In hopes that the seeds of one local success story could help grow another, Spartan Bioscience announced Thursday it has sourced two of its latest appointments from fellow Ottawa firm Shopify.
Spartan, which is known for its futuristic DNA-testing cube, announced it has hired Blaine Fitzgerald as chief financial officer. Previously Shopify’s vice-president of finance, Fitzgerald parted ways with the company in April following five years with the local e-commerce firm.
Also joining the Spartan team as a strategic adviser is former Shopify CFO Russ Jones. Jones, who had run the books at Shopify since its inception, retired from full-time finance work last year and was replaced at the Ottawa tech giant by Amy Shapero.
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In a Spartan press release, Shopify’s chief operating officer Harley Finkelstein gave his two thumbs up to the appointments, praising both Fitzgerald’s and Jones’s contributions to his firm.
“I’ve known Spartan since the early days and I predict they will be Canada’s next great business success story,” said Finkelstein in a statement. “With Russ and Blaine’s help, I think Spartan will accomplish its goal of bringing the power of DNA testing to everyone.”
In addition to the two financial appointments, Spartan also named a new executive vice-president in Steve Edgett, formerly of Nautics Group. The firm added another strategic adviser in Joel Finlayson, a partner with Canadian health-care tech fund iGan.
The four new appointments come after the firm added Nick Noreau as chief revenue officer earlier this summer.
