Hiring a US-based Chief Commercial Officer accelerated growth in North America for this Series B tech company
Iceotope is a pioneering leader in precision liquid cooling solutions for data centres, from the cloud to the edge. The company works with some of the world’s biggest organisations and is scaling fast to meet the growing demand from hyper-scalers.
Its multi-award-winning, environmentally efficient technology is helping the data centre industry in its transition towards the achievement of net zero emissions.
Background
Following a successful Series B funding round, Iceotope was ready to further accelerate its plans and drive revenue growth through licensing its technology and, ultimately, build value in the organisation.
A critical component of the company’s success would be the ability to commercialise its technology through the development of relationships with new and existing cloud customers, as well as expanding its impressive global strategic partner network.
Headquartered in the UK and with a rapidly growing presence in North America, Iceotope had identified a need for a US- based Chief Commercial Officer who would spearhead this exciting next phase in the company’s development.
Chief Commercial Officer
The incoming CCO would join Iceotope in its mission to help transition the industry to net zero, with global responsibility for strategic planning, product development, sales, marketing, branding, and partnerships.
A pivotal role within the business, the CCO would be someone well-connected, with a high profile as a trusted advisor to the data centre industry. They would have a demonstrable track record in commercial leadership roles and a history of driving and delivering revenue growth.
The Search
Our search started with a thorough investigation of the entire US data centre landscape. From this research, we compiled a list of target companies, focusing on those providing technology-led solutions to the data centre industry (including hardware/technology providers and systems integrators).
We then conducted an in-depth probe of these organisations, which included some of the largest technology companies in the world, to find exceptional commercial leaders who possessed the high standard of expertise, experience, and calibre that the role demanded.
Shortlist + Appointment
Our shortlist comprised a range of candidates, spanning four different states, each of whom possessed an outstanding record of commercial leadership in the data centre industry with a demonstrable history of driving revenue growth.
The appointed candidate was Nathan Blom, who joined from Lenovo, where he had been Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer for North America. Nathan brings an unrivalled track record of commercial and strategic achievement in world-leading technology companies, combined with significant knowledge and understanding of the data centre industry, its challenges and opportunities.
“We took considerable time and effort in appointing a search firm for such an important hire. We had worked with Upscale Partners before on some benchmarking activities and also had good references from trusted industry friends.
Upscale had been a logical first choice, but we did do a beauty parade and constantly found ourselves coming back to Upscale. Simply, they could demonstrate a practical method and expertise that fitted with our need for a partner that could work credibly on three levels: internationally, in our space, and at the level we were seeking.
The process worked well to time, we had regular and energised updates. The candidate list was exceptional, making only the final decision the hardest part because of the amazing candidates we had.
As to the appointment, it’s fair to say I’m delighted. Nathan has hit the deck running and is making a significant impact. We made a second significant appointment immediately after, which was also superbly done.”
David Craig, CEO, Iceotope