Smartly.io CEO Taking a Temporary Leave of Absence

Industry executive and Smartly.io Board Chair Laura Desmond named as interim CEO

HELSINKI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Smartly.io, the leading social advertising SaaS platform for creative and performance marketers, today announced that CEO Kristo Ovaska is taking a leave of absence to focus on his health and well-being, effective immediately.

Laura Desmond will serve as interim CEO. As Smartly.io Board Chair, and a long time ad and marketing industry executive, Laura is the ideal person to step in and lead Smartly.io at this time. She was Global CEO of Starcom Mediavest Group and the highest ranking female leader in the industry while at Publicis Groupe.

Ms. Desmond has been the Chair of the Smartly.io Board of Directors since 2020. During her interim CEO role at Smartly.io, Board Member Davis Noell will be Chair of the Board.

“Smartly.io is led by a deep bench of outstanding senior talent, and I look forward to working closely with them during this interim period to ensure the continued success of the business and a seamless leadership transition,” Ms. Desmond commented.

“It is necessary for me and best for Smartly.io that I take the time off to focus on my health and well-being. I'm grateful to the Board, which has worked with me to plan for my absence, and have great confidence in them and the incredible talent at the company to continue the company’s growth journey,” Mr. Ovaska said.

About Smartly.io

Powering beautifully effective ads, Smartly.io automates every step of social advertising to unlock greater performance and creativity and is a leading Facebook marketing partner. We combine creative technology, ad buying automation and intelligence with outstanding customer service to help 700+ brands scale their results—on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and TikTok. Last year Smartly.io acquired Ad-Lib.io and Viralspace.ai and are now a fast-growing community of over 800 Smartlies with 21 offices around the world, managing over $4B in annual ad spend and growing rapidly and profitably. Visit Smartly.io to learn more.