FRAMINGHAM, MA--(Marketwired - June 29, 2017) - Virgin Pulse, the leading global provider of employee wellbeing and engagement technology solutions, today announced that David Osborne, the company's president and chief operating officer, has been appointed chief executive officer of the company. Mr. Osborne's appointment comes as the company closes an historic quarter, posting record bookings and revenue across its global client base, and is on track for the strongest year in its history. As CEO, Mr. Osborne will continue to execute a plan focused on expediting the adoption of Virgin Pulse's software-as-a-service (SaaS) employee wellbeing and engagement solutions globally.
The company's founder and previous CEO, Chris Boyce, who architected Virgin Pulse's strategy and vision and led the successful evolution and expansion of the company over the past eleven years, has been appointed vice chairman of the company's board of directors. During his tenure, Mr. Boyce spearheaded Virgin Pulse's strategic acquisitions of Global Corporate Challenge (GCC) in Melbourne, Australia, and ShapeUp, in Providence RI, which solidified the company as the global leader in employee wellbeing and engagement.
"Our vision, strategy, and product differentiators have put us in a position to dominate the industry," said Mr. Boyce. "Virgin Pulse is in the best financial and operational condition it has ever been in, and we are poised for a great future. I am proud and humbled by what we have accomplished in the past decade and grateful to all who have contributed to our success. We have become the de facto technology platform for employee behavior change and are positioned to extend that leadership into adjacent markets. Virgin Pulse is at an exciting inflection point in our growth, one that requires us to build aggressively on the momentum we're generating in the employee wellbeing and engagement markets. With my attention squarely focused on pushing this market and Virgin Pulse's strategy and vision forward, the company needs a single day-to-day operational focal point. Dave is well-positioned to succeed in that role."
As vice chairman, Mr. Boyce will continue to evangelize Virgin Pulse's mission and vision and amplify the company's thought leadership in the evolving employee wellbeing and engagement markets. Mr. Boyce will also guide Virgin Pulse's board of directors in shaping the strategy and long term direction of the business.
"Chris has built a phenomenal company in Virgin Pulse, and we are thrilled that he will be working more closely with the board on advancing the company's thought leadership, vision and strategy," said Nikitas Koutoupes, Managing Partner at Insight Venture Partners, Virgin Pulse's majority shareholder. "With Dave taking over the day-to-day operations of the business, Virgin Pulse is in a prime position to extend its lead in this market. From the day he joined Virgin Pulse over a year ago, Dave has had a significant impact on the company's business and operations. His success and the speed with which he has aligned critical operations across three businesses, multiple geographies and several product lines, while accelerating the company's growth and profitability, will prove invaluable as Virgin Pulse continues to scale and expand its global footprint."
Mr. Osborne joined Virgin Pulse in 2016 following the company's acquisitions of GCC and ShapeUp. As president and COO, he led the successful integration of the three organizations, laying a solid foundation for Virgin Pulse's global expansion.
Since joining Virgin Pulse, Mr. Osborne has played a key leadership role in operationalizing the company's SaaS business and growing its marketshare. Over the past fifteen months, Mr. Osborne's responsibilities spanned several business units, including sales, marketing, product, client success, technical operations, engineering and customer support. In addition to driving operational improvements across the business, Mr. Osborne has been responsible for streamlining the company's go-to-market strategy and elevating the company's corporate profile.
"Virgin Pulse is making an indelible mark on this industry by proving to business leaders that investing in employee wellbeing and employee engagement is no longer an optional nice-to-have, it's a critical business imperative," said Mr. Osborne. "We have spent the past decade innovating technology solutions that engage people, everyday, in improving their health and wellbeing and ensuring that our solutions drive real value for employees and organizations."
Working in tandem with clients, Virgin Pulse has developed a Value on Investment (VOI) framework that analyzes data across clients and members to show how usage of the Virgin Pulse platform is delivering meaningful health and business outcomes.
"Results across our client base show that Virgin Pulse members are healthier, more engaged and more productive at work than non-members," said Mr. Osborne. "These results materially impact the bottom line, as we are seeing dramatic improvements in attrition, absenteeism and medical costs across all industry verticals. This is a compelling business proposition that resonates with our clients and allows us to sustain the success and momentum we've achieved over the past year. I am confident that executing a plan focused on customers, product innovation and operational excellence will drive Virgin Pulse's growth trajectory and allow us to advance our mission of changing lives and businesses around the world, for good."
Mr. Osborne is a seasoned software executive with more than two decades of business-to-business (B2B), SaaS, and cloud technology experience, specifically in the Human Capital Management (HCM) market. Prior to Virgin Pulse, he held leadership positions at DrillingInfo, SumTotal Systems, Lawson Software, and Infor. Mr. Osborne holds an MBA from the University of Georgia, Terry College of Business.
For more information about Virgin Pulse's leadership team, visit Virgin Pulse.
About Virgin Pulse
Virgin Pulse, a leading provider of technology solutions that promote employee engagement and wellbeing and, as part of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, helps employers create workforces that are happier, healthier and ultimately more productive. The company's modern, mobile first platform delivers a personalized user experience that utilizes gamification to engage users in building habits that inspire meaningful and measurable change across individuals and the businesses they serve. By helping employees thrive at work and in all aspects of life, Virgin Pulse is helping change lives and businesses around the world for good. More than 2,200 global organizations representing many of the Fortune 500 and Best Places to Work, have selected Virgin Pulse's solutions to engage their workforces and drive their businesses forward. To learn more, visit www.virginpulse.com.
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Contact Information:
MEDIA CONTACT:
Wendy Werve
Virgin Pulse
press@virginpulse.com
