Bigcommerce Appoints Russell Klein as SVP of Corporate and Business Development

Former CEO of SendMe Inc. to head corporate growth initiatives for leading commerce company

AUSTIN, Texas — December 16, 2015 — Bigcommerce, the leading commerce platform for fast-growing and mid-market brands, today announced Russell Klein has joined the company as senior vice president of corporate and business development. A heavyweight in the investment banking and entrepreneurial world, Klein will oversee key corporate and business initiatives at Bigcommerce, including strategic business development, mergers and acquisitions, investments, and other revenue-generating partnerships.

“Russell is a seasoned executive who has played an influential role in the growth of mobile and internet commerce for the past 20 years,” said Brent Bellm, Bigcommerce CEO. “Russell has proven to be a great fit with our team and contributes tremendous understanding of the partnerships, applications, and services that can help propel the success of Bigcommerce merchants. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”

Klein joins Bigcommerce from investment bank AGC Partners where he served as a partner, advising entrepreneurs and companies across the technology and commerce sectors. Klein will continue to serve in an advisory role at AGC. Previously, Klein served as CEO at SendMe Inc., the mobile messaging company he co-founded, where he grew annual revenues to more than $100 million while leading the company to profitability and leading market share. Before his time at SendMe Inc., Klein was an entrepreneur-in-residence with General Catalyst Partners, one of the leading investors in Bigcommerce. Earlier in his career, Klein ran corporate development, business development, and strategy for ZDNet, the Softbank-backed public spinout from Ziff Davis, and subsequently for CNET Networks after the two companies merged together.

Klein’s appointment comes at a time when Bigcommerce is experiencing accelerated growth serving mid-market retailers and B2B merchants. Bigcommerce’s strategic business development team has recently secured partnerships with leading commerce and technology companies including Alibaba, Intuit, PayPal/Braintree, Pinterest, Square, Stripe, Twitter and Uber. The company also acquired mobile technology expert Zing.co earlier this year.

“The commerce market is wide open for growth through partnerships, joint ventures, investments and even acquisitions right now, and Bigcommerce is uniquely positioned to further develop its ecosystem to help retailers take their businesses to the next level,” said Russell Klein. “Bigcommerce’s team has built the leading technology platform with all of the features and functionality needed to drive business success for those retailers who are on the cusp of making their first million or well on their way to $50 million.”