UrtheCast (TSX:UR) has replaced its CEO effective immediately.
But the Vancouver-based company, which records and streams images from space, is keeping the leadership change inside the family.
While UrtheCast co-founder Scott Larson is resigning from the top job, his brother Wade Larson will take the helm, the company announced Thursday (December 10).
Co-founder Wade Larson will continue to serve as UrtheCast’s president and chief operating officer in addition to taking the CEO title.
In a blog post, Scott Larson recalled asking the board a few years ago if the time was right for him to move on and let someone else lead the company.
“It wasn’t the right time then, but it is now,” he wrote.
“I am very proud to say that UrtheCast is no longer a start-up but is now a very operational company.”
Wade Larson said his brother’s decision to leave was related to who he is and what he loves to do in life.
“What (Scott Larson) is very, very good at and what he relishes is that process of starting tech companies…and the very early stages of financing,” the new CEO told Business In Vancouver.
“This signals really a statement that UrtheCast is no longer that. We are a company that really is operational now, increasingly mature, growing like gangbusters. But it’s growth that’s driven by revenue as opposed to growth that’s driven by equity financing.”
In 2013, UrtheCast raised $46 million by going public through the reverse takeover of a shell company.
The company recorded a net loss of $11.9 million in the third quarter of 2015 compared with $3.9 million during the same period a year prior, according to financial results released in November.
UrtheCast posted no revenue during the third quarter of 2014 but in 2015 revenue had reached $23 million during the first nine months ending September 30.
Of that, $15 million in revenue came during the third quarter of 2015.
Scott Larson previously worked in Canada’s banking industry, managing buyouts, sales and financing.
Wade Larson’s own experience includes more than seven years at the Canadian Space Agency before he transitioned out of the public sector and began working in business development at Canadarm-maker MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA).
Wade Larson said he’s new role as CEO will be “a story of continuity and staying the course.”
