Velo3D Expands Team by Hiring a Head of Investor Relations and a VP of Sales for North America
As it prepares to become a public company, Velo3D Inc. (Campbell, CA) has announced two new senior positions: 1) VP of investor relations and 2) VP of sales for North America.
Posted: September 23, 2021
For its head of investor relations, Velo3D hired Bob Okunski. He comes to the new position with extensive experience in the field gained through working with a range of innovative technology companies. After earning his BA at Colgate University and an MBA at Moravian College, Okunski worked in investor relations for close to a decade at PeopleSoft, WebVan, and Spansion. He then spent 13½ years in investor relations at SunPower Corp. before joining Velo3D.
“I joined Velo3D to be part of this unique, industry-leading technology,” Okunski said. “I was attracted by the strong, experienced management team, and A-list of company backers. I think there’s a tremendous growth opportunity here due to Velo3D’s leadership position in reshaping how complex industrial parts are manufactured.”
For its VP of sales for North America, Velo3D hired Steve Starner. Prior to this role, Starner had spent almost 15 years with Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. There, he led customer-focused technical sales teams in various areas, including integrated factory solutions, robotics, machine vision sensors, data analytics, and AI tools. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Temple University.
“This is an exciting time in metal additive, but even more so with Velo3D, given its advanced metal AM technology,” Starner said. “This expansion of our sales team is critical as we continue to support our customers’ ability to leverage Velo3D’s production-ready manufacturing solution and seek to grow our presence in new and existing markets.”
According to Benny Buller, founder and CEO of Velo3D: “It’s very gratifying that Velo3D is able to attract such top talent to our company. To best serve our customers, and our investors as well, we make a point of hiring people who intrinsically understand the critical role that leading-edge technology plays in innovation, and who can communicate both the substance and the excitement of what we’re achieving here at Velo3D.”
Velo3D offers 1) the Sapphire® line of laser powder bed 3D printers, 2) FlowTM print preparation software, and 3) AssureTM quality assurance software.
In March, the company announced plans to merge with JAWS Spitfire Acquisition Corp. (Miami Beach, FL) and become a public company.