Hiya Adds Salesforce President and CMO Sarah Franklin to its Board of Directors

Voice performance leader continues momentum by adding experienced CFO Aaron Martin and new board advisor Bill McAleer, managing director at Voyager Capital

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hiya, the leading call performance management cloud, today announced Sarah Franklin, President and CMO at Salesforce, has joined its board of directors. Franklin has a strong history of bringing emerging technologies and trends to market, particularly with large enterprises, and is a long-time advocate for equality in the tech industry.

“Sarah has a unique blend of technical knowledge and business acumen that spans from large enterprises to scrappy startups, and her strategic guidance will be invaluable to our continued growth and success, especially with large enterprise customers,” said Alex Algard, CEO and founder of Hiya. “As we look to create a better voice experience for all, Sarah is the perfect person to ensure we remain committed to thinking big and launching products that transform the voice call.”

Franklin has extensive experience leading high-growth teams and launching innovative initiatives. Prior to becoming president and CMO, Franklin served as EVP and GM of Platform and AppExchange where she led Salesforce’s developer initiatives with a focus on democratizing technology. In her 13 years at Salesforce, Franklin has helped bridge the skills and equality gaps in technology and launched Trailhead, Salesforce’s gamified online learning platform. In addition to Salesforce, Franklin has experience with other large enterprises and smaller startups, with a specialization in emerging technologies and marketing strategies.

“I’m very excited to join Hiya’s board at this time in their evolution. They have a great product, strong value proposition, massive market opportunity, and, most importantly, a stellar team,” said Franklin. “Hiya is addressing a huge pain point for businesses and consumers alike, and I look forward to working with the team to continue their rapid growth with large enterprise customers.”

Martin Joins as New CFO

To continue the company’s rapid growth, Hiya has also added Aaron Martin as Chief Financial Officer. Martin brings deep experience in strategic growth, financial planning and analysis, and investor relations with several leading technology companies, including Yapta, which was acquired by Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) in December 2019. Martin will oversee the company’s financials and will report to Hiya president Kush Parikh.

McAleer Joins as New Board Advisor

Hiya has also added Bill McAleer as a new board advisor. McAleer is managing director at Voyager Capital and brings a long track record of advising and investing in high growth startups. He led Voyager’s investment in Zipwhip, a leading business texting platform which enables enterprises to unlock the value of the text channel similar to Hiya’s mission for the voice channel. Zipwhip was acquired by Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) in a transaction valued at $940 million at closing on July 14, 2021.

Hiya’s Growth Continues

Hiya has continued to grow at a rapid pace and looks to accelerate its growth with these new personnel additions. In the past 12 months, Hiya has added nearly 50 million new monthly active users to its network, which now serves 180 million users worldwide, and has grown its global enterprise customer base by more than 115% in that time. Hiya was also recently ranked #1 on Forbes’ Best Startup Employers List for 2021.

About Hiya

Hiya is trusted by global businesses, carriers, and consumers to provide secure, engaging connections and stop unwanted calls. Built on the world’s leading Voice Performance Platform, Hiya connects businesses with their customers, helps carriers secure their networks, and protects people from spam and fraud calls. Hiya’s SaaS applications, Hiya Connect and Hiya Protect, serve 180 million users, power services like AT&T Call Protect and Samsung Smart Call, and deliver voice performance insights to businesses across the globe. Learn more at www.hiya.com.