CHICAGO, IL, June 5th, 2023 — Wellspring, a global leader in software solutions for R&D, Tech Transfer, IP, and Innovation, today announced the arrival of Sean Downs as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and Mike MacKeen as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer. These appointments represent the latest in a wave of growth investments, following Resurgens Technology Partners’ platform investment in Wellspring last year.
Between them, Sean and Mike have more than five decades of experience driving B2B SaaS companies toward exceptional customer-focused growth.
Sean is a multi-time CEO/President with experience scaling software companies from startup to $100M on a global scale. His proven track record at both PE-backed and public companies has resulted in 6 exists (to date) exceeding $1.3B in market value. He has enjoyed repeated success driving growth through both organically and via M&A – as well as leading international expansions in Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Mike is an operationally focused Finance leader who enjoys helping companies learn to grow faster. He has many years of experience building new systems and processes to support the client success, product development, marketing, and sales functions critical to successful growth. Across his career spanning the technology, financial services, management consulting, and transportation industries, Mike has always been associated with organizations that believe in a superior customer experience.
“The opportunity here at Wellspring is immensely exciting,” said Sean. “Mike and I have begun to develop good rapport with one another, the Board, and the existing team – a promising sign of things to come. Wellspring already benefits from excellent customers and top-tier internal talent. We believe the ingredients are in place for Wellspring to extend the value delivered to customers and accelerate growth.”
Rob Lowe, Wellspring’s founder, will remain with the company on its Board of Directors, continuing to offer the thought leadership and best-in-class expertise that built Wellspring into a category leader. “I’m thrilled that Sean and Mike have chosen to join the Wellspring family,” said Rob. “Adding them to the executive team puts us in an excellent position to realize our fullest growth potential.”
Sean and Mike are joining the company at a propitious moment – the dawn of a new golden age of R&D. Modern multi-institution scientific collaborations have already proven critical to addressing global challenges, from COVID vaccines to climate change. Governments and corporations alike are redoubling their strategic investments in key technology domains, ranging from AI and robotics to synthetic biology to cleantech and much more.
To meet the increasing demand for Wellspring’s software and services, the company announced the acquisition of IP Pragmatics earlier this year, both to augment Wellspring’s services offerings and to expand the company’s international presence. In addition to the CEO and CFO roles, Wellspring also recently hired a Chief Sales Officer, Pat Donahue. Additional investments are expected as the company continues to position itself for success in this new phase of growth.
About Wellspring
Wellspring is the world's leading provider of R&D and Innovation Management software and solutions for corporations, universities, and government agencies. We help clients succeed in today's innovation economy by coordinating global R&D and innovation programs – managing research and IP portfolios, scouting emerging technologies, finding innovation partners, and commercializing inventions. Wellspring works with more than 500 organizations worldwide to support the continued development of the global Knowledge Supply Chain. For more information, please visit wellspring.com.