AliveCor Hires Former Google VP (Includes video)

It takes a lot to impress a former Google executive.

But AliveCor Inc. apparently succeeded, having convinced Vic Gundotra to assume the reigns of the privately held company immediately, replacing Euan Thomson, its interim CEO.

Thomson joined the Board of Directors in January 2013 and became AliveCor’s interim CEO in August 2013. During his tenure, Thomson grew the company through a defining period, including expanded U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CE mark clearances, the launch of three algorithms, and recently surpassing 4 million ECGs recorded into the AliveCor database. As of October 2015, AliveCor received more than 350,000 electrocardiograms (ECGs) and reported more than 20,000 regular users. Additionally, 30 percent of AliveCor patients have received an instant atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection using the AF Detector, an algorithm to detect AFib in an ECG.

“My time at AliveCor has been an important and fulfilling chapter in my career. No one has done what we are doing. I am thankful for the opportunity to help develop products that are helping people across the world,” Thomson said in prepared remarks. “I am pleased to welcome Vic who brings years of experience spanning consumer and technology products that will be of great value as AliveCor works to expand and diversify into different business models.”

Before joining AliveCor, Gundotra served as senior vice president at Google from 2011 until April 2014, heading up the company’s social initiatives. He joined Google in 2007 as vice president of engineering, where he was responsible for mobile application development, including product management and marketing. Prior to Google, Gundotra spent 15 years at Microsoft, where he worked on a variety of products and operating systems. He was recognized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a “Young Innovator under 35” for his work in sparking Microsoft’s change from Win32 to the .NET programming model. While at Microsoft, Gundotra also served as general manager of the company’s developer outreach efforts worldwide, including evangelism and strategy for products like Windows Vista, Visual Studio, Microsoft Office, Microsoft CRM and Windows Mobile.

“I am thrilled to become part of the AliveCor team. What they have achieved throughout the past four years is tremendous,” he said. “Being able to understand what is going on inside heart disease through data analytics and machine learning has the potential to change the way we think of and participate in our healthcare. I am looking forward to being on the forefront of consumerizing medicine and working with a team with innovative products.”

AliveCor Inc. develops mobile ECG technology for smartphones. The company is privately-held and headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.

Watch the video below to learn how AliveCor’s technology works: