Amify Adds Industry Leaders to Board of Directors

5/9/19

Blair Garrou

WASHINGTON & CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amify, a turnkey solution for brands seeking to maximize sales and optimize their presence on Amazon, announced today the addition of three members to its board of directors: Blair Garrou, Co-founder & Managing Director at Mercury Fund; Mark Hasebroock, Founder of Dundee Venture Capital; and Kurt Abrahamson, the current Chairman and former CEO of ShareThis.

“Our new board members bring the experience and expertise we need to enable brands to realize the full potential of their Amazon presence,” said Ethan McAfee, President and Founder of Amify. “Retailers and brands need expert guidance to navigate the Amazon environment, particularly as Amazon continues to make dramatic changes to the seller experience. Our new board members enable us to scale our expertise at a crucial time for brands.”

Following the company’s $5.8 million Series A funding round in March, Garrou, Hasebroock and Abrahamson possess the resources, experience, connections and expertise required to help Amify thrive as it pursues rapid growth over the next several quarters.

New Board Members

Blair Garrou, co-founder and Managing Director of Mercury Fund, is also the co-founder and Board Director of Station Houston, a coworking accelerator and the hub of software startups in Houston. Before co-founding Mercury, Blair was the CEO of Intermat, a leader in product information management software (acq. by IHS). Before Intermat, Blair was a Principal of Genesis Park, a Houston-based venture capital and private equity firm, where he focused on the firm’s software investments, including Intermat, FuelQuest (acq. by Saracen Energy) and SAT Corporation (acq. by Invensys). Blair also helped launch and was the Director of Operations for the Houston Technology Center (HTC), the largest technology incubator in the state of Texas, and led the formation of the Houston Angel Network, one of the largest and most active angel investment organizations in the U.S.

Mark Hasebroock is the founder and principal at Omaha-based Dundee Venture Capital. Mark and his team pride themselves on their investment approach, informed in large part by skills they’ve adapted from their own retailing experiences. Before founding Dundee Venture Capital, Mark co-founded his first company, GiftCertificates.com, in 1997. Mark later co-founded Hayneedle, which sold to Jet.com in 2016 before Jet went on to become part of Walmart. Today, Dundee Venture Capital invests seed- and early-stage capital in underserved capital markets between the coasts.

Kurt Abrahamson has over 25 years of experience building and leading digital companies and is the current chairman and former CEO at data intelligence company ShareThis. Before his work at ShareThis, Kurt led the sales efforts behind one of Google’s most successful and well-known products aside from Google Search, AdSense. Kurt started his career as co-founder of Jupiter Communications, a leading internet research organization he grew from a group of 12 employees to 520 by the time it went public in 1999. Soon after, Jupiter Communications merged with Media Metrix, Inc., at which Kurt served as President and CEO. Following his stint with Google AdSense in 2003, Kurt served as CEO of SocialMedia.com, a leader in online display advertising, until it was acquired by LivingSocial in 2011.

Related Quotes

“I am honored to join the Amify board to provide guidance in growing and expanding their brand platform to a broader audience of customers,” said Blair Garrou. “I’m excited to work with and help recruit talent to Amify’s already incredibly talented team. Given their growth trajectory and the Company’s plans for the future, I fully expect Amify can become the leading turn-key Amazon platform for brands in the U.S.”

“Amazon is the number one online retail platform in the United States today, both in terms of customers and vendors, and it’s not even close,” said Mark Hasebroock. “As brands who have long neglected to take charge of their Amazon presence realize the potential it bears for their bottom line, I’m excited to join the Amify team and empower brands with the tools they need to implement a winning e-commerce strategy.”

“I am so thrilled to be working with Amify,” said Kurt Abrahamson. “The company’s proven approach to driving consistent results for brands selling on Amazon is a testament to Ethan and his team’s comprehensive knowledge of the Amazon platform and marketplace. It’s this kind of understanding that enables Amify to help customers presently, but which will also help them to predict and account for how things might be changing for sellers in the future.”

About Amify

Amify, a venture-backed two-time Inc 500 award winner, offers a turnkey solution that allows brands to maximize their potential on the Amazon marketplace. Using an end-to-end strategy, Amify has partnered with over 1,000 brands and accrued over $100 million in sales on Amazon. Amify’s customized strategies help brands adapt to the ever-changing Amazon landscape. Industry expertise and a data-driven approach power a complete solution that includes account management, brand protection, sales acceleration and content enhancement. For more information, please visit https://goamify.com/.

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