HarQen, a Milwaukee-based digital voice technology start-up company that is backed by venture capital, announced today that Ane Ohm has been promoted to president and chief operating officer.
Ohm has been instrumental in bringing HarQen’s products to market and in growing its base of Fortune 500 customers.
Co-founder E. Kelly Fitzsimmons will transition out of her CEO role by the end of 2012 to focus on efforts to define and shape the emerging market for Hypervoice conversations, a new paradigm for organizing, performing and navigating voice conversations. Fitzsimmons will remain on HarQen’s board of directors.
“After working closely with Ane over the last two years, I know HarQen is in very capable hands,” Fitzsimmons said.
Prior to HarQen, Ohm led a turnaround and positive exit as president of LaserNet, Inc., a statement print/mail company. Before LaserNet, she was vice president at Pinstripe Inc., where she played a key role in the company’s rapid growth in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).
Before joining Pinstripe, Ohm held various leadership roles at Strong Financial Corp., including vice president and director of mutual fund administration.
“It’s a perfect time to make a transition,” Fitzsimmons said. “Ane is superbly qualified.”
“I’m delighted to step into my new role and lead HarQen through its growth curve,” Ohm said. “I’m grateful to Kelly for pulling together such an outstanding team. It is an honor to work at HarQen.”
“This operational change expands Ane’s key role in growing HarQen, freeing Kelly to help define and establish standards for the rapidly-emerging Hypervoice market, in which HarQen is an early player with disruptive technology,” said Lauren Flanagan, chairman of HarQen and managing director Phenomenelle Angels Fund and Belle Capital USA, LP.
HarQen was an early adopter of Hypervoice conversations, a term first introduced by Martin Geddes, a telecom expert and founder of Martin Geddes Consulting Ltd.
“By linking what we say to what we do in our daily workflow, Hypervoice conversations will transcend the limits of telephony in the enterprise,” said Geddes.
