Ned Hooper (pictured), head of corporate development and chief strategy officer at computer equipment provider Cisco, is leaving after 14 years to set up an investment fund.
Cisco’s corporate development group is responsible for business development activities including acquisitions, $2bn of equity investments and the incubation of technologies for the company’s “build, buy, partner” innovation strategy.
The departure follows the departure of Charles Carmel, who ran Cisco’s 45-strong mergers and acquisitions and corporate venturing team in August last year as insiders said the group’s strategy was undergoing change.