Local Tech Wire 

Former Red Hat exec takes over as CEO at Red Hat-backed firm

Red Hat invests again in software startup

On The Web

• Black Duck Software
• Red Hat

Site Search

Timothy Yeaton, a former executive at Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), is the new chief executive officer at Black Duck Software.

Red Hat, the world’s largest Linux open-source software developer and services provider, is an investor in the Waltham, Mass.-based firm. The startup is focused on acceleration of application development by utilizing open source.

Black Duck also closed on $9.5 million in a fourth round of financing. The funding includes $5 million in venture funding, with Red Hat among the investors. Also investing were General Catalyst Partners, Fidelity Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Focus Ventures, Intel Capital and SAP Ventures.

The company secured an additional $4.5 million in debt financing from Gold Hill Capital.

"Red Hat has long championed the widespread adoption of open-source software and is an investor in Black Duck, which shares this vision,” said Paul Cormier, president of products and technologies at Red Hat. “We are pleased to see Tim join as their new CEO.”

Yeaton most recently was chief marketing officer at EqualLogic. Dell acquired the storage firm in 2007.

"Black Duck Software is the pioneer and leader in open-source software knowledge, code management and compliance and has built a good track record of growth," Yeaton said in a statement. "The company has a strong brand and position in the market and the opportunity to see a significant ramp-up in its business despite current economic difficulties. It's the kind of company I look for: innovative, ahead of the pack and well-positioned with customers and the larger technical community."

At Red Hat, Yeaton was senior vice president of worldwide marketing and general manager of enterprise products. Yeaton also has worked at Avaki Corp., Macromedia, Compaq and Digital.

Venture & Innovation

Stories about local business ventures and innovation. Read more articles…