Tony Hoggett, the Amazon senior vice president overseeing the company’s worldwide grocery stores business, is leaving the company to join Wonder, a delivery- and takeout-focused restaurant chain based in New York. He will be taking on the role of chief operating officer at Wonder. Hoggett, a former Tesco executive, joined Amazon in January 2022 and has been a part of the company’s senior leadership team. His last day at Amazon is scheduled to be Nov. 1, 2024, but Amazon has not yet announced a succession plan for his replacement. During his tenure at Amazon, Hoggett led various initiatives related to Amazon Fresh stores and grocery operations.
Wonder, the restaurant chain that Hoggett is joining, currently has 27 outlets in the northeast and is planning to open more locations. The chain offers a variety of menu options, including items from celebrity chefs. Wonder is reportedly working on a pilot project to introduce its restaurants inside Walmart stores. The chain is led by Marc Lore, a longtime e-commerce entrepreneur who previously founded Jet.com and sold it to Walmart for $3.3 billion, as well as Diapers.com to Amazon for $545 million. Lore’s experience in e-commerce and retail will complement Hoggett’s background in grocery operations.
Veeam Software, a data protection and ransomware recovery company, announced the appointment of Lucy Hur as chief people officer. Hur previously held a similar role at Slalom during its global expansion and has over 12 years of experience in HR leadership at companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and Nokia. Veeam recently relocated its corporate headquarters to Kirkland, Washington, for its proximity to major cloud providers and technical talent in the Seattle area. Hur’s leadership will be critical as Veeam enters a phase of rapid growth, according to CEO Anand Eswaran.
Emad Elwany, the co-founder of Lexion, which was acquired by DocuSign, has joined Seattle’s AI2 Incubator as a venture partner. Elwany has a background in engineering at DocuSign and Microsoft, where he led teams focused on artificial intelligence democratization. Matt Welsh, a Seattle tech veteran, has been named chief architect at Aryn, a software company in Mountain View, California, specializing in large language model computing platforms. Welsh previously co-founded Fixie and worked at Google, OctoML, Apple, and Ziggylabs, focusing on human-friendly AI tech.
Medbridge, a Seattle-area health technology company, announced two leadership changes following its acquisition of Rehab Boost, a startup specializing in motion capture technology for physical rehabilitation. Paul Jaure, founder of Rehab Boost, will join Medbridge as head of AI, while Garth Savidge, chief commercial officer at Rehab Boost, will take on a role as director of commercial operations at Medbridge. Seattle-based DevZero, led by former Uber engineers, welcomed Alberto Grande as head of marketing. Grande, previously VP of marketing at X-Team, will contribute his expertise to DevZero’s cloud-based code-writing platform.
Fenwick, an international law firm, announced the addition of nine lawyers as partners, including Chelsea Anderson and Chris Gorman in Seattle. Anderson specializes in life sciences and technology industries, providing legal counsel on public company capital market transactions, private company financing, and corporate governance. Gorman advises clients in technology, fintech, life sciences, and consumer products on mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, and strategic investments. Additionally, Angela Broughton, a pharmacy billing coordinator at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, received the T. Evans Wyckoff award, recognizing her exceptional contributions and teamwork in the healthcare industry.
