief Executive Laura Urquizu said. “We are a young company and have to build a larger sales and marketing operation.”
The venture-backed company, founded in 2011, has raised $64 million to date, including a $38 million Series C round in April. Its investors include Fidelity International’s investment arm Eight Roads, Summit Partners and Northzone.
Red Points, which is developing new technology for monitoring companies’ distribution channels to protect against fraud, is aiming for $100 million in annual revenue in the next few years, Ms. Urquizu said. She declined to provide past revenue performance or a valuation.
Ms. Shishkina most recently was the vice president of finance at Workday and, before that, the finance chief for SAP SE ’s U.K. and Ireland business. Along the way, she dabbled in operations work, she said.
Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.
