Most recently, Banks was Chief Executive Officer at Utah-based Weave and led the firm's Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2021, the first Black CEO to do so in Utah. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Banks has served as CEO or President five times during his career and increased aggregate enterprise value by over $4 billion during the process.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT / ACCESSWIRE / March 28, 2023 / Pelion Venture Partners today announced that Roy Banks has joined the leading Utah-based venture capital firm as a Venture Partner.
During a professional career spanning over 30 years in technology, Banks has served as Chief Executive Officer and/or President five separate times, roles that included corporate recapitalizations, initial public offerings, and/or acquisitions at each firm.
Most recently, Banks was selected to take over the leadership of Lehi, Utah-based Weave as its CEO in December 2020, a position he held until last fall. During his time with the company, Banks led Weave's Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2022, the first Black CEO to conduct an NYSE IPO for a Utah-based company.
Pelion General Partners, Blake Modersitzki and Chris Cooper (who previously worked with Banks at WordPerfect), recruited him out of semi-retirement to help bolster Pelion's position as the leading venture capital firm in Utah.
"We had the privilege of working with Roy for many years, even before he was tapped to lead Weave," Modersitzki said. "So not only are we energized by Roy's wealth of experience as an operator and the impact that he will have within our portfolio, we're also excited to work shoulder to shoulder with him in finding the next great companies here in Utah and beyond."\
Prior to serving as Weave's CEO, Banks served in top executive positions for Authorize.Net, Accelerated Payment Technologies, Network Merchants Inc., Truckstop.com, and Complete Merchant Services.
Earlier in his career, Banks also worked for WordPerfect, Novell, and PowerQuest, as well as five years spent serving in the U.S. Navy with a final rank of Petty Officer Second Class. After his time in the Navy, Banks received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
"This is now the second time that Blake and the Pelion team have pulled me out of retirement to put me on a new path, something I greatly appreciate," Banks said. "The reality is that I've been truly blessed throughout my life and career, yet nothing I've done or accomplished will compensate for sharing what I've learned and done. At this 'Elder Statesman' point in my career, I've recognized that not only can I help other companies and other executives to succeed, I have an obligation to do so.
"I look forward to helping and mentoring entrepreneurs and founders to help them overcome the challenges of growing and building their companies. I believe a great leader sees the potential in others which they often cannot see in themselves. As a Venture Partner, I'm excited to be an example, and to inspire people to believe that they can accomplish the impossible. My experience over the years has taught me that with strong mentors, focus, hard work, perseverance and an unconquerable spirit, virtually anything is possible."
In his Venture Partner role at Pelion, Banks will support existing Pelion portfolio companies, and incubate new businesses alongside very early stage founding teams.
About Pelion Venture Partners
Originally formed in 1986 as Utah Ventures, Pelion Venture Partners has raised over $1 billion across its family of funds. With its focus primarily on early stage technology companies, some of Pelion's more notable exits include such companies as Cloudflare, Divvy, Integral Ad Science, Owlet, and Weave, among others. For more information about Pelion, please visit www.pelionvp.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
David Politis for Pelion Venture Partners, me@davidpolitis.com, C: +1-801-556-8184
SOURCE: Pelion Venture Partners
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