AppNexus Adds Talent to Executive Management Team in Marketing, Client Services and Engineering

NEW YORK, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- AppNexus, the real-time ad platform (www.appnexus.com), today announced that it has hired veteran technology executive Brandon Atkinson as VP of Client Services, seasoned Wall Street technology architect, Venky Vemparala, as VP of Engineering, and experienced ad network professional Lisa Kalscheur as Director of Marketing.  AppNexus empowers sophisticated companies including ad networks, demand-side platforms and direct marketers to build, manage and optimize their entire display advertising businesses and provides single-point integration to the largest sources of inventory including the major inventory aggregators and ad exchanges like Google's DoubleClick and Microsoft's AdECN.

Brandon Atkinson joins AppNexus from Hewlett-Packard and now serves as VP of Client Services, helping clients maximize the benefits of AppNexus' real-time advertising platform. Brandon has excelled in scaling organizations during his long career. He came to HP via its acquisition of Opsware, which was founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and served as HP's Solution Director for the Business Service Automation products in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  Previously, Brandon launched Opsware's R&D Center in Romania, and built its Global Services Operations and Education Services organizations from the ground-up. He has held leadership roles in scaling other start-ups, including Peter Martin Associates, which was acquired by Affiliated Computer Services, and CitySoft.

"I've always been attracted to companies that are building and scaling new technologies and creating a new category in their market," said Brandon Atkinson, VP of Client Services, AppNexus.  "AppNexus is leading the exciting new space of real-time advertising, and its world-class management team is dedicated to building a great company on behalf of its clients.  My management style focuses on products, people and process, and I intend to leverage that focus to the benefit of our clients."

Venky Vemparala, who now heads the AppNexus engineering team, made his mark on Wall Street as a technology architect at a number of the largest investment houses including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and Lehman Brothers/Barclays. At Lehman Brothers, he was SVP and head of US Flow derivatives technology, working with Barclays through the post-bankruptcy transition and integration. He was a VP at Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets focusing, respectively, on real-time risk and trading for equity derivatives traders, analytical modeling for credit derivatives, and developing and architecting global equity derivative trading solutions.

"I was drawn to the incredible energy and innovation happening at AppNexus, as well as the track record of its management team as founders of the original ad exchanges," said Venky Vemparala, VP of Engineering, AppNexus.  "AppNexus is a great fit with my engineering background which has always focused on large-scale, highly reliable information systems."  

Lisa Kalscheur, who heads AppNexus' marketing efforts, joins the company from AOL Advertising where she was Director, Network Marketing for Advertising.com and AOL's Audience Targeting product suite, spearheading all marketing strategies for those business units. Prior to its acquisition by AOL, Lisa was Director of Marketing at Quigo Technologies, Inc. where she also drove marketing messaging and strategy. She began her career in marketing at Ziff Davis Media.

"AppNexus has perfected a complementary, technology-based approach to working with its partners, a role which really stands out in the industry," said Lisa Kalscheur, Director of Marketing, AppNexus.   "I joined the company to help communicate the tremendous benefits of AppNexus' technology platform to key constituents such as ad networks, demand-side platforms and direct marketers.  Coming from the world of ad networks, I have a unique perspective on the needs and goals of that segment and look forward to educating key players about how to gain access to more inventory and develop real-time bidding capabilities through AppNexus."  

ABOUT APPNEXUS

AppNexus is an advanced ad platform specializing in real-time advertising.  Founded and managed by the pioneers of the Web's original and most successful ad exchanges at Yahoo!'s Right Media and Google's DoubleClick, AppNexus offers unparalleled, highly scalable technology, deep industry expertise and plays host to a vibrant community of leading companies within the online advertising ecosystem. Chosen by eBay, the Web's premier online marketer, as its display advertising partner, the AppNexus platform integrates eBay with all the major inventory sources to execute and optimize its real-time media buys.  AppNexus offers clients a complete set of ad technology capabilities including data management, optimization, APIs, financial clearing and support for directly negotiated media campaigns.  Overall, AppNexus empowers sophisticated companies including direct marketers, ad networks and demand-side platforms to build, manage and optimize their entire display advertising businesses and provides single-point integration to the largest sources of inventory including the major inventory aggregators and ad exchanges like Google's DoubleClick and Microsoft's AdECN.

Based in New York City, AppNexus is backed by an outstanding group of investors, including Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz from LoudCloud/Opsware; First Round Capital; Venrock; Grape Arbor; Kodiak Venture Partners; Ron Conway; and Khosla Ventures. For more information, go to www.appnexus.com.

SOURCE AppNexus