Meet Akerna's New CRO, Former SAP Exec Nina Simosko

Akerna Corp KERN, a newly public cannabis compliance tech firm, announced last week that a Silicon Valley executive joined the company: Nina Simosko, a former executive at SAP SE SAP, was appointed as Akerna's chief revenue officer.

As CRO, Simosko will oversee all revenue generation; build strategies to grow MJ Platform revenue across global cannabis and hemp markets; increase enterprise clients; form strategic partnerships that add product value; and pursue targeted acquisitions, according to Akerna. 

“Achieving an aggressive growth trajectory like the one we’ve planned for Akerna requires strong leadership,” said CEO Jessica Billingsley,.

“Nina has a proven ability to drive enterprise SaaS growth and will be invaluable to our future success as we continue to build what we believe is the world’s most transparent and accountable consumer product goods supply chain.”

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Prior to joining Akerna, Simosko served as President and CEO of NTT Innovation Institute Inc. (NTT i3), the Silicon Valley-based innovation center for NTT Group.

She also worked as senior vice president of SAP’s Global Premier Customer Network and led Nike Inc NKE's Nike Technology worldwide operations.

“In many ways, the growth of the cannabis industry mirrors the boom of technology. Both are ever evolving, growing at a breakneck speed and are successful due to innovation,” Simosko told Benzinga.

“I’m excited to drive growth for Akerna, an innovative technology company that today serves the cannabis and hemp industries — among the world’s fastest-growing — and look forward to working with Jessica and the rest of the leadership team to execute our future organic and acquisition growth plans.”

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Photo courtesy of Akerna.