Acronis founder steps down as CEO after US$250m funding round; Patrick Pulvermueller succeeds him

ACRONIS founder Serguei Beloussov has stepped down from the helm of the cyber security company he led for the past eight years, after its recent US$250 million funding round.

Mr Beloussov said that he was "proud of Acronis' success to date", and believes that now is the "perfect time to pass the baton". On July 1, Patrick Pulvermueller, former president of domain registrar GoDaddy, took over as chief executive officer (CEO).

Before GoDaddy, Mr Pulvermueller was the CEO of Web hosting provider Host Europe Group and Host Europe GmbH. He is said to be a cloud software and hosting industry veteran, with over 20 years of experience in technical, management and leadership roles.

As its largest shareholder, former CEO Mr Beloussov will remain a member of the board and the company's chief research officer, directing its technology and research strategy.

Mr Beloussov said on Wednesday: "(Mr Pulvermueller) has the experience to continue pushing Acronis' mission, improve our operations, and build a multi-billion dollar revenue stream."

Acronis' chairman René Bonvanie said that Mr Pulvermueller has demonstrated expertise in helping rapid growth companies scale and has had proven success in a channel-centric environment. "We are confident he will accelerate Acronis' success and prepare the company for the next stage."

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These ambitions come as Acronis more than doubled its valuation to over US$2.5 billion in a US$250 million funding round led by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners VII this May. It was previously valued at over US$1 billion after a US$147 million funding round led by Goldman Sachs in September 2019.

At the time, Mr Beloussov, as CEO, told The Business Times (BT) that an initial public offering is "definitely a possibility" within the next three years.

Industry player Phil Goodwin, vice-president of research at the International Data Corporation, said that as Acronis chief, Mr Beloussov has always been "very focused on winning in the marketplace".

"He is willing to do what it takes to win in the marketplace, and I believe he's willing to (step down) if that means Acronis can be more successful."

Mr Pulvermueller told BT that as its new CEO, he will focus on running the business and creating the right go to market strategy, while Mr Beloussov can then focus on developing its product.

"I will make sure that the business is growing so he can really double down and focus on what is next: What can we do better from a data management perspective, what can we do better from a protection perspective," he added.

The new CEO does not yet have a stake in the company, due to "compliance reasons" from his past job, he said. "As soon as I have the opportunity, I'm more than happy to invest."

Mr Pulvermueller remarked that in his goal to grow the business and create shareholder value, he aims to improve the company by 1 per cent every day.

"That's my strategy. It's really about making small changes, one change at a time, as part of growth ... If you compound the 1 per cent a day, the numbers are quite big at the end."

READ MORE: Singapore's Acronis doubles valuation to US$2.5b after funding round; eyes exit in 3 years