Silvija Martincevic, the former chief commercial officer at Affirm, one of America’s largest buy now, pay later startups, is moving to become CEO of shift work management platform Deputy. Based in Australia, Deputy is focused on expansion in the United States and other countries, and Martincevic will oversee its growth strategy. She will also take a seat on the board of directors of the deputy.
As part of his work at Affirm, Martincevic oversaw sales and strategic partnerships, growing the number of merchants from about 5,000 to more than 200,000 and onboarding companies like Walmart, Shopify and Amazon as a payment option. offer. Prior to joining Affirm in 2019, Martincevic led Groupon’s international business in Europe, Asia and Australia as chief operating officer and chief marketing officer. She is also a board member of Lemonade and Kiva.
Founded in 2008, Deputy has raised $104 million AUD (about $72 million USD) from investors such as Square Peg and IVP, reaching valuation early. It is used by more than 330,000 workplaces worldwide, including Nike, Everlane, Five Guys and Ace Hardware, and 1.3 million shift workers. The deputy says it has crossed $100 million AUD (about $69.5 million AUD) in annual recurring revenue.
Martincevic is replacing Deputy co-founder Ashiq Ahmed as CEO. Between its formation in 2008 and 2017, Deputy did not have a CEO until Ahmed stepped into the position after the startup’s first funding round. At that time, Ahmed announced that he would be looking for someone new to take over the position, feeling that it was important to find a new CEO with the skills to continue Deputy’s global growth.
Martincevic told TechCrunch that she grew up in a family of shift workers, including her mother, who worked in a shoe factory, and her father, who was a truck driver, and was interested in how How technology can make a social impact. During the first ten years of her career, she worked in finance as a founder and investor in socially responsible investments, and in women and minority-owned businesses.
At Groupon, he focused on bringing small businesses into the digital economy, while at Affirm his work focused on building financial products for unbanked consumers. Her work in Deputy will continue the theme, as shift workers deal with more complex scheduling and pay calculations and their employers are required to comply with labor regulations such as Fair Workweek rules.
“It is really difficult to build a two-sided network business like Deputy, Affirm and Kiva, but once that business model is in place, and both sides of the network reinforce each other, these are sustainable businesses,” Martinsević said. ” “We want to be incredibly thoughtful about how we scale our employer and shift-worker networks, and ensure that the products we build strike an equitable balance that drives better results for both parties.”
Martincevic aims to focus on growing its global presence as deputy CEO. She said the deputy’s experience working in Australia and Europe, which have strong employee protection rules, gives it an advantage as the US adopts new policies.
“In America we have seen growing momentum for Fair Workweek protections, and this will inevitably lead to a sea change in the way workers and employers interact,” she said. “And Deputy’s technology can enable any need that may arise for employers and employees.”