Speakers 2020 – SPARK20

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SPARK 2020 brings industry professionals together to collaborate on some of the world’s most pressing challenges, from energy and sustainability, to financial inclusion. Enter your email below to receive more information about speaking at SPARK.

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SPARK 2020 Speakers

Sanjoy Malik

Founder, CEO
Urjanet

Sanjoy is the founder and CEO of Urjanet, the world’s leading utility data aggregator, delivering data from more than 6,500 utility, telecom and cable providers across 47 countries. He is also a founder and current Chairman of Cognosos, a provider of real-time asset tracking and monitoring solutions powered by its innovative IoT platform. Sanjoy is a seasoned entrepreneur and experienced executive who has built and operated several other successful technology businesses.Previously, Sanjoy founded Air2Web, a leader in mobile marketing services. Under Sanjoy’s leadership, Air2Web grew from a pioneering wireless services provider to become a market leader and global strategic mobile partner for the most trusted brands in the world. Prior to Air2Web, Sanjoy founded Synchrologic, a company that created the first enterprise-class data synchronization platform for mobile devices. Synchrologic was acquired by Intellisync, which later became part of Nokia.Sanjoy serves on the Cox Cleantech Advisory Board, and is a founding member of the Atlanta chapter of TiE.

Michael Vaughan

Venture Partner
Oak HC/FT

Michael Vaughan, a Venture Partner at Oak HC/FT, joined the firm in 2019. Michael, former COO at Venmo, focuses on developing and advising new fintech businesses through a combination of building from scratch and investing in early- and growth-stage companies. As one of Venmo’s earliest employees, Michael led the company from its Series A funding round in 2011 through two strategic acquisitions to PayPal’s recent announcement that Venmo reached 40 million active users in Q1 2019 with a $300 million annual revenue run rate and is on pace to process $100 billion in payments in 2019. Prior to Venmo, Michael played a pivotal role in growing innovative companies in the wireless space, financial services industry and event ticketing market. He received an undergraduate degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Praeger

CEO
AvidXchange

As the CEO and Co-Founder of AvidXchange, Michael Praeger shares his passion for innovation by inspiring businesses to realize the true value of utilizing technology to increase efficiencies and refocus efforts on more strategic company goals. Since founding AvidXchange, Michael has led the company to secure the coveted title of Global Unicorn by CB Insights three years in a row, with a $1 billion-plus valuation by investors, 6,000 customers and 680,000 suppliers nationwide.

Mark Begor

CEO
Equifax

Mark Begor was named Chief Executive Officer of Equifax and a member of the Board of Directors in April 2018. Begor previously served as a Managing Director in the Industrial and Business Services group at Warburg Pincus, a $40 billion growth-focused private equity firm with over 120 portfolio companies. He also served two years as a member of the Board of Directors at FICO. Prior to that, Begor spent 35 years at General Electric, most recently as President and CEO of GE’s $8 billion energy management business. Before leading GE Energy Management, Mark was President and CEO of GE Capital Real Estate. He also served as President and CEO of GE Capital Retail Finance (Synchrony Financial), successfully guiding it through a period where the business doubled in size. Begor was a senior vice president and member of GE’s Corporate Executive Council for 10 years and a GE officer for 19 years. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer at NBCUniversal Media and as GE's Investor Relations leader, where he oversaw a large number of acquisitions and dispositions. Begor is a graduate of Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing, and he has an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Marcus Bontrager

EVP of Call Center Operations
Freedom Mortgage

Marcus Bontrager is the Executive Vice President of Call Center Operations at Freedom Mortgage and is responsible for various operational functions within the Call Center. Marcus brings with him over 25 years of experience in operations, servicing and secondary mortgage market. Before Freedom Mortgage, Marcus was Director of End-to-End Process Reengineering at Fannie Mae. Prior to that he was Vice President of Home Retention at Ocwen Financial Corporation based out of St. Croix in the U.S Virgin Islands. Additionally, he has held senior level positions at Citigroup, Washington Mutual, KPMG, and Senior Income Reverse Mortgage Corporation. Marcus graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business from University of Kansas and has a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University. While at the University of Kansas, Marcus was a four year All American in swimming and holds several individual and relay records.

Kathryn Petralia

President and Co-Founder
Kabbage

Kathryn Petralia is the President and Co-Founder of Kabbage, a leading global financial services, cash-flow technology and data platform for small businesses. Before co-founding Kabbage, Kathryn spent nearly 15 years with fintech and ecommerce startups. After graduating from Furman University with an English degree, Kathryn pursued her interest in technology to launch a number of successful startups. She also served as Vice President of Strategy for Revolution Money, which was acquired by American Express, and was the director of corporate development for CompuCredit. In 2017, she was named to Forbes’ 2017 list of the World’s Most Powerful Women. Kathryn recently co-founded Drum, a platform reinventing sales infrastructure by connecting businesses to their ideal customers through an infinitely scalable sales force. Kathryn serves on the boards of CARE USA, Fannie Mae Advisory Board, The Woodruff Arts Center, Padsplit, Rented.com, and the Atlanta Chamber Music Festival.

Dan Holt

CEO
BillGO

Dan has a passion for making the world a better place through amazing teams and awesome products. He’s previously worked for, started, and grown publicly-traded companies, including bank technology company HEIT (which was sold to CSI), where he became president of one of the largest bank software providers. Dan’s leadership experiences both in the Air Force and for several software application companies lends well to delivering the #1 bill management solution.

Corrigan Nolan

Director of Product
Urjanet

Corrigan Nolan is on a mission to help people and businesses function more efficiently by automating tasks. With a background in product design and product management, he has spent the last 6 years focused on how to leverage technology and products to help customers achieve their business goals. As of today, he has already helped 15% of the Fortune 100. Corrigan “got out” of Georgia Tech with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science.

Chris Spooner

Vice President of Finance
Rubicon

Chris Spooner is Rubicon’s Vice President of Finance, leading the Accounting, Data Management, Finance Operations, and FP&A functions companywide. Spooner has been a part of the Rubicon team since 2015 in multiple FP&A and Strategy roles. Before joining Rubicon, Spooner was a Manager of Capital Strategy at Novelis, a global leader in sustainable manufacturing. Before this, he worked in investment banking with TM Capital. Spooner holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in Economics and Banking and Finance from the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.

Bob Cohen

VP & Research Director
Ardent Partners

Bob Cohen leads Ardent Partners’ ePayables practice which includes coverage of Accounts Payable, B2B Payments, Supply Chain Finance, Business Networks, and Expense Management. For the past twenty years he has been helping enterprises transform their Source-to-Pay operations and has assisted hundreds of AP and P2P teams achieve Best-in-Class performance via their use of ePayables, P2P, and Business Network solutions.

Alex Taylor

CEO
Cox Enterprises

Alex Taylor is president and chief executive officer of Cox Enterprises, a leading communications, media and automotive services company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Taylor serves on Cox Enterprises’ board of directors and is the great-grandson of James M. Cox, who founded the company in 1898.

Taylor previously served as chief operating officer of Cox Enterprises; senior vice president of field operations for Cox Communications, the company’s broadband and cable division; and executive vice president of Cox Media Group, where he oversaw its largest television, radio, newspaper and digital properties. Taylor began his career in 2000 as a reporter for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in Colorado.

Taylor is a board member of the Food Well Alliance and PATH Foundation, a member of the Carter Center Board of Councilors and a former board chair of American Rivers.

Akshai Rao

VP of Energy & Procurement
Yardi

Akshai serves as Vice President at Yardi, responsible for the Procure to Pay and Energy businesses. Akshai is responsible for the implementation and support of Yardi’s Procure to Pay and Energy client bases, which spans 3,000+ clients across all real estate verticals and several countries. Prior to Yardi, Akshai spent five years at Bain & Company focused on technology and telecom. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

WHO IS URJANET?

Urjanet is the global leader in utility data aggregation. To learn more, visit urjanet.com.

QUESTIONS?

For SPARK-related inquiries, visit our FAQs page or email spark@urjanet.com.