The company formed from the trans-Atlantic merger of project management software maker Mavenlink of Irvine and Kimble Applications of the U.K. has taken another step forward with the naming of the merged company’s first chief revenue officer.
SaaS sales veteran JD Miller will develop and execute sales and partner strategies for the company now named Kantata, whose products help streamline office operations.
CRO is a new role for Kantata, a name designed to evoke the harmonies of the similarly sounding musical form.
Mavenlink was co-founded and led by Orange County entrepreneur Ray Grainger, who is Kantata’s executive chairman.
Grainger, who won a Business Journal Innovator of the Year award in September 2019, is based in the Irvine office along with about 120 co-workers. Miller will be based out of Chicago.
Mavenlink had raised $111.5 million in funding as of 2019 and was rumored to be an IPO candidate before the merger announcement a year ago.
Mavenlink reported sizeable revenue growth in recent years, though it hasn’t specified its current rate of revenue post-merger with Kimble.
SaaS Focus
Miller’s “extensive experience and proven track record growing vertical SaaS businesses bring immediate impact to Kantata and will help extend our leadership position in the market,” said Kantata CEO Michael Speranza in announcing Miller’s appointment on Nov. 1.
Prior to joining Kantata, Miller served as CRO at Motus, a Boston-based reimbursement solutions provider for the mobile workforce in the fleet industry.
Kantata’s cloud-based project management software helps professional services organizations and other companies bring together project, financial and workforce data to make operations run more smoothly.
The software lets them improve performance by planning resources, tracking time and expenses, managing finances, and communicating with one another.
2,000 Organizations
Kantata says its clients include geographic information company Esri of Redlands as well as San Francisco-based software firm Salesforce, Qualtrics, HUGE and Japanese conglomerate Hitachi.
“Our purpose-built cloud software is helping over 2,000 professional services organizations in more than 100 countries,” the company says, allowing them to “optimize their most important asset: their people.”
In addition to the operational centers in Irvine and London, Kantata also has global offices in Salt Lake City, Boston and Cebu City in the Philippines, according to the company’s website.
Senior executives in Orange County include Chief Client Officer Chris Scalia and Chief People Officer Gina Hartigan.
The Irvine location’s responsibilities include marketing, sales and client relations.
“We do not have plans to expand our Irvine footprint, but we are hiring new talent across all locations,” a Kantata spokesperson said.
Kantata had 11 job openings posted on its website as of Nov. 8, including a hybrid slot for business development representative in Irvine.
