The cyber protection company adds accomplished leader to
accelerate growth, expand its network of service providers, drive
product strategy, and prepare for the next level
SINGAPORE, July 8, 2021 - Acronis, the global leader in
cyber
protection, today appointed cloud software and hosting industry
veteran Patrick Pulvermueller as Chief Executive Officer, effective
July 1, 2021. Pulvermueller succeeds Serg Bell, who founded the
company in 2003 and has served as CEO since 2013.
Pulvermueller joins Acronis from GoDaddy, where he most recently
served as President of the Partner Business. In that role, he led
the company's strategic expansion of its Hosting, Productivity, and
Security services through resellers and agency partners. Combining
that experience with his product development expertise,
Pulvermueller is an expert in developing successful, cloud-based
go-to-market strategies, particularly through service providers,
resale channels, and strategic alliances. He previously held executive leadership roles as
CEO of Host Europe GmbH and Group CEO of Host Europe Group (HEG),
where he previously served as Group COO.
"I am excited to join the Acronis team, engage with our
tremendous partner network, and continue Serguei's vision of
providing industry-changing cyber protection services," said
Pulvermueller. "Acronis is poised to disrupt the data protection
and cybersecurity markets while redefining how service providers
leverage remote monitoring and management (RMM) and professional
services automation (PSA) services. I look forward to contributing
my knowledge and experience in the service provider business to
ensure we take full advantage of that opportunity."
Pulvermueller takes over at a pivotal time. Acronis just
received over $250 million in an investment round including CVC
Capital Partners VII and others, which values the company at more
than $2.5 billion. In addition to accelerating its technology and
product development, the company plans to leverage that investment
to further enhance its go-to-market initiatives - an area in which
Pulvermueller has deep expertise - by expanding its broad partner
network, which includes managed service providers (MSPs), managed
security service providers (MSSPs), hosting partners, cloud
distributors, cloud aggregators, network service providers, and
others.
Acronis Chairman of the Board of Directors, René Bonvanie, noted
"Having added more than $1.5 billion in valuation during the past
18 months, Acronis is on a tremendous growth trajectory thanks to
the cyber protection strategy put in motion by Serguei. Given
Patrick's demonstrated expertise in helping rapid growth companies
scale and proven success in a channel-centric environment, we are
confident he will accelerate Acronis' success and prepare the
company for the next stage."
As Acronis' founder and largest shareholder, Serg Bell will
continue to be involved in the company as a member of the Board of
Directors and Acronis Chief Research Officer, directing the
technology and research strategy. He will focus on the company's
advanced technologies, including Autonomous Research, Data
Management, Cyber Network, Cyber Platform, and Enterprise products.
He will also focus on developing Acronis' university relations
program, including with the Schaffhausen
Institute of Technology (SIT) in Switzerland, which he
co-founded in 2019.
In making the announcement, he said, "I'm proud of Acronis'
success to date and believe now is the perfect time to pass the
baton to Patrick. We did
an extensive search for an outstanding leader and Patrick's track
record of success, partner-led approach, and operational expertise
were obvious strengths. He has the experience to continue
pushing Acronis' mission, improve our operations, and build a
multi-billion dollar revenue stream - taking the organization, the
product portfolio, and our partnerships to the next level."
About Acronis:
Acronis is a leader in AI-native cyber protection, unifying data protection, cybersecurity, IT operations and hybrid infrastructure to deliver business continuity, security and compliance with less cost and complexity. More than 21,000 service providers trust Acronis to protect over 750,000 businesses in 150 countries. Acronis is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.acronis.com.