KnowledgeTree Hires CFO, Expands Board of Directors, and Plans to Double Staff

CED Member KnowledgeTree today announced intentions to increase its staff and boost their presence in the Triangle.

In total, KnowledgeTree plans to add twenty positions in their headquarters office in Raleigh, bringing the total to 33 employees in the next 12 months. KnowledgeTree maintains a second office in Cape Town, South Africa, which currently employs 14 people. CEO and founder Daniel Chalef is originally from South Africa but chose to relocate to the Triangle because "it has a vibrant pool of smart, engaged professionals that I want to work and connect with."


In addition, "the openness to network and supportive nature of the local technology and business community has proven key for us to find and hire great colleagues," said Chalef in a statement to CED. In order to make room for their new colleagues, said Chalef, the company has just finalized plans to take over an additional floor in their current office building on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. The company will now occupy 3,600 square feet within that space, said Chalef. 


This expansion begins today, as KnowledgeTree welcomes Petra Weishaupt-Smith as their Chief Financial Officer.

Weishaupt-Smith most recently served as COO and CFO at Digitalsmiths Corporation, a video discovery technology company. According to a statement released by the company, Weishaupt-Smith is a licensed CPA with a successful track record in guiding early-stage technology companies through fund raising, growth, acquisitions and IPOs.

In a busy day for announcements, KnowledgeTree also shared that it is adding one position to its Board of Directors, to be occupied by Philip Merrick. Merrick is the founder and managing partner of Bibury Partners, an early-stage technology investment and advisory firm. 

According to the statement, Merrick was co-founder and CEO of webMethods, Inc., a leading vendor of business integration software. Under his leadership, the company pioneered web services and XML-based software integration technologies, demonstrated the strongest revenue growth of any U.S. software company in the period 1998-2002, and achieved a successful IPO in February of 2000. A full list of the Board of Directors for KnowledgeTree can be accessed on the KnowledgeTree website

KnowledgeTree recently raised a $4.75 million Series B, which included investments from lead investor River Cities Capital Funds, and investments from Core Capital Partners, and Hatteras Funds. Lead Series A investor Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa also participated in the Series B round.


Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that KnowledgeTree was hiring to bring the total to 20 employees. A spokesperson for KnowledgeTree notified CED that the company actually plans to hire 20 additional employees, adding to the current staff of 13, for a total of 33 employees in 12 months time.