Directorate Change

1 March 2021

FD (AIM: FDP.L, Euronext Growth: FDP.I) announces the appointment of Eric Raab as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for KX, the Group’s ultra-high-performance analytics software business, with effect from 1st March 2021. He will report directly to Seamus Keating, FD’s Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Eric will have responsibility for research and development and the technology roadmap at KX, with a focus on accelerating expansion of its platform across industries. 

As an accomplished technologist and leader in software, cloud technologies, infrastructure, and SaaS product delivery, Eric brings a wealth of CTO experience gained at high-growth technology companies serving a broad range of industries. He joins FD from Information Builders Inc., a leading data and analytics software company which was recently acquired by TIBCO, a privately held company specialising in high-performance data analytics. As CTO at Information Builders, Eric oversaw and managed all technology projects within the firm including software research and development and quality assurance. Prior to that, Eric was CTO of Yodle Inc. a digital marketing firm acquired by Web.com (NASDAQ: WEB). Eric has also held CTO and senior engineering positions within telecoms and networking firms, including at M5 Networks and Line2.

Eric’s extensive experience designing and delivering cloud infrastructure strategies as well as leading product development is highly relevant to KX’s growth strategy.  In addition, Eric is an accomplished speaker and writer with more than 20 papers published in leading trade journals, as well as the inventor on two patents. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and Mathematics from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Atomic and Molecular Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Commenting on his appointment, Eric Raab said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to join KX. As the volume and complexity of data continues to grow unabated, it is driving change across all sectors. Organisations are looking for a partner who can help them achieve tangible business value from their vast historic data and what comes in real time, whether it’s in the cloud or at the edge, and KX is well positioned to address this need.” 

Seamus Keating, CEO of FD, commented: “The real time data analytics market continues to move towards us particularly in the areas of IoT, streaming data, cloud and edge computing. Eric’s breadth of experience delivering product strategies in this space will be invaluable to our growth ambitions for KX. I am delighted to welcome him to the team.”

Enquiries

For further information please contact:

First Derivatives plc

Seamus Keating, Chief Executive Officer

Ryan Preston, Chief Financial Officer

Ian Mitchell, Head of Investor Relations

+44(0)28 3025 2242

www.fdtechnologies.com

Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Andrew Pinder

Carlton Nelson

Sebastian Lawrence

+44 (0)20 7597 5970

Goodbody (Euronext Growth Adviser and Broker) 

David Kearney

Don Harrington

Finbarr Griffin

+353 1 667 0420

FTI Consulting

Matt Dixon

Dwight Burden

Darius Alexander

+44 (0)20 3727 1000

About FD

FD is a global technology provider with more than 20 years of experience working with some of the world’s largest finance, technology, automotive, manufacturing and energy institutions. The Group’s KX technology, incorporating the kdb+ time-series database, is a leader in high-performance, in-memory computing, streaming analytics and operational intelligence. KX delivers the best possible performance and flexibility for high-volume, data-intensive analytics and applications across multiple industries. FD operates from 15 offices across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, including its headquarters in Newry, and employs more than 2,400 people worldwide.

For further information, please visit www.fdtechnologies.com and www.KX.com