Power Moves: Former IBX CEO Daniel Hilferty launched his own advisory firm for health startups

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us: philly@technical.ly.

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Longtime Independence Blue Cross (IBX) leader Daniel Hilferty, who retired from the corporation at the end of 2020, is launching a strategic advisory firm.

Dune View Strategies will advise and invest in small and mid-size healthcare companies and startups as they bring their services, tech and products to market, according to the firm’s announcement. Hilferty will serve as the org’s chairman and CEO as he builds out a team of advisors from his network.

“With the constantly evolving marketplace, the opportunities and challenges that innovative healthcare companies have to navigate have never been more competitive,” the exec said in a statement. “Dune View will steer the next generation of healthcare leaders through the complex wireframe of provider, payer, and political relationships in today’s industry, and help them to accelerate growth and reach their full potential.”

Hilferty left IBX after 10 years, and after leading Independence Health Group’s Medicaid managed care subsidiary, AmeriHealth Caritas, for 13 years prior. He stayed on as a strategic advisor through 2022 as former CFO Gregory Deavens takes the helm.

The creation of the firm will also bring a new event to Philadelphia: Dune View Strategies will convene the HealthKey Summit in partnership with Futuretense Health, the healthcare communications practice of Brian Communications, this fall. From Nov. 2 through 4, the summit will bring folks to Philadelphia to focus on “impacting meaningful change in thematic areas of behavioral health, digital health and cell and gene therapy.”

The by-invitation event for thought leaders and innovators in healthcare will be sponsored by local and national companies including IBX, Comcast, Penn Medicine and AmerisourceBergen, as well as Morgan Stanley, Drexel University and NewSpring Capital. Its announcement comes soon after IBX passed on its Hilferty-founded, innovation-focused B.PHL festival to be run instead by civic group Amplify Philly.

“At a time when the behavioral health crisis is reaching a breaking point and interest in areas of healthcare innovation like digital health and gene therapy has never been more active, the goal of the HealthKey Summit is to explore what’s needed, what’s next and what’s possible in healthcare,” Hilferty said in a statement.

Boomi adds three new executives after a year of change

After a year of big changes, Boomi added three new executives in June, recruiting from PayPal, VMware and Red Hat in a move toward its next phase of growth.

The Chesterbrook-based SaaS company founded by Guru’s Rick Nucci was purchased from Dell Technologies by Francisco Partners for $4 billion after the plan was announced last May. Another change for the company came when longtime CEO Chris McNabb left his post in early 2022, to be succeeded by David Meredith.

“I thank you for your unrelenting commitment to our customers, your continuous innovation to our platform, passionate support for each other and of course winning with integrity and grit all these years,” McNabb wrote a statement to customers, partners and Boomi employees on LinkedIn. “It is these qualities that make me believe that your best days at Boomi are ahead, and I am confident in your continued success.”

The incoming executives join from companies across the country. As of June 13, San Francisco-based Madeline Ling joined Boomi as its chief financial officer, Boston-based Marcy Campbell joined as its chief revenue officer, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Fran Wilson joined as chief marketing officer. Journalist Christa Delcamp also joined Boomi to support its public relations and media strategy, and James Dyson joins the company to lead DEI team. Boomi has also added positions in other areas, including public relations and media strategy, as well as global diversity, equity, and inclusion talent acquisition.

“Our industry-leading platform and award-winning culture enabled us to recruit top, globally-minded talent,” Meredith said in a statement, “with a demonstrated track-record of achievement, and a passion to accelerate our mission to make the world a better place by connecting everyone to everything, anywhere.”

Onbe gets a new chief product officer

Fintech company Onbe, formed via a merger between Conshohocken’s North Lane Technologies and Chicago’s daVinci Payments last year, recently welcomed a new chief product officer in Tracy Monson. Based in the Greater Chicago area, she comes to the role after previously holding the title of SVP of product. She also worked as chief marketing officer at daVinci Payments and VP of client operations at SwiftPrepaid Solutions, daVinci Payments’ previous name. (Here’s a closer look at the merger, and North Lane’s own iterations.)

Onbe now specializes in a variety of payment forms for customers, including payroll, payouts, incentives and marketplace services, and payments can be customized for digital wallets for online, in-store and in-app purchases. As of April 2021, it counted about 125 local employees out of 300 overall. Monson will oversee Onbe’s product team and roadmap in her new role, from inception of product to commercialization.

“Careers are a marathon, not a sprint, and I’m looking forward to this stage of delivering value to our customers and our teams,” the fintech exec said in a statement. “Onbe is well-positioned to leverage our core strengths and expand our solutions to new industries.”

Armor gets new owners

Digital agency Armor changed hands recently, when founder Scott Peters sold the company to employees Dan Hughes and Chris Reif. Reif, who had previously built a creative agency out of his home, joined the company in 2016, and Hughes joined as the company’s second employee in 2014.

The deal, which was completed May 9, puts the pair at the helm of the organization. It has five full-time employees and a network of partners, with expansion plans on the horizon, they said in a statement. Clients include Shopify, IndeVets, Sporttrade and vybe. The company also recently launched an interview series called “Unguarded,” featuring insights and anecdotes from business leaders, artists and culture-makers.

Peters is moving on from the company to focus on Assemble, a digital production company, the team said in an announcement.

“This is the exact right team to lead this agency and I have no doubt that they will take Armor to the next level,” Peters said.

Luvleen Sidhu is named Philly’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year

Radnor-based fintech company BM Technologies‘ founder, Luvleen Sidhu, was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year as the org’s Philadelphia award winner. The award recognizes the “most ambitious leaders” who are sustaining successful, dynamic businesses across the world. An independent panel of judges selected Sidhu because of her entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes, the org said in a statement.

See all of Greater Philadelphia’s finalists here.

She’ll now be considered for the national award, which will be announced in November at EY’s Strategic Growth Forum. Sidhu was the youngest woman to ever take a company public at the time of BM’s listing, and got nods for her work propelling and mentoring women in finance.

“We started BMTX with a mission to financially empower millions of Americans by providing them with a more affordable, transparent and consumer friendly banking experience,” Sidhu said in a statement. “We have begun this journey and still have a long way to go. Our goal is to create even more positive, systemic change in the fintech and banking industries in the pursuit of benefiting underserved consumers.”

Qlik gets a new CMO

King of Prussia-based data integration and analytics company Qlik recently promoted its SVP of field Marketing Chris Powell to the role of chief marketing officer. He’ll be leading the company’s worldwide marketing and communications org, managing the team responsible for brand awareness, messaging, demand and communications.

“Qlik sets the standard with the most complete solutions available for data integration and analytics,” Powell said in a statement. “Together with our partner ecosystem, customers of all sizes around the world count on Qlik to give them the confidence they need to leverage data and innovate in amazing ways. I’m excited for what the future holds for Qlik.”

Powell comes to the role with a long background in leadership for innovative software companies, including multiple positions at regional SAP, and as CMO at Commvault for eight years. Powell enters this role as the company focuses on expanding its global market awareness and works on its customer engagement.