Fresh from making its first acquisition and $25 million in funding, Raleigh software startup Pendo plans to double its headcount in 2018. Pendo also will move into new headquarters space downtown.

It’s also expanding executive leadership with two hires.

Pendo CEO and co-founder Todd Olson told the CED Tech Venture Conference on Wednesday that Pendo was leasing 43,000 square feet at the Wells Fargo tower. The move will occur in January.

The company also plans to add 150 jobs in 2018, double the current number. Pendo has 108 employees in Raleigh and recently added 35 in Israel through the acquisition deal.

The new Raleigh space can accommodate 400 workers, Pendo says.

The new executives:

  • Jake Sorofman, a former executive at rpath (acquired by SAS) and an executive at research firm Gartner, who is Pendo’s chief marketing officer.
  • Leslie Nietzel, vice president of people, who most recently was vice president of human resources at ServiceMax.

“Jake and Leslie are great additions to our executive team. Both bring tremendous experience, energy and leadership to their respective roles, which will undoubtedly contribute to our next phase of growth,” Olson said.

​Pendo’s new executives

  • JAKE SOROFMAN, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Veteran software CMO and Gartner Analyst Jake Sorofman joins Pendo as chief marketing officer. Previously, he was a VP and chief of research at Gartner, Inc., the world’s largest research and advisory firm, where he advised CMOs and other marketing leadership roles. Prior to Gartner, Jake held CMO and other marketing leadership roles with early and growth-stage software startups, including eRoom, Systinet, Venetica and rPath, which, through acquisitions, are now part of EMC, HP, IBM and SAS, respectively.

  • LESLIE NEITZEL, VICE PRESIDENT OF PEOPLE

Leslie Neitzel joins Pendo as VP of people. Leslie joins Pendo after seven years in HR leadership roles at ServiceMax, most recently as VP of human resources. ServiceMax, which was acquired by GE in 2016 for $915 million, provides cloud-based field management solutions for service companies. Prior to ServiceMax, Leslie held a variety of talent development and HR leadership roles at SuccessFactors, Model Metrics and Tribune Media.

Olson said: “Jake and Leslie are great additions to our executive team. Both bring tremendous experience, energy and leadership to their respective roles, which will undoubtedly contribute to our next phase of growth.”

Source: Pendo