Polymarket has hired former Uber and Lyft exec Travis VanderZanden as its chief growth officer as it continues to bolster its C-suite.
VanderZanden joins the prediction market from electric scooter and bike firm Bird, which he founded in May 2017.
Prior to founding the company, he spent two years with Uber between October 2014 and October 2016 as vice-president of global driver growth and 18 months with Lyft as COO, joining in February 2013 and leaving in August 2014.
He also has experience working for Yammer as its chief revenue officer before it was acquired by Microsoft in 2012 and as senior product manager for semiconductor manufacturing firm Qualcomm.
Now with Polymarket, VanderZanden will lead its marketing as the prediction markets space continues to grow. The platform is reportedly in talks, according to Bloomberg, to secure a new funding round at a valuation above $20bn.
Announcing the move on LinkedIn, VanderZanden wrote: “My career has been about scaling hard, two-sided marketplaces from the ground up: driver growth at Uber, COO at Lyft, then building Bird into one of the fastest scaling startups in history.
“Most people still think of prediction markets as a place to trade on elections or sports. In my opinion, that’s the smallest version of what this becomes.
“Every price on Polymarket is a question the world actually wants answered. Will this policy pass? Will this drug get approved? Will this deal close?
“Answered by people with real money on the line instead of a poll or a pundit. That’s not a niche product. That’s a new layer of truth for how the world prices uncertainty, and it’s still early.
“[CEO] Shayne Coplan’s built something genuinely rare, and I’m here to help him scale it to the world.”
VanderZanden’s appointment is the latest in a string of C-suite hirings from Polymarket this year.
Last month, it onboarded Paul Jordan as its chief risk officer, joining from the Nasdaq where he worked as head of risk management for its global market services.
In April, the platform also added former Robinhood senior director and chief commercial officer Megan McGrath as chief compliance officer, as well as ex Crypto.com CCO and Coinbase deputy chief regulatory officer Natalie Oblazny as head of regulatory affairs.
Arnold Ash is EGR’s executive recruitment partner. It supports ambitious organisations to identify and attract industry leading executive talent. Find out more here.
The post Polymarket appoints former Uber VP as chief growth officer first appeared on EGR Intel.
Travis VanderZanden’s appointment is the prediction market’s latest C-suite addition after adding a chief risk officer and chief compliance officer in recent months
The post Polymarket appoints former Uber VP as chief growth officer first appeared on EGR Intel.