AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CSDC is accelerating its growth in the multibillion-dollar government technology market to enable more government customers to improve operational efficiency, modernize how they interact with their citizens, and collaborate together to drive innovation and impact. Taking a key step on that path, the company has appointed global tech and software veterans Erin Mulligan Nelson as CEO and Brian Thomson as CFO.
Today, governments need to invest IT dollars as efficiently as possible so that limited resources can be best used to benefit their citizens. And those citizens who use web and mobile to interact with friends, retail, entertainment and more expect to do the same with government. CSDC works with hundreds of the most innovative governments, including Austin, Texas, San Jose, California, Portland, Oregon, and Toronto, Ontario, building cloud-based technology that is as scalable and flexible as corporate enterprise software, enabling governments to interact with citizens where, when and how they want.
In January, Austin-based private equity firm BuildGroup recognized the opportunity for CSDC to lead its industry and invested $30M in the company to accelerate growth. The appointment of the new leadership team is a major step in moving CSDC forward.
“There is a market shift underway in the govtech industry because governments need to move to modern, integrated technology and interact with their citizens on web and mobile. CSDC is uniquely poised to lead this shift and the industry. Bringing on two passionate leaders is an integral part of the company’s strategy for accelerating growth,” said Lanham Napier, BuildGroup’s co-founder and former CEO of Rackspace.
“Erin brings a proven ability to lead profitable growth through a combination of strategy, creativity, a deep understanding of customer needs, and keen leadership instinct. Brian has world-class experience in managing financial strategy in high-growth, fast-moving market leaders. The combination of Erin, Brian, the CSDC team and BuildGroup’s continued operational involvement is unstoppable.”
Erin has most recently been a Chief Marketing Officer for three different dynamic companies. She joins CSDC from SunPower, a multibillion dollar global solar company where she was executive vice president and CMO. Previously she was CMO for Bazaarvoice, the leading platform for social engagement used by some of the world’s best brands, and served on the executive team that took the company public in 2012. Prior to that, after years of operational leadership in Dell’s consumer, small business, enterprise and public divisions both in the U.S. and overseas, she became CMO for Dell Inc. where she led the company’s brand, communications, marketing, digital and corporate social responsibility efforts. She spent the earlier part of her career in brand management at Procter & Gamble, consulting for global brands at A.T. Kearney, and corporate strategy at PepsiCo.
“CSDC has a long and successful history of innovation and customer-centricity, and has been a leading force in the govtech market for years. We’re on a mission to develop the next generation govtech platform that enables governments, citizens and a new platform ecosystem to engage, operate, connect, and thrive,” said Nelson. “The opportunity to join the talented CSDC team at the beginning of this next revolution is incredibly exciting.”
Brian joins CSDC from Kinnser Software, which provides web-based solutions for home health, hospice and private duty healthcare industries. He served as Kinnser’s CFO and helped lead the company’s expansion and growth plans, ultimately culminating in its acquisition by Mediware in 2017. Prior to that, Brian held several finance leadership and strategy roles, ultimately serving as U.S. CFO at Rackspace, the world’s largest managed cloud provider. During Brian’s tenure, Rackspace grew from $70M to $1.6B in revenues. Brian has also held financial management positions at Dell and Daisytek.
“I’ve joined CSDC because the pace and dynamism of high-growth tech companies like ours is incredibly exciting, and the govtech space is really heating up. It’s inspiring that the technology we create will enable government customers across the world to bring tech-based solutions to millions of citizens,” said Thomson.
About CSDC
CSDC helps hundreds of governments operate more efficiently and effectively by automating the services they provide to citizens and modernizing how they engage with their citizens. Governments can streamline and automate citizen-facing processes such as building permitting, licensing, freedom of information, and judicial enforcement management systems through CSDC’s AMANDA platform. Public and private grant-making organizations use enterprise-level grant making software with CSDC’s Grantium solution. Higher-education institutions use curriculum and degree completion management programs through the company’s Navigator Suite. CSDC provides its govtech customers the most flexible platform on the market backed by a modern mobile and web user experience and highly responsive support delivery. The global company has offices in Canada, India and the U.S. Learn more at www.csdcsystems.com.
About BuildGroup
BuildGroup is an operator-led company that invests in high-growth technology firms. Based in Austin, Texas, BuildGroup was founded by an experienced group of entrepreneurs who want to help build emerging technology companies into category leaders. It is organized as a permanent company possessing a long-term horizon and intends to build portfolio investments for 15 to 20 years. BuildGroup believes business greatness is found in creating products that customers love, nurturing mission-driven corporate cultures that bring out the best in people, delivering stellar financial outcomes to reinvest in products and culture, and compounding these forces for the long haul. The company focuses on a limited number of investments and has made two previous investments — in Fiix, based in Toronto, and Anaconda, based in Austin. Contact BuildGroup at http://www.buildgroup.com/.
