Seegrid, provider of vision guided autonomous vehicles for materials handling, announced it has appointed Steven Barto as the company’s chief financial officer. Barto has proven expertise in managing rapid expansion as an executive and strategic advisor to numerous high-tech growth companies. Most recently, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer of ITC Global (acquired by Panasonic Corporation), a provider of carrier-grade global satellite solutions for industrial operations in remote and harsh regions.
Barto comes to Seegrid with more than 30 years of experience and has held CFO and executive positions at both privately held and public technology companies. Prior to ITC Global, Barto was senior vice president, general manager, and chief financial officer of Vocollect (acquired by Honeywell), provider of supply chain automation systems for industrial and healthcare applications using innovative voice-enabled technology. He has also served as chief financial officer of BPL Global, Ltd., a smart grid technology company (acquired by Danaher, now Fortive), and previously held executive financial leadership positions at Ericsson, Marconi, and RELTEC. Barto is also a CPA who began his career and worked through senior manager at Price Waterhouse (now PwC).
“Steve’s deep experience in financial and strategic leadership will provide great value to Seegrid as we continue our rapid expansion,” said Seegrid CEO Jim Rock. “Steve has a proven record of driving business growth and international expansion, has completed more than 25 strategic mergers and acquisitions, and has facilitated multiple shareholder liquidity events. Seegrid has doubled in size annually for multiple years and is on pace to continue that trend, and we’re excited to have Steve join the leadership team as we drive the company to the next phase of market growth.”
“I am thrilled to be joining the strong team already in place at Seegrid,” said Barto. “The materials handling industry is at an inflection point regarding flexible automation, and as the industry leader in vision guided vehicles versus older, less flexible technologies, Seegrid is uniquely positioned for accelerated growth as industrial robotics converges with artificial intelligence to provide lean automation solutions.”
