Frind, who founded Plenty of Fish, owns about 70 per cent of e-commerce furniture-seller Cymax
Vancouver-based online furniture seller Cymax Group Technologies has found a new CEO: its majority owner, Markus Frind, who is likely best known for founding online dating site Plenty of Fish, and selling it to Match.com for US$575 million cash in 2015.
“Stepping into this subsidiary to provide direction, vision and focus,” Frind wrote on LinkedIn this afternoon.
Frind’s appointment is effective today.
Frind told BIV in January that his stake in privately held Cymax was “70ish [per cent] last time I looked,” and that he was not in favour of taking the company private because market valuations for big start-ups were about 50 per cent to 90 per cent below what they were at in previous funding rounds.
“In the middle of finding a new CEO,” he wrote in a text.
Frind succeeds interim CEO Mike Herenberg, who is also COO and will continue in that role. The company’s most recent permanent CEO was Rizwan Somji, who said in November that he would resign as of Dec. 8 so he could spend more time with his family.
A press release added that “Frind joins at an exciting time as the organization celebrates 20 years of innovation and expands focus on Generative AI.”
Frind has been on the board of directors at Cymax for more than nine years. He first invested in Cymax in 2015.
“I am excited about the opportunities ahead of us,” Frind said in today’s press release. “I have lots of ideas on how we can infuse and inject technology and AI to continue to drive growth.”
One of Frind’s passions is wine, and he described his Frind Esate Winery as a “hobby” to BIV last summer.
He has incorporated many technological advances at the winery to improve quality.
