COO and VP Product for Testing Platform Highlight

Automated in-home product testing platform Highlight has announced changes to its leadership team, with the appointments of Priyanka Carr as COO and President, and Deirdre Norris as VP of Product.

Highlight was launched in 2020 by former Kelton Qual AD Dana Kim, who serves as CEO; and product design specialist Ethan Kellough, now the firm's Chief Product Technology Officer. The company offers end-to-end automation of the product testing process, with access to a pre-screened consumer community whose individuals are known as 'Highlighters'. In March 2022 it announced it had raised $7m in a seed round, including money from Momentive CEO Zander Lurie; Richard Thornton, former CEO of Cint; Tom Bernthal, CEO of Kelton; and Max Mullen, founder of Instacart. Last year, in August, it beat that with an $18m Series A raise, and said it would accelerate its product roadmap, expand its community of 'Highlighters', and grow its team.

Carr brings expertise in scaling SaaS businesses, with a focus on data products and user research, from nine years on the SurveyMonkey executive team. She has already served on Highlight's Board of Directors, time which she says 'made it clear that they have something very special here with great product-market fit'. In her new role she will oversee finance and operations, as well as product strategy and development.

Norris brings more than a decade of experience in managing product, data science and development teams at tech companies such as SurveyMonkey and AI-startup WhoCo. In addition to helping firms to scale up, she has worked at companies like Bird which share her passion for sustainability.

Kim comments: 'It's been an incredible journey building Highlight, and continuing to bring together a world-class team to scale our product and our impact. We take pride in prioritizing a culture that puts people and the planet first, all while continuing to delight our customers and build with agility. Bringing on powerhouse executives to supercharge these efforts is a testament not only to the traction and momentum behind us, but more importantly the magnitude of the opportunity ahead'.

Lucas Mann, co-founder and Managing Partner of Acre Ventures Partners, which led the Series A funding with HearstLab, says of the latest news: 'Highlight's human-centric product intelligence platform is key to unlocking how to develop better products that consumers love, and are good for the planet. With an upleveled leadership team dedicated to developing this technology further, I'm extremely optimistic about the systemic change Highlight can affect, and the impact we can make helping customers reduce their impact'.

The two new arrivals join a leadership team which also includes Calista Corley, Chief Revenue Officer; Andrew Sidesinger, VP of Engineering; Keshia Peris, VP of Customer Success; and Anna Shaffer, Head of People.

Web site: www.letshighlight.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.