Ryan Holmes

Ryan Holmes
Born (1974-12-30) December 30, 1974
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
Residence Vancouver, Canada
Alma mater University of Victoria (dropped out)
Occupation Computer programmer, entrepreneur
Known for CEO of Hootsuite
Website http://www.hootsuite.com

Ryan Holmes (born December 30, 1974) is a Canadian computer programmer and internet entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Hootsuite, a social media management tool for businesses. Holmes began developing Hootsuite in 2008 through his agency Invoke Media.

Holmes is a contributor to the LinkedIn Influencers Program, where he writes about entrepreneurship and technology.[1] Holmes also contributes regularly to news publications including Forbes, Fast Company and Inc.com.

Early life and education

Holmes was born in Vernon, British Columbia, a rural town in western Canada. He grew up on a farm without electricity.[2] Holmes won a district-wide programming contest in the fifth grade,[3] and the prize was an Apple IIc which was rewired to run off of a car battery.[4] He spent much of his spare time on the computer, both at school and at home.[3]

In 1997, Holmes enrolled in a business program at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island but left the program early in 1997 to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors.[3]

Career

In high school, Holmes founded a paintball field as his first business[5] which later became an online retailer. After dropping out of university in 1997 Holmes moved back to his hometown of Vernon and started his second business, a pizza restaurant called Growlies. He sold a franchise of the business in that year.[6]

To re-pursue his passion for computers and be a part of the emerging tech industry, Holmes sold Growlies in 1999 and moved to Vancouver. While there he taught himself internet design and development and began working at a local technology firm.[7]

Following this he founded Invoke, a digital media agency, where Hootsuite was born in 2008.[6] Seven of the 21 employees at Invoke were tasked to work on building out the Hootsuite tool, at the time a freemium product that would enable businesses to incorporate social media into their marketing campaigns. In 2009, Holmes raised an initial round of Series A funding of $1.9 million for Hootsuite and spun it off as an independent company.[8]

In 2012, the he raised another round of funding for Hootsuite $20 million from Canada-based VC Omers Ventures.[9] In August 2013, Holmes announced Hootsuite had secured $165 million in a Series B round of funding, the largest ever for a Canadian software company, led by Insight Venture Partners with participation from Accel Partners and existing investor OMERS Ventures. Today, Hootsuite has over 300 employees, and over 7 million users around the globe and has expanded its reach into the Enterprise-level market for large-scale social media solutions.[10]

In 2013 Holmes launched an accelerator program for young entrepreneurs called The Next Big Thing, in part to help foster a "Maple Syrup Mafia,"[11] the term he coined in early 2013 to describe a new Canadian technology powerhouse similar to the original PayPal Mafia.[12]

Recognition

References

  1. ↑ "Ryan Holmes profile at Linkedin". Linkedin. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Chris (Feb 25, 2015). "A New York agenda with Hootsuite's night owl". Reuters. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Ebner, David (11 November 2011). "Sell out? No thanks, Hootsuite founder Ryan Holmes wants a legacy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "11 Questions For Ryan Holmes". The Huffington Post Canada. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Gerber, Scott (14 March 2012). "Announcing a Live Chat With Hootsuite Founder Ryan Holmes". Mashable. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 Melanson, Trevor (9 January 2013). "Is Hootsuite Canada's next billion-dollar tech titan?". Canadian Business. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Ernst, Amanda (October 20, 2010). "SO WHAT DO YOU DO, RYAN HOLMES, FOUNDER AND CEO OF HOOTSUITE?". Mediabistro. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  8. ↑ Rao, Leena (8 January 2010). "Hootsuite Raises $1.9 Million For Social Media Dashboard". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Hootsuite Gets $20M from Canadian Pension Fund". Ad Age. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  10. ↑ The Canadian Press (1 August 2013). "Hootsuite aims high as it secures $165-million funding agreement to expand". MacLeans. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  11. ↑ Dawes, Terry (31 October 2013). "Hootsuite’s Ryan Holmes Recruits First Generation of "Maple Syrup Mafia"". CanTechletter. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Holmes, Ryan (24 April 2013). "Rise of the Maple Syrup Mafia". CNNMoney. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Okanagan College Alumni Association grants social media innovator 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award". Okanagan College. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Premier Clark celebrates some of B.C.’s finest with Queen’s medal". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved 12 July 2015.

External links

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