Middle Market Technology CEOs to Watch

Though the middle-market technology industry hasn’t been immune to the recent economic volatility, outlooks for the space are still optimistic. In the public sector in Q1 2016, software contributed the most deal volume, while IT services contributed the most in terms of value, according to a report from PwC.

For the 2016 Growth 100, highlighting the most innovative and interesting middle market CEOs, we talked to a wide range of business owners running successful technology companies at various stages of growth. Here are six to keep an eye on.

Peter Coddington, CEO of PaRaBaL

In a renovated typewriter factory in Baltimore, a handful of 20-somethings and a Silicon Valley expat are recreating the way people work.

Peter Coddington, CEO of PaRaBaL, founded the company to make mobile devices useful for work activities. Peter points out that the activities an individual undertakes in his or her personal life are almost all enabled or made easier with mobile apps, whether it’s hailing a ride with Uber or ordering food with Seamless.

PaRaBaL’s mission is to allow individuals to enjoy the same comfort and efficiencies on their smart phones during their work day as they do in the hours outside the 9 to 5…

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John Bhakdi, CEO of Quantgene

“I always found it crazy that all we can do right now is to wait until we get diagnosed with late stage cancer,” John says. “We live in the 21st century and still have no way of detecting cancers early.”

In 2014, John saw a series of critical technical advances happening and quickly assembled the best minds in the field to create Quantgene with the objective to detect cancer in stages 1 and 2 rather than 3 or 4…

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David Rycyna, Founder of Cirrus Systems

David Rycyna’s background as a manufacturing consultant took him overseas for seven years. He lived in a number of countries, primarily in Asia, and was exposed to a lot of different industries. When one of his clients was working on a project in the outdoor LED screen industry, he realized the industry was devoid of any real innovation.

That realization led to the foundation of Cirrus Systems, which today makes software and manufactures an interchangeable tile system for outdoor LED signage. Customers like banks can market going interest rates seamlessly, or Dunkin’ Donuts can advertise a current promotion…

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Ari Matityahu, CEO of Votrite

Ari Matityahu is on a mission to bring voting into the 21st century. The CEO of VotRite calls it an untapped market dominated by paper ballots and an old school mentality. “When you think of voting as an industry, how we elect the leaders of today’s world, you don’t really think of it as a market,” Ari says.

VotRite introduced the tech-enabled voting booth in 2013. When he was looking for a business idea to build out he forced himself to think of the biggest possible opportunity. “Everyone’s got to vote. The constitution will always be there. And it’s a global business.”

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Raj Singh, CEO of GoMoment

Most travelers’ goal is to find the most convenient and friendly accommodations offered in your destination. Enter Ivy, a 24-hour personal concierge at your fingertips. Ivy was created by the intelligent minds at Go Moment, with a little help from IBM’s Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) program Watson.

Hailing from a design and development background, Raj Singh, founder and CEO of Go Moment, says that the “golden rule” for him and his team when designing Ivy was to make sure it’s a service that they, personally, would use and rely on when traveling.

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Paul Temple, CEO of Advanced Onion

As a soldier in the U.S. Army, Paul Temple spent 21 years on the front lines of intelligence and special operations missions. Today, the counterintelligence expert is putting his street smarts to work as CEO of Advanced Onion in Monterey, Calif. His approximately 100-person company helps clients such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and other federal and state organizations protect themselves from insider threats.

“In the old traditional sense, it’s counter-intelligence work — countering folks who have logical access or physical access to things,” says Temple. Advanced Onion serves as a systems integrator, weaving together complex webs of technology for clients. It also provides program support, does consulting, and sells hardware and software solutions…

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