Dublin-based tech firm Bizimply appoints Conor Shaw as chief executive

Irish technology firm Bizimply, which raised €2 million in funding last year, has appointed former Marketo managing director Conor Shaw as its new chief executive.

Mr Shaw, who succeeds company co-founder Gerard Forde, also previously held a number of leading roles at SAP and Oracle, and founded his own company 3rdSpace.

“Conor is a business leader and expert in B2B technology sales, marketing, process and innovation. He has an exceptional track record of transformational roles in the technology sector and market disruptors on an international stage,” said Mr Forde.

“He brings the perspective and skills we need as we embark on the next phase of our accelerated growth and development in our key markets. We are delighted that he has chosen to lead Bizimply on this journey,” he added.

Toyota and Panasonic consider joint development of electric vehicle batteries

---

Irish game developer Keywords Studios buys US firm in $27m deal

---

Ireland rises in world internet speed rankings but 57th for mobile

---

Apple confirms plan to buy music recognition app Shazam

---

Bizimply, which was founded by Mr Forde, Mikey Cannon and Norman Hewson in 2013, has developed a workforce management platform which is predominantly used by companies in the hospitality, retail and healthcare sectors. U2 frontman Bono, Jerry Kennelly and Ray Nolan are among Bizimply's backers.

The company, whose software manages employee rosters and costs, has 16,000 registered users in 11 countries. Clients include Wagamama, Insomnia, Mothercare and TGI Fridays, why’s backers.

Dublin and London-based private equity fund, Causeway Capital, led a €2 million funding round for the company last April with support from 500 Startups, a leading Silicon Valley global venture capital seed fund.

“This is an exciting time for the company and I am looking forward to working with the team to achieve far-reaching successes,” said Mr Shaw on his appointment.

Separately, Dublin-based software firm Artomatix has appointed Joe Blake as its new chief executive.

Artomatix, which was founded in March 2014 by Dr Eric Risser, Neal O’Gorman and Bart Kiss, has developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help automate 3D art creation for game design.

Mr Blake joins the company from Red Hat, where he was sales director for mobile products. Prior to this he was Vice president of sales at FeedHenry, which was acquired by Red Hat for $82 million in 2014. He also served as senior vice president of Econiq and sales director at Performix Technolgies.

In addition, Mr Blake founded and led HQ, a provider of technology soltuions to the construction and residential sector.