Fumbi Chima and Julia Taxin Join Optoro’s Board With Decades of Experience Across Ecommerce, Technology, and Venture Capital

Optoro — the leader in returns technology — today announced the appointment of Fumbi Chima, Global Chief Information Officer of BECU Credit Union and previously CIO of Adidas, and Julia Taxin, General Partner at Grotech Ventures, to its Board of Directors. As leaders with decades of valuable experience in technology, retail, and ecommerce, Chima and Taxin’s appointments represent a milestone in Optoro’s evolution from its startup roots as the pioneer of returns technology to its current standing as the industry leader.

An accomplished senior executive with extensive experience leading digital transformation within global corporations, Chima’s multi-industry track record will bring invaluable expertise to push Optoro’s mission forward. Currently, Chima is the Global Chief Information Officer of BECU and an ambassador for Innovate UK. Chima has served as a transformational CIO for major retail and ecommerce companies, including adidas, Burberry Corporation, Walmart Stores Inc. Asia, and American Express Global Corporate Technologies. Beyond technology, Chima is dedicated to diversity and inclusion, and has deep experience building high-performing and diverse teams for Fortune 500 companies and signature brands.

Julia Taxin brings more than a decade of experience in venture capital, finance, and consulting to Optoro’s Board. As a General Partner at Grotech Ventures (an Optoro investor) and Board Member at Airside Mobile, Backbone PLM, Ceros, ShipMonk, and The Mom Project, Taxin’s deep roots in the software space bring a new technical viewpoint to Optoro’s Board. Having advised Optoro along with a suite of high-growth technology companies, Julia’s intimate understanding of Optoro’s business and the software industry represents a critical addition to the Board.

“We’re honored to bring Fumbi’s impressive leadership in retail and ecommerce to our Board, and, having worked with Julia as a long term investor and advisor, we’re excited for the next step in our partnership,” said Tobin Moore, Optoro’s CEO and Co-Founder. “Ten years ago, Optoro was a scrappy startup setting out on a journey to improve a broken returns system. Now, as we confront new challenges around returns in an ecommerce-first ecosystem, we’re thrilled to welcome two noteworthy leaders to the Optoro Board as we continue to scale our end-to-end returns platform.”

The Optoro Board of Directors represents a diverse and versatile set of skills, experiences and perspectives needed to actualize the next stage of growth for the company. With Chima and Taxin’s counsel, Optoro is poised to advance returns technology for its growing customer base of retailers and brands.

Over the last year, Optoro has quickly met intensified return challenges stemming from the accelerated pace of ecommerce and new consumer shopping habits. In 2020, Optoro tripled the volume of returns managed by its platform. Recent key partnerships with recognized companies like Returnly, Staples and eBay have enabled Optoro to evolve its backend returns management platform to an end-to-end solution, addressing the entire returns lifecycle. From the moment a return leaves a consumer’s hand, Optoro’s platform optimizes the returns journey for consumers, retailers and the environment.

About Optoro

Optoro is the leading provider of returns technology for retailers and brands, using data and real-time decision-making to make returns better for customers, retailers and the planet. From an easy online customer returns portal to warehouse processing and resale, Optoro offers one unified platform to improve outcomes across all points in the returns process. Retailers and brands — including Best Buy, IKEA, Target and Staples — trust Optoro’s solution to make returns a strategic advantage for their business and enable sustainability initiatives across their supply chain. Learn more about Optoro's solutions at www.optoro.com.