Social Travel Network CouchSurfing Names Tony Espinoza as New CEO

Twenty-year software veteran to upgrade user experience and grow portfolio of mobile offerings

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CouchSurfing, the world’s largest social travel network, announced today that it appointed product guru Tony Espinoza as its new CEO. Espinoza will build on the work of previous CEO and CouchSurfing cofounder, Dan Hoffer, who will remain president of the company.

“Tony’s product expertise and strategic leadership will be instrumental to the CouchSurfing team as it further evolves its web user experience and mobile product offerings.”

Having served as vice president at AOL and MTV Networks, and as chief executive of several consumer internet startups, Espinoza brings extensive experience in startup strategy and execution, including product design and development, operations, and world-class talent recruitment and development.

Matt Cohler, general partner at Benchmark Capital and CouchSurfing board member said: “Tony’s product expertise and strategic leadership will be instrumental to the CouchSurfing team as it further evolves its web user experience and mobile product offerings.”

He added, “CouchSurfing has been an unsung hero in social travel and discovery well before those terms were coined, and with Tony’s leadership will be well equipped to realize its vision of connecting people for inspiring offline experiences.”

Espinoza’s initial priorities include growing the engineering team further to enhance CouchSurfing.com functionality, expanding site features, and launching the first in a series of mobile apps for the iPhone and Android.

“Tony is an invaluable addition to the team, both culturally and strategically, because he shares our vision of CouchSurfing as facilitator of a complete online, offline and mobile lifestyle for our members,” said Dan Hoffer, CouchSurfing president. “Casey and I are thrilled to welcome Tony as CEO.”

Check out this short video to watch co-founders Dan Hoffer and Casey Fenton, and new CEO Tony Espinoza talking about the news.

About CouchSurfing:

CouchSurfing is the world’s largest social travel network, connecting a global community of travelers, adventure seekers and lifelong learners dedicated to sharing their cultures, hospitality and authentic experiences. Founded in 2004, and established in 2011 as a B Corporation, CouchSurfing connects more than 4 million members in 86,000 cities via its website and mobile applications. The company, which is headquartered in San Francisco, raised $7.6 million in a Series A funding round from Benchmark Capital and Omidyar Network last year. For more information and to join the CouchSurfing community, visit our website CouchSurfing.com, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.