New York, London, July 19, 2016 – Vela Trading Technologies, a global leader in high performance trading and market data technology, today announced the appointment of seven new hires in the team led by Rob Lane, Global Head of Sales and Marketing. The new personnel bring a range of complementary experiences to the company that, with the new branding, reinforces the focus on creating and providing leading-edge financial technology, with a strong emphasis on satisfying client requirements and global delivery.

Based in the company’s New York headquarters, Wendy Chan has joined as Global Head of Marketing, where she will play a key role in communicating Vela’s business objectives to the global markets through a variety of marketing programs and activities. Wendy has been working closely with the leadership team to create the new corporate branding and messaging. Prior to joining Vela as a marketing consultant, she held roles at SunGard, XcitekSolutionsPlus, Interactive Data, and Merrill Lynch.

Rupesh Patel and Neil Wheatley join Vela’s sales team in London and Chicago respectively.

Rupesh brings significant knowledge of the current market data technology to the role, having helped develop the real-time market data products and connectivity services at QuantHouse, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. He previously worked at Interactive Data selling both products and services, including low and ultra-low latency market data feed services and ultra-low latency trading infrastructure.

Neil joins Vela from Exegy where he was instrumental in bringing new business and exceeding sales targets. He has over 15 years of experience in the market data industry, having previously worked for Reuters, BT Radianz, and NYSE Technologies.

Appointed as Senior Pre-Sales Engineer, Michael A. Goettsch is responsible for researching new product and service opportunities. Mike is an experienced software engineer, having worked at firms such as Exegy. He has a deep understanding of the challenges facing Vela clients and the technical skills to design industry-leading solutions to overcome these challenges. Also based in Chicago, Michael will report to Dave Carson, Global Head of Pre Sales Engineering.

Vela has also appointed Lauren Trapanotto as an account manager responsible for building relationships with new and existing clients in North America. Based in New York, Lauren will report to Keith Cacciola, Global Head of Account Management. Vela is also hiring another account manager in London who will join in early August to focus on establishing and growing EMEA relationships.

To support the global sales team, London-based Kirsty Marsh joins Vela and is responsible for Global Sales Operations. Kirsty brings previous experience working with SIX Financial Information.

Jennifer Nayar, CEO of Vela, said: “We are pleased to welcome these very talented individuals to Vela. They join us at such an exciting time.” She added, “These appointments are a confirmation of our ongoing commitment to deliver leading-edge trading and market data technology while focusing on meeting client requirements.”