Bazaarvoice CEO Gene Austin Exits after Company Sale

Gene Austin, the CEO of US-based word-of-mouth specialist Bazaarvoice, has left the business to 'pursue other interests', three months after the company was acquired by Marlin Equity Partners.

Texas-based Bazaarvoice offers technology, analytics and expertise to help companies enhance the online shopping experience with related social media applications. More than half a billion consumers view and share consumer-generated content through its network each month - including ratings and reviews, as well as curated visual content, across 5,000 brand and retail web sites. According to the firm, this visibility into shopper behavior allows Bazaarvoice to capture unique first-party data and insights that fuel its targeted advertising and personalization solutions.

Bazaarvoice was acquired earlier this year by entities affiliated with the global investment firm Marlin Equity Partners, for approximately $521m. Austin (pictured) joined the firm five years ago as President, and has served as CEO since early 2014. Earlier, he was CEO of marketing agency Convio (acquired by Blackbaud), having previously held leadership roles at Dell, and sales and marketing positions at CareerBuilder and Compaq. According to Austin's LinkedIn profile, he is currently serving as Operational Advisor to tech-focused private equity firm Accel-KKR, to help its portfolio CEOs scale their individual businesses.

In the meantime, his position at Bazaarvoice has been filled on an interim basis by Marlin executive Joe Davis, who is recruiting a permanent replacement.

Web site: www.bazaarvoice.com .