Even after releasing its latest BlackBerry 10 hardware and software at the start of 2013, Canada-based BlackBerry was not able to make much of an impression on smartphone users, as the company once again showed a loss in the third quarter of this year. Moreover, some executives in BlackBerry also decided to part ways with the Waterloo-based company and pursue opportunities in other firms. As a result of this, at this point in time things did not look too bright for the Canadian smartphone maker. Former Senior Vice President for the Canadian company, Mike Galbraith, has recently taken up the seat of CFO of Thalmic Labs, the maker of innovative MYO armband.
Thalmic Labs is also based in Waterloo, Canada, but as compared to BlackBerry its portfolio is not too big, but by bringing executives like Galbraith into the fold the local startup has shown that it is doing well. But Galbraith was not the only BlackBerry alum who accepted a role at Thalmic Labs, as the ex-Director of Operations, Senior Director of New Product Introduction Outsourcing and Senior Director of Global Technology of BlackBerry, David Peterson has also joined the Canadian startup as the Vice President of Manufacturing.
On this occasion the Co-Founder and CEO of Thalmic Labs, Stephen Lake said that, “In less than a year, our company has grown from just three founders to 30 employees and counting. We are changing the face of human-computer interaction with a unique team of talented employees who have joined us from everywhere from start-ups to multinational corporations. Our team members are excited to continue pushing the boundaries of current technology and are enthusiastic about introducing our first product, MYO, to users around the world.”
Although, currently the total number of employees working at Thalmic Labs is not much, but the way this Canadian startup is growing and showing success, as an up-and-coming technology leader in the Waterloo region, it is expected that till the end of this year the company will have over 50 employees.
Back in June, Thalmic Labs successfully secured $14.5 million during its Series A round of funding, which is the largest amount that any startup has managed to raise so far in Series A round after going through Y Combinator program of Silicon Valley. Hopefully the two new executives from BlackBerry will help the startup reach next level in the coming days.
Source: TechVibes