Pickmeup Appoints Tech Industry Veteran as Chief Technology Officer

Nigeria-based ride-hailing startup Pickmeup said Monday it has appointed Taylor Dondich as its first chief technology officer (CTO) in a move meant to support the expansion of the startup.

Taylor will lead Pickmeup’s technology development and execution, the company said in a press release announcing the development. 

With more than a decade of experience overseeing technology teams at startups and global multinationals including Yahoo, his vast experience in the tech ecosystem will be instrumental in supporting Pickmeup’s platform and infrastructure strategy, the statement read.

“I’ve always been eager to find organizations that look to better the World. Pickmeup is unique in its mission to provide services we rely on day-to-day in an approachable way that leverages technology. I’m excited to be part of this growing team building something special,” Taylor said.

Before joining Pickmeup, Taylor was chief technology officer at ProcessMaker, a low-code business process management software and iBPMS (intelligent business process management suite) platform, which makes it easy to rapidly build automated workflows.

Also Read: Where there is no Uber: Nigerian firm Pickmeup Expands Ride-hailing To Ten Cities

Prior to that, he spent nearly four years combined as Vice President of Engineering at MaxCDN and StackPath as well as another four as Senior Engineer at Splunk and Federated Media. Between 2007 and 2008, he served as a software engineer at Yahoo, building customer-facing technologies as well as maintaining key backend systems.

Taylor currently sits on the advisory board of PunchCode, a coding Bootcamp provided by Tech Impact, and is the founder of Nihongo Master, an online Japanese Language Learning Community that features lessons, drills, quizzes, a dictionary, and more.

“With a broad experience to draw on, Taylor has a rich background of tech expertise, especially in implementing strategy at enterprise-scale,” said Michael Okaredje, Pickmeup Founder and CEO. “Taylor brings huge intellect that we hope to leverage on. We are glad to have his perspective on the leadership team of Pickmeup as we help bridge the ever-widening gap in African transportation.”

Also Read: Getting Tech Start-Ups Investment Ready: Commercial and Legal Considerations for Founders

Taylor joins the Pickmeup team as the ride-hailing startup surpasses 50,000 customers and is set to embark on an expansion drive that starts with service diversification.

By 2021, Pickmeup plans to launch a Super App that will enable users to commute, eat, deliver packages, socialize, and pay for daily essentials, all with one app like Grab in Southeast Asia. The startup also plans to extend its presence into other cities within and outside Nigeria, including Kenya.

Pickmeup was founded in November 2017 but launched in January 2019 after a year-long build of its current app. It is headquartered in Delta State and operates in about ten cities across Nigeria. The startup’s focus is on cities that are unserviced by existing competitors, Michael said in an earlier article.

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