Meet EcoMap Technologies’ new COO, Smitha Gopal

On Monday, EcoMap Technologies publicly announced the next person to hold its chief operating officer role after its previous one became the company’s CEO.

Smitha Gopal will oversee sales, marketing, customer experience and finance for the former RealLIST Startup. The executive said she’d already been on the EcoMap Technologies team for a few weeks when the announcement was made public.

“I think this might be the best team in Baltimore,” she told Technical.ly. “I’m really, really excited to be able to work alongside all of the folks who are already here.”

Gopal was the CEO of Rendia (formerly Eyemaginations), a health IT company that was acquired by Cincinnati-based PatientPoint in October 2022. She brings the experience of growing a medical software startup into a profitable venture before that deal. In an email announcement, she said that she’d been watching EcoMap cofounders Sherrod Davis and the late Pava LaPere as the company, which is now based in Charles Village, made moves in Baltimore’s ecosystem.

“I was an EcoMap cheerleader for a few years,” said Gopal. “Now I am part of this team. [Before, I] certainly had ideas. I had things that had worked well, things that were part of the Rendia playbook that felt like they might be applicable here. And that’s certainly still something that I feel, but also, it’s just so different, you know, being an observer versus really being in it.”

She added that she’s working to get to know everyone at the company, as well as more deeply understand the company’s work to enable ecosystem navigation and connection through tech platforms.

Davis, the cofounder and previous COO for EcoMap, now serves as CEO to honor LaPere’s legacy. In the release, he expressed confidence in Gopal’s ability to guide EcoMap through its next phase of growth. In Gopal’s time with Rendia, the company aided more than 8,000 doctors to educate their patients, strengthen relationships and improve outcomes, according to the announcement.

“Smitha is a high-touch executive and she brings exceptional experience and vision to EcoMap that we need in order to manage the high growth we are experiencing,” said Davis. “I am excited and confident in her ability to position us for this next phase and beyond.”

Gopal holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a BS in Finance from the University of Virginia. She elaborated on her “high-touch” work style for Technical.ly’s audiences.

“I’m very much the type of person to roll up my sleeves and do the things,” she said. “In the past, I have been the CRM administrator or the person who is making edits to a website or social channels. … Most of the things, particularly when you’re in this stage of growth, you need to be able to sit back and think about vision and strategy and long-term priorities. And you also need to be able to just hustle and get things done and really be a contributing member of the team.”

“I’ve always prided myself on that, you know, just sort of being able to be in the trenches,” she added. “Like answer a customer call or log a ticket, or make a change to one of the tools that we use, whether customer-facing or on the back end.”

On the call, Gopal, a mentor for Conscious Venture Lab, described her belief that an employee at any company might have to learn how things work to have a chance at improving those systems and processes in the future.

“Both Pava and Sherrod have built a solid foundation, doing great work and cultivating an exceptional team along the way,” said Gopal in the release. “This team has emerged stronger from tragedy, better than ever, so it is a privilege to be able to be part of.”