Mitek Names New CEO

Mitek Systems announced that it has named Max Carnecchia as its new Chief Executive Officer, and appointed him to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

In August, the company announced that the current CEO and Chairman of the Board Jim DeBello would be departing his roles at the company. DeBello has been with Mitek for 23 years, serving as its CEO for 15 years and chairman of the board for two years. DeBello helped Mitek become a leading provider of Mobile Deposit and Mobile Verify ID, and played a key role in the company’s listing on Nasdaq. In addition, he successfully expanded Mitek’s product offerings with three global acquisitions and over 50 patents, five of which he holds as co-inventor of Mobile Deposit.

For his part, Carnecchia brings decades of success leading enterprise software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and analytics companies. He was CEO of publicly traded Accelrys, where he boosted revenue from $75 million to $185 million, while successfully transitioning the company into the leading global provider of scientific product lifecycle management software and services.

“Powerful trends in digital transformation are creating major opportunities for our solutions,” said Bruce Hansen, Chairman of the Board, in a press release. “With Mr. Carnecchia’s impressive record of shareholder value creation at multiple public companies, Max is joining Mitek at a pivotal time. His proven record of driving growth and operational excellence will propel Mitek to the next level.”

Most recently, Carnecchia was CEO of Illuminate Education, the leading cloud-based student assessment and reporting platform. He also served as interim CEO of Interwoven, which he led through numerous acquisitions and initiatives to significantly grow revenue, while improving operating margins, profitability and cash flow. As a result, Interwoven was acquired in 2009 for a significant premium.

“Mitek is an exciting company with market leadership in Mobile Deposit, and on a path to accelerated growth with its digital [identity] verification solutions,” said Carnecchia. “I’m thrilled to join this team, which has consistently delivered outstanding results. Together, I am confident we can execute on the strategy and pursue all opportunities available to us to create value for shareholders.”