Limos.com brought in a new CEO, Ann Hoey, who will be adding some estrogen to the testosterone-ravaged top ranks of the online and mobile ground-transportation industry.
Hoey, who has been Limos.com?s chief revenue officer since 2011, replaces T.J. Clarke, who has been at the helm of the San Francisco-headquartered company since 2008.
A CEO search had been under way for an extended period.?
Hoey previously served as general managed of ValueClick?s Mediaplex business and has been on the job as Limos.com CEO since last month. The company was publicizing the move today and tomorrow.
At the same time, Limos.com also brought in Dawn Lepore, former CEO of Drugstore.com, to join the Limos.com board.
Limos.com says Lepore will mentor Hoey, who confirms that Lepore ?was excited about working with me as a female CEO.?
Limos.com has raised $10 million in funding from Austin Ventures?while venture-capital land, like the ground transportation industry, isn?t necessarily women-infused.
Hoey says she?s been making the rounds in a Series B fundraising effort and there haven?t necessarily been a lot of other women around.
?I am a girl and I don?t really think about it,? Hoey adds.
Hoey says Limos.com plans ?big initiatives? in 2012, focusing on mobile, partnerships and marketing to scale the business in ?high-density regional markets in the US, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Business bookings, including those from Limos.com for Business, which launched in 2011, were up 320% in April 2012, compared with the year-earlier month, Hoey says, and new partnerships will be unveiled in the next few months.
Limos.com has current partnerships in place with Concur and Orbitz for Business, for instance.
Bookings from managed and unmanaged business travelers account for about two-thirds of Limos.com?s bookings, Hoey says, and there will be a push to make gains on the leisure side, as well.
Speaking of women, Hoey says features of its mobile apps, such as seeing a car?s position on a map, ?change the user experience around ground transportation fundamentally,? adding that ?we can bring the same kind of tech to the bride.?
Limos.com is spinning the change in CEOs as an ?inflection point? in the company?s evolution as it moves from a startup phase to a growth period.
Now-former CEO Clarke, who previously helped get Hotwire off the ground, says transitioning from the startup phase to a growth phase ?really needs a different type of team and leadership.?
?You field the best team that you can for the phase the company is in,? says Clarke, who remains a material shareholder in the business.
?I really like and thrive on the startup aspect,? Clarke adds.
Clarke is already working on his next startup and says he?s been consulting with former Hotwire colleagues about the idea.
He says he?s already into ?sharpening mode? about the idea.
Asked if his new venture would be in the travel sector, Clarke says: ?I said I would never do travel again, but it is probably in travel or something very closely related to travel.?
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