Kaleyra Founder and CEO Dario
Calogero to Transition to the Company's Chief Strategy
Officer Upon the Appointment of His Successor as CEO
Board Has Engaged Independent Executive Search Firm to Assist
with the CEO Search Process
Appoints Two Accomplished Executives with Decades of
Experience in Telecommunications and Software to the Board of
Directors
NEW
YORK, Dec. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaleyra,
Inc. (NYSE: KLR) (NYSE American: KLR WS) ("Kaleyra" or the
"Company"), an enterprise Communication Platform as a Service
(CPaaS) business, today announced a CEO transition plan and
significant enhancements to its Board of Directors (the "Board") to
reposition the Company for sustainable growth and value
creation.
CEO Transition
Kaleyra has announced that Mr. Dario
Calogero, its founder and Chief Executive Officer, has
notified the Board of his intention to step down from his position
as CEO of the Company after serving over 20 years in the role. The
Board has retained a leading independent executive search firm to
assist with the CEO search process. Mr. Calogero will continue his
service to the Company as a director and will remain in his role as
the Company's CEO to support the leadership transition and ensure
continuity and stability until the Board selects a new CEO. Upon
the appointment of Mr. Calogero's successor, Mr. Calogero will
transition to the newly created role of Chief Strategy Officer, in
which he will focus on organic and inorganic growth strategies for
the Company.
Dr. Avi Katz, Chairman of
Kaleyra's Board, commented, "On behalf of the Board, I would like
to thank Dario for his many years of service to the Company as CEO.
Under his leadership, Kaleyra has grown from a small start-up to a
leading global 'Communications Platform as a Service' ("CPaaS")
business with over 600 exceptional employees and 3,000 valued
customers and business partners worldwide. Despite the current
global economic uncertainty and challenging headwinds, the Board
remains confident in the Company's long-term fundamentals. With our
recent investments in our partnership pipeline and our technology,
the Company can thrive under new leadership. We look forward to a
seamless transition and continuing to work with Dario as a member
of the Board."
Dario Calogero commented, "Two
decades after building Kaleyra from a start-up to its current
status as a global company, I believe that the timing is right to
bring in additional leadership to guide Kaleyra through its next
phase of growth. I am excited to be able to return more of my focus
to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Company as Chief Strategy
Officer, while strengthening the leadership team with new energy
and ideas by relinquishing my role as CEO. I am extremely proud of
the foundation we have built, with a global partner base and an
omni-channel suite of powerful, secure and reliable tools to bridge
the communication divide between brands and their customers. As a
founder, director, Chief Strategy Officer and large shareholder, I
look forward to Kaleyra's bright future."
Addition of Two New Independent
Directors
Kaleyra also announced today that it has appointed Kathleen Miller and Karin-Joyce ("K.J.") Tjon as
directors to the Company's Board of Directors, effective
immediately. Upon the appointments of Ms. Miller and Ms. Tjon, the
Board will consist of eight directors, all of whom, other than Mr.
Calogero, will be independent.
"We are excited to welcome Kathy and K.J. to the Kaleyra Board
of Directors," said Dr. Katz. "Both Kathy and K.J. are accomplished
executives with decades of experience leading dynamic, high-growth
businesses through times of change and transformation. We believe
their track records, driving improved sales and profitability, and
their deep expertise in telecommunications, SaaS and software will
be extremely valuable as we work to become the leading global CPaaS
company. We look forward to working with our new directors to
unlock and deliver enhanced value for our customers, partners,
shareholders and other stakeholders."
About Kathleen Miller
Kathleen Miller, 58, is an
accomplished financial strategist with decades of leadership
experience driving growth and profitability across public and
private SaaS, FinTech and other technology companies. Prior to her
retirement, Ms. Miller served as Chief Financial Officer of Nitro
Software Ltd. (ASX: NTO), a high-growth SaaS-based workflow
productivity company that she led through its initial public
offering, from January 2019 to
December 2020. Previously, Ms. Miller
served as Chief Operating and Financial Officer of nCourt, LLC, a
high-growth SaaS-based software and payment service provider, from
March 2014 to September 2018. She also served as Chief
Financial Officer of eSecuritel Holdings LLC, a leading provider of
cell phone and wireless products insurance services, from 2009 to
2013. Earlier in her career, Ms. Miller served in senior financial
roles at Movius Interactive Corporation, Witness Systems, Inc.
(former Nasdaq: WITS) and MapInfo Corporation (former Nasdaq:
MAPS). She began her career at Coopers & Lybrand LLP. Ms.
Miller is an experienced public and private company director and
currently serves on the boards of Tecsys, Inc. (TSX: TCS), a supply
chain and complex distribution management system provider; IOU
Financial, Inc. (TSXV: IOUFF), an online lender to small
businesses; and TrueCommerce, Inc., a privately held supply chain
and inventory management software company. Ms. Miller holds a B.S.
in Accounting from Alfred University
and an M.S. in Legal Studies from Fordham
University.
About Karin-Joyce Tjon
Karin-Joyce Tjon, 60, has more
than two decades of experience as a senior financial executive in
the technology and telecommunications sectors. Most recently, Ms.
Tjon served as Chief Financial Officer of Alorica, Inc., a
fast-growing business process outsourcing (BPO) company, where she
was responsible for all aspects of corporate finance, such as
Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis, Treasury, Regulatory
filings, tax, procurement and Investor Relations, from July 2018 to May
2020. Prior to her role at Alorica, Ms. Tjon served as Chief
Operating Officer and President of Scientific Games (Nasdaq: SGMS),
a developer of technology-based products and content for the global
gaming and lottery markets, from February to August 2017. Previously, she served as Chief
Financial Officer at EPIQ Systems (former Nasdaq: EPIQ) (from
July 2014 to October 2016) and Hawker Beechcraft (2011 to
2014). Ms. Tjon also spent over nine years at Alvarez & Marsal,
a leading professional services firm specializing in business
transformation and performance improvement, from 2002 to 2011. Ms.
Tjon currently serves on the boards of Nubia Brand International
Corp. (Nasdaq: NUBI), a blank check company focused on the wireless
telecommunications sector, and Volcon, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLCN), a
developer and manufacturer of electric off road powersport
vehicles. Ms. Tjon holds a B.S. in Organizational Behavior and
Management from Ohio University and an
M.B.A. from Columbia University.
About Kaleyra
Kaleyra, Inc. (NYSE: KLR) (NYSE American: KLR WS) is a global
group providing mobile communication services to financial
institutions, e-commerce players, OTTs, software companies,
logistic enablers, healthcare providers, retailers, and other large
organizations worldwide. Through its proprietary platform and
robust APIs, Kaleyra manages multi-channel integrated communication
services, consisting of messaging, rich messaging and instant
messaging, video, push notifications, e-mail, voice services, and
chatbots. Kaleyra's technology makes it possible to safely and
securely manage billions of messages monthly with over 1,600
operator connections in 190+ countries, including all tier-1 US
carriers. For more information, please visit www.kaleyra.com.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Any statements contained herein that are not statements of
historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements
within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws. In addition,
any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other
characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any
underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words
"anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect,"
"intends," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential,"
"predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may
identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words
does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release are
based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Kaleyra in light
of its experience and perception of historical trends, current
conditions and expected future developments and their potential
effects on Kaleyra as well as other factors they believe are
appropriate in the circumstances. There can be no assurance that
future developments affecting Kaleyra will be those anticipated.
These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks,
uncertainties (some of which are beyond the control of the parties)
or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance
to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements, including Kaleyra's ability to recruit
and retain a new CEO, the mix of services utilized by Kaleyra's
customers and such customers' needs for these services, including
any variability by geography, market acceptance of new service
offerings, the ability of Kaleyra to expand what it does for
existing customers as well as to add new customers, that Kaleyra
will have sufficient capital to operate as anticipated, and the
impact that the novel coronavirus and the illness, COVID-19, that
it causes, as well as governmental responses to deal with the
spread of this illness and the reopening of economies that have
been closed as part of these responses, and the impact of other
geopolitical and macroeconomic factors such as the war in
Ukraine, may have on Kaleyra's
operations, the demand for Kaleyra's products, global supply chains
and economic activity in general. Should one or more of these risks
or uncertainties materialize or should any of the assumptions being
made prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects
from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We
undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities
laws.
Investor Contacts
Colin Gillis
Vice President of Investor Relations
colin.gillis@kaleyra.com
Shannon Devine or Mark Schwalenberg
MZ North America
203-741-8811
KLR@mzgroup.us
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