Flybits creates new advisory board to elevate the role of financial institutions in the new data economy

Press Release

Flybits creates new advisory board to elevate the role of financial institutions in the new data economy

TORONTO, ON (October 27, 2020) – Flybits, the leading customer experience platform for the  financial services sector, today announces the formation of its new advisory board. This trusted  committee of diverse industry and academic experts represent globally recognized thought  leaders across innovation, strategy, marketing, and banking.  

The key mandate of the board will be to counsel the company as it accelerates its efforts on  data strategy, artificial intelligence, and business growth while supporting the unique challenges  faced by the banking industry in a post-pandemic era. The timing of this board formation is especially critical as Flybits becomes an essential partner for banks, helping them to accelerate  their digital and data transformation, and build trust with their customers in the new economy. 

“The global pandemic has created a new wave of innovation that has transformed the business  model of banks and how they need to evolve in the future,” said Dr. Hossein Rahnama, Founder  and CEO of Flybits. “Our new advisory board will support myself and our senior executive team  with our global expansion strategies. They will also play a critical role as we strive to help banks  use Flybits technology to become pillars in the communities they serve, rebooting the economy,  and building lifelong trusted relationships with their customers and corporate partners.” 

The Flybits’ advisory board includes:

 

About-us_Board_Arlene-Dickinson

Arlene Dickinson
Advisory Board Member

Arlene Dickinson is the General Partner of District Ventures Capital, a venture capital fund  focused on investing and helping market and grow companies in the CPG space. She is a  three-time best-selling author, podcaster, accomplished public speaker and is widely recognized  for her role as a Dragon/Venture Capitalist for 12 seasons on the multi-award-winning television  series, Dragons’ Den. Dickinson’s leadership has been recognized many times, including  Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame, the Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurial  Excellence, as well as PROFIT and Chatelaine’s Top 100 Women Business Owners. Dickinson  will advise Flybits on its marketing and growth strategy as the company continues its global  expansion.

About-us_Board_Sandy-Pentland

Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland
Advisory Board Member

Professor Pentland directs MIT Connection Science. He is one of Forbes’ “7 most powerful data  scientists in the world”. He sits on the Board of the UN Foundations’ Global Partnership for  Sustainable Development Data and co-led the World Economic Forum discussion in Davos that  led to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). He has received the McKinsey Award  from Harvard Business Review for his work in privacy. Professor Pentland will advise Flybits on  its AI strategy and on forging data alliances with financial institutions, a critical component to  offering customers more secure, personalized services. 

About-us_Board_Marshall-Lux

Marshall Lux
Advisory Board Member

Marshal Lux is the Senior Advisor at BCG and has been a financial services consultant and  practitioner for over 30 years. His past roles include Senior Partner at BCG, CRO of Chase, and  Senior Partner at McKinsey. He is also a Senior Fellow at Harvard and is affiliated with other  Schools. Mr. Lux first joined Flybits as an advisor in 2019 and will continue to consult the  business on creating connections with large, enterprise banks through the formation of this  formal board.

Sheldon Levy

Sheldon Levy
Advisory Board Member

Sheldon Levy is a long-time champion of innovation and an experienced builder of startup  ecosystems. He is one of the founders of the Brookfield Institute for Innovation +  Entrepreneurship, where he now serves as Chair of the Advisory Board. Mr. Levy held past  roles as Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development  and President and Vice-Chancellor of Ryerson University. A leader in higher education with a  passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, and the digital economy, Mr. Levy will advise Flybits  on forging partnerships with both the private and public sectors. 

About-us_Board_Anatol-Von-Hahn

Anatol von Hahn
Advisory Board Member

Anatol von Hahn is a venture capitalist, the Chairman of The Group Ventures, a Canadian  based VC firm. He was the former CEO of Scotiabank’s operations in Singapore, Chile,  Argentina, and Mexico and the former head of its operations in Canada. He is an  independent board member with over 30 years of board, chief executive officer, and  executive management experience in North America, Latin America, and Asia. He will  guide Flybits as it scales across new markets in Latin America and Asia.  

Tim Karpoff headshot

Tim Karpoff
Advisory Board Member

Tim Karpoff will become Citigroup’s Global Head of Strategy in January 2021. He has  served as Barclays’ Group Head of Strategy since 2018 where he provided top-level in house strategy and corporate finance advice and support to the Group Executive  Committee and to all of Barclays’ businesses. Prior to Barclays he was a partner with  Jenner & Block in Washington DC, specializing in financial services regulatory matters,  with a focus on markets and trading. He also served for five years with the Obama  administration in the financial services regulatory space. Karpoff will guide Flybits on  strategy and the competitive banking landscape as it navigates the industry in the new  economy. 

The advisory board will complement Flybits’ latest strategic investment round that  includesPoint72 Venture, TD Bank Group, Mastercard, Citi Ventures, Reinventure (Venture Arm  of Westpac—one of the largest Financial Institutions in Australia). 

Media Contacts

Jerry Nasr 
PR Manager, Venture Communications 
416-585-2090 
media@venturecommunications.ca 

About Flybits

Flybits is the leading customer experience platform for the financial services sector, delivering  personalization at scale. With the most advanced capabilities in the market, its enterprise-level  solution brings relevant content, products, offers, and information to a bank’s digital channels based on what each individual customer needs in the moments that matter. With Flybits, banks  are able to design, launch, and measure data-driven consumer experiences that deliver the right  information to the right customer at the right time, while preserving their privacy. 

For more information, visit www.flybits.com.

 

Media Contacts

Ali Rahnema
Chief Corporate & Communications Officer, Flybits
Email: ali.rahnema@flybits.com

About Flybits

We enable enterprises to create and deepen customer engagement by delivering personalized, context-relevant experiences and engagement. Core to this is our expertise and deep IP in orchestrating and augmenting customer data with other datasets without privacy, interoperability or data movement concerns and complexities.  The company was founded in 2013 with the core belief that data is the new asset class and trust is the currency.

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