SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ontra, the leading provider of AI-powered legal technology solutions for private capital investment firms, today announced the appointment of Eric Hawkins as its Chief Technology Officer.
As Chief Technology Officer, Eric will spearhead the continued growth of Ontra’s private markets technology platform, which streamlines and optimizes critical legal and compliance workflows across the full fund lifecycle. Under Eric’s leadership as SVP of Engineering, Ontra leveraged cutting-edge technology to rapidly deliver valuable product innovations to its customers. Notable enhancements include AI Search, which provides quick and actionable answers to GPs, and Markup Builder, which accelerates contract negotiations through automated review and markup. In his new role, Eric will continue to accelerate the development of Ontra’s industry-leading private markets technology platform by introducing new products and enhancing existing products to solve more problems faced by private fund managers in critical private market workflows.
“Eric has been instrumental in up-leveling Ontra over the past year. He has materially improved the productivity of our engineering organization by making meaningful improvements to our engineering culture, processes, and talent,” said Troy Pospisil, Ontra’s CEO and founder. “Eric exemplifies our values as a leader: he deeply understands our customers and builds relationships with their CTOs/CIOs, he digs in and takes responsibility, he communicates candidly, and he always focuses on how we can improve to serve our customers better. I look forward to partnering with Eric to continue scaling Ontra to deliver indispensable, ubiquitous private markets infrastructure.”
“I couldn’t be more excited about Ontra’s future and all that is ahead,” said Eric. “There are those moments with technology companies in particular where it all comes together: the opportunity, the market, the technology, and the team. Ontra is in a very unique position to address the needs of private funds asset managers as their firms undergo digital transformation in the face of increasing complexity. Our expertise in AI and automation, in conjunction with our deep customer partnerships, is unlocking a very bright future for both Ontra and our customers.”
Before joining Ontra, Eric spent ten years at AppFolio, where he led the development of AppFolio’s mobile and payment solutions before building and leading engineering for the Investment Management business unit. Eric and the organization he built played a key role in growing revenue from $25M to over $600M and taking the company public. Previously, he served in various engineering leadership roles at Las Cumbres Observatory, Karl Storz Imaging, and NSI Communications.
Eric serves on the customer advisory boards of several prominent software companies, including Vanta. He has published case studies on engineering management with Harvard Business School and is a regular guest speaker on innovation and leadership at business schools. Eric also sits on the board of directors for Providence School and is a past director of Sage Trail Alliance.
About Ontra
Ontra is the global leader in AI-powered legal technology solutions for private capital investment firms. Ontra’s private markets technology platform combines AI-enabled software with an experienced global network of legal professionals to digitize recurring legal workflows across the full fund lifecycle and comprises Contract Automation, Insight, and Atlas. Ontra works with the world’s leading private equity and venture capital firms, investment banks, direct lenders, law firms, and service providers to reduce the time, expense, and risk associated with contract and fund management.
Ontra is headquartered in San Francisco, with global operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. Learn more at www.ontra.ai.
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Ryan Duke
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