US-based bank Citigroup’s Growth Ventures and Innovation group has hired Debra Brackeen (pictured), vice-president of corporate ventures at computer maker Hewlett-Packard, and two venture capitalists to expand its innovation team.
Joining alongside Brackeen as managing director (MD) this month was Ramneek Gupta after five years at venture capital (VC) firm Battery Ventures and previous experience at ITU Ventures.
Arvind Purushotham joined Citi in January from Menlo Ventures, where he had spent nearly a decade from August 2001 as MD.
The recruits this year follow a series of changes last year. Susan Andrews became an MD in July after leaving consumer goods maker Apple, Sasha Orloff was made a senior vice-president in November after an internal move from Citi’s chief marketing office, Wei Hopeman joined as venture leader in China and head of Asia, and Sarita James was recruited as chief operating officer.
In other changes, Chris Kay replaced Jeff Semenchuk, who had been a vice-president of global innovation at drugs maker Pfizer before helping launch Growth Ventures and Citi and has subsequently moved to become a senior adviser with global strategy and innovation consulting firm Monitor Group, while Dion Lisle left Citi’s Growth Ventures and Innovation group at about the same time last summer to advise mobile commerce start-ups.
The latest Citi recruits all report to Deborah Hopkins, chief innovation officer at Citi and chairman of its venture capital initiatives for the past three years.
Separately, earlier this month Hopkins became a director at Qlik Technologies, a business information services company.