Veritone,
Inc. (NASDAQ: VERI),
a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and
solutions, today announced the appointment of Richard H. (Rick) Taketa,
47, to its Board of Directors. Mr. Taketa was selected based on his
extensive experience in financing, developing and managing high growth,
technology-enabled companies. He replaces Nate Checketts, CEO of Rhone
Apparel, who is transitioning to an advisory board role.
“Rick has a proven track record of leading and scaling mid-sized and
large organizations,” said Chairman and CEO of Veritone Chad Steelberg.
“His diverse areas of experience, including operations, finance, law,
innovation, mergers and acquisitions, public policy, and operating in
regulated markets such as insurance and healthcare, give him a unique
perspective that will be very valuable to the Board. Rick led York Risk
Services to be one of the leading providers of tech-enabled, integrated
insurance services, growing the company to over $750 million in revenue
and approximately 5,500 employees. In addition, he is an attorney and
has regulatory and public policy experience that will be key to Veritone
as we work to expand our business in Government markets.”
“With my personal passion for emerging technologies such as artificial
intelligence, as well as for product innovation, strategic customer
relationships, and market positioning, I am excited to join Veritone as
it scales its business,” said Taketa. “I look forward to using my
experience to help the Company drive growth and build shareholder value.”
Steelberg added, “We would like to thank Nate Checketts for his service
and many contributions to the Veritone Board – he has been a key
contributor to our Company since its founding in 2014, helping to guide
us through our startup phase, our IPO and our first two years as a
public company. Nate has led Rhone to be a fast-growing leader in the
premium men’s activewear market, and this transition will give him more
time to focus on continuing to build that business. We wish Nate and his
family all the best in the future.”
About Richard H. Taketa
Most recently, Mr. Taketa served as President and CEO of York Risk
Services, Inc., an insurance services company, where he oversaw all
strategic, capital markets, financial, operational, governance, sales
and client activities. He joined York after its acquisition of Southern
California Risk Management Associates, where he was CEO. During his
tenure, York acquired over 30 businesses and was sold three times at
successively higher valuations. Previously, Taketa was a co-founder and
managing director of a private equity firm and a corporate securities
lawyer with DLA, after spending four years as a lobbyist in Washington,
D.C., where he helped lead non-governmental organizations to accomplish
public policy goals.
Taketa serves as a director of Palomar Insurance (NASDAQ: PLMR),
Alphaeon Corporation, and the Hoag Hospital Foundation. Other current
and prior board service includes private equity backed companies Axiom
Medical Consulting, Veracity Research Corporation, and Trumpet
Behavioral Health. Rick earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate
University and a law degree from Stanford Law School.
With the appointment of Taketa, Veritone’s board continues to consist of
nine members, including Chad Steelberg, Chairman and CEO of Veritone;
Jeff P. Gehl, Managing Partner of RCP Advisors; G. Louis Graziadio, III,
President and CEO of Second Southern Corp.; Paul A. Krieger, Revenue
Manager, Hortonworks; Knute P. Kurtz, former Managing Partner of the
Orange County office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; Nayaki Nayyar,
President of Digital Services Management at BMC Software; Christopher J.
Oates, Founder and Managing Director of RimLight, LLC; and Ryan
Steelberg, Co-Founder and President of Veritone.
About Veritone
Veritone (Nasdaq: VERI) is a leading provider of artificial intelligence
(AI) technology and solutions. The company’s proprietary operating
system, aiWARE™, orchestrates an expanding ecosystem of machine learning
models to transform audio, video and other data sources into actionable
intelligence. aiWARE can be deployed in a number of environments and
configurations to meet customers’ needs. Its open architecture enables
customers in the media and entertainment, legal and compliance, and
government sectors to easily deploy applications that leverage the power
of AI to dramatically improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Veritone is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California with over 300
employees, and has offices in Denver, London, New York, San Diego, and
Seattle. To learn more, visit Veritone.com.
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