Appointment of Derek Wise and other Board changes
Certain information contained within this Announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon publication of this Announcement, this information is considered to be in the public domain.
2 July 2019
Bidstack Group PLC ("Bidstack or "the Company")
Appointment of Derek Wise and other Board changes
Former CTO of Grapeshot and now VP Contextual Intelligence, Oracle Data Cloud
Bidstack Group plc (AIM: BIDS.L), the native in-game advertising group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Derek Wise as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with immediate effect. In addition, Derek will be appointed to the Audit and Remuneration Committees.
Derek is a highly experienced software technologist who enjoys combining the chaos of software development and live operations with flexible production processes that make it possible to better predict outcomes and drive efficiency.
On becoming Chief Technology Officer of Grapeshot in January 2017, Derek was its first experienced technology and product management resource and took over software development, product, support and operations globally to reorganize and grow the group. Within 12 months of his joining, Grapeshot had grown revenues by 160% year-on-year while the team grew from 120 to well over 250. Six months later he was responsible for the product and technology pitch that eventually led to Oracle's acquisition of Grapeshot in August 2018 (for an estimated $400m according to Wikipedia).
Currently VP of Contextual Intelligence with Oracle Data Cloud, Derek has global responsibility for all products related to the contextual understanding of data, manages a global team and is accountable for global revenues and growth.
Prior to Grapeshot, following six years with the US Marines, Derek started his technical career in 2000 with Enron Broadband. In 2001 he founded GNi and, over the following 7 years grew the business from annual revenues of $200,000 to over $10,000,000, turning it into one of the fastest growing technology companies in the US. Since then he has held a series of Technical Director and CTO roles with CCP, TRC Family Entertainment, Jagex and Benevolent AI.
The Company also announces that both John Taylor and Lindsay Mair, who have been non-executive Directors of the Company since 15 November 2017 are taking this opportunity to step down from the Board with immediate effect, to pursue their other business interests.
James Draper, CEO of Bidstack, commented, "Given the attractiveness of our technical offering we have been looking to add a Board member who has had experience of building and scaling borderless enterprise technology which has then been acquired by a major Silicon Valley player.
"Derek's technical background at the highest level of gaming, coupled with his intimate knowledge of the contextual understanding of data, is a perfect blend for us and his work as CTO of Grapeshot eventually led to the its acquisition by Oracle.
"Derek has already been a fantastic sounding wall for our management team and I'm sure that his insight will help Bidstack to accelerate our growth further over the coming years.
"On behalf of Bidstack and the team I would like to thank both John and Lindsay for their hard work and invaluable advice and assistance in getting the business listed on AIM and helping us to raise finance to grow our business. With Derek's appointment, they both feel that the Company has a strong Board with the necessary skills to embark on the next stages of its journey and now is an appropriate time to step down. We wish them both well in their future business endeavours."
Derek Wise said, "I'm a technologist at heart with a passion for people and process management. Iʼm always on the lookout for new technologies and solutions to help bridge the gulf of uncertainty in software development, product development, and server operations. Bidstack's technology is new and exciting as it opens up a whole new market to digital advertisers. That is why I am delighted to be joining Bidstack's Board."
John Taylor remarked, "Both Lindsay and I came on board in November 2017 to find a business for the Company when it was an AIM Rule 15 cash shell and guide it through the reverse takeover process. We are delighted that the Bidstack business has been such a success and feel that now is an appropriate time to step down in order to allow others with much more relevant skill sets to help the Company continue to expand."
Further information on Derek Wise is set out below.
Contacts
Bidstack Group PLC
James Draper, CEO +44 (0) 7850 341 885
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad)
Mark Brady/Neil Baldwin/James Keeshan +44 (0) 203 368 3550
Peterhouse Capital Limited (Broker)
Eran Zucker/Lucy Williams/Duncan Vasey +44 (0) 20 7409 0930
Further information on Derek Wise:
Derek Joseph Wise (aged 43) is not currently a director of any company and has not been a director of any company in the past five years.
There is no further information on Derek Wise required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)-(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
As part of his package, the Company intends to grant Mr Wise options over 1 million shares exercisable, in respect of 70% of such options, at 31.75 pence per share and, in respect of the remaining 30% at 50 pence per share. Mr Wise does not have any other interest in the issued share capital of Bidstack.
~ENDS~
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