DN Capital portfolio company Shazam, a media engagement company, has appointed Rich Riley as chief executive officer.
Andrew Fisher, who has led Shazam as CEO since 2005, has been appointed to the newly created full-time position of executive chairman.
John Pearson, who has been chairman of the board since 2006, will become a non-executive director and remain on the board.
“I am extraordinarily excited to be joining the Shazam team. Andrew Fisher has assembled a worldclass organisation that has made Shazam a global consumer brand that provides an exceptional consumer experience and has set the stage for the company’s next phase of growth,” says Riley (pictured). “I look forward to extending our dominance in media engagement, from our roots in music to our leadership position in secondscreen TV and want to ensure that Shazam is the company that helps people recognise and engage with the world around them.”
“I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Rich Riley as Shazam’s new chief executive officer,” says Fisher. “Rich brings a tremendous amount of experience both as an Internet executive where he has rapidly scaled global businesses, to establishing strategic relationships with advertisers and partners, as well as his entrepreneurial approach and skills. Whilst Rich will run our business I will now spend more time focusing on our corporate development and future strategy including our ambitions to deliver a successful IPO for our shareholders as we look to become an increasingly important part of people’s everyday lives, helping them engage with content and brands in the most efficient way possible.”
Featured by Fortune as one of their 40 Under 40: Ones to watch for 2011, Riley joins Shazam with more than 17 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and internet executive. Most recently, Riley was EVP Americas for Yahoo! where he was responsible for billions of dollars of revenue and managed a team of thousands, overseeing sales, account management, ad operations, B2B marketing, research and business development across the US, Canada and LatAm.
Shazam investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, DN Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Acacia Capital.
