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Capita former software chief joins Foundry as new CEO

Craig Rodgerson, former Capita software Chief has joined Foundry as CEO.

Craig Rodgerson as new CEO

Leading creative software developer, Foundry, has appointed Craig Rodgerson as its new chief executive. Rodgerson starts immediately and will be responsible for leading Foundry’s ongoing strategic direction of building and developing its innovative product offering.

A very experienced software and technology services senior leader, Rodgerson joins Foundry from global software and services provider Capita, where he was latterly CEO of Capita IT Services. Rodgerson has 25 years’ experience within the software and technology enabled services industries, with an impressive track record of launching new products to market and delivering growth through organic and M&A activity.

In his previous role as CEO of Capita Digital Software and Services, Rodgerson was responsible for growing the division to an annual revenue of some £525m and generating over a quarter of the Group’s underlying operating profit in 2016.

Craig Rodgerson, CEO at Foundry, commented: “Foundry is an exceptional software company, creating unrivalled products in the VFX industry and it’s an honour to be joining the team. The business has a clear strategy and I’m excited to be working with senior management to help grow and deliver on this.

“I have spent the majority of my career building and delivering complex software solutions to a global network of clients, so I’m looking forward to leading the business as it continues its successful growth plans in such a rapidly evolving and innovative industry.”

Foundry’s outgoing CEO Alex Mahon has transitioned to the position of non-executive Deputy Chairman and will continue to play a role in the strategic direction of the business. 

Alex Mahon, added: “Craig has unparalleled experience within the software industry, and is therefore the perfect candidate to lead the business. On behalf of the board, I would like to welcome Craig to Foundry and look forward to seeing him put his vast expertise into practise at this key time of growth for the business.”

Foundry designs creative software technologies used to deliver award-winning visual effects and 3D content for the design, visualisation and entertainment industries. It enables clients like Pixar, Mercedes-Benz, ILM and The Moving Picture Company to turn incredible ideas into reality by solving complex creative challenges. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in London, with over 300 staff spread across offices in Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Austin and the UK. In 2015 the business was acquired by private equity firm, HgCapital, for £200m.

Nic Humphries, Senior Partner of HgCapital, commented: “We are thrilled that Craig has joined Foundry. His excellent track record of driving sustainable growth within the software space is the perfect fit to support Foundry’s ongoing strategic direction.”

Foundry has grown significantly in recent years through innovation, M&A activity, expansion into new markets and technology licensing deals with industry leading customers including Disney, Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks.

The firm set the de facto standard in the film post production visual effects space with its NUKE product, which is used globally by leading artists and designers such as Dreamworks, Double Negative and Pixar to create leading edge visual effects. Foundry continues to drive evolution across multiple industries with recent product innovations in the use of virtual reality, cloud services and within the architectural, engineering and construction space.