Who we are
and what we'reabout

Hiya office clocksHiya office spaceHiya new office kitchenHiya team photo

Our mission is to modernize voice with trust, identity and intelligence. We're protecting people from spam and fraud calls, connecting businesses with their customers, and helping carriers secure their networks for all.

Alex Algard Hiya founder

Modernizing voice

In 2015, Hiya founder Alex Algard saw the increasing need for innovation in the voice channel and began building the first caller ID and spam blocking apps for mobile while at Whitepages.

Hiya new office meeting room

Changing the market

In early 2016, Hiya spun out of Whitepages and brought its technology to market through Samsung Smart Call, the first-ever network-based spam solution with AT&T, and the Hiya consumer app.

Hiya new office huddle

Growing our reach

Since its inception, Hiya has launched Hiya Connect and Hiya Protect, continues to power services for the world’s largest mobile providers, and has grown to serve more than 400 million businesses and customers worldwide.

Hiya by the numbers

160+

employees and growing

4 offices

Seattle, London, Toronto & Budapest

Trusted & backed

Balderton, Nautilus Venture Partners, Lumia Capital and more

400M+

monthly active users

40+

countries with Hiya

AICPA SOC for Service Organizations logo
SOC 2 compliance ensures our customers and partners can trust Hiya
Careers

Grow your career at Hiya

At Hiya, we are passionate about creating a culture where employees love to work, feel supported and energized, and are empowered to create, innovate and challenge the status quo. We’re constantly on the lookout for talented, dedicated and driven people to join our growing team. 

Sound like you?

Hiya office inrerior

People

Leadership

Our leadership team is made up of passionate leaders who have experience building successful companies and always put our people first.

Alex Algard profile

Alex Algard

Founder and CEO

Alex is the CEO of Hiya, where he's especially focused on product vision and corporate strategy. Alex is a long-time visionary for trust and identity in mobile calls, having launched the first caller ID and spam blocking apps for mobile. Previously, Alex founded and bootstrapped two companies: Ekata, a leader of ID verification to enterprises via SaaS (sold to Mastercard for $850M) and Whitepages.com, which he started in the 1990s at college. He holds a B.A. in Economics and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from Stanford University.

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Alex Algard profile

Kush Parikh

President

Kush manages the global operations of Hiya and sets the corporate direction of the company alongside the founder and CEO, Alex Algard. He has over twenty years of experience in the mobile industry including handset OEMs, wireless infrastructure, location based services and mobile payments. Among Kush’s many startup roles, he was recently the CEO of PayByPhone, Inc. one of the largest mobile payment companies in the world which he sold to Volkswagen Financial Services. Kush holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State and an MBA from Duke University.

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Alex Algard profile

James Lau

Chief Product Officer

James is the Chief Product Officer of Hiya and responsible for the company’s overall product vision, roadmap, and strategy. He has over 20 years of product management experience and has held leadership roles at Microsoft and Google. He holds 9 U.S. patents and has contributed to a diverse set of products including those related to mobile and generative AI. He has a BAS in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and a graduate degree in Engineering Management from Dartmouth College.

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Alex Algard profile

Tony Lanham

Chief Revenue Officer

Tony is a highly experienced sales executive with a diverse background in building and leading revenue-generating engines for both large enterprise and small venture-backed organizations. As CRO, Connect Tony leads the Global Direct Sales, Customer Success, Partnership, and Revenue Operation groups for the Connect business. Tony started his career with Dun and Bradstreet as an inside sales rep and left as VP of Sales. After D&B, he chose to focus on the venture-backed start-up space. He has led the GTM effort for several Seattle and Silicon Valley-based start-ups, growing them from negligible revenue to 8 figure MRR run rates. In 2017 he founded The Revenue Group, a boutique consulting firm focused on providing fractional CRO services to Seed to B round venture-backed start-ups. In 2020 he joined Altus Alliance as Venture Partner where his focus was on helping mid to enterprise-level organizations develop new or re-tool, existing revenue groups. Tony's career spans 27yrs as a sales professional and leader. He has established a strong track record of developing full-scope GTM strategies and teams. Tony has a Bachelor of Arts, in Speech Communication from California State University, Northridge. He resides in Seattle with his wife and two children. He is an avid soccer player, skier, and frisbee dog owner!

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Alex Algard profile

Aaron Martin

Chief Financial Officer

As CFO, Aaron leads the financial operations at Hiya and helps drive accountability and continuous improvement throughout the organization. Aaron brings deep experience in strategic growth, financial planning and analysis, and investor relations to Hiya from his previous financial leadership roles with other technology companies. Recently, he was the CFO of Yapta during a rapid growth period that culminated in it being acquired by Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) in December 2019. Aaron holds a BBA from the University of Washington and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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Alex Algard profile

Kelly Schmitt

General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer

As General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, Kelly manages the legal operations and privacy and security functions at Hiya. Kelly has more than 20 years of legal experience in technology, licensing and M&A, most recently overseeing the successful acquisition of Ekata by Mastercard. Kelly holds a degree in Biology from the College of St. Benedict and is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.

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Alex Algard profile

Anthony Mendonca

Vice President, Engineering

Anthony leads the engineering efforts at Hiya, including QA, IT, and tech operations. He brings more than 20 years of engineering and cloud computing experience, and most recently built the engineering team at RealSelf and helped the company grow from 10 to 250 employees. Prior to RealSelf, he helped build the private cloud platform at Intuit, including data center automation and VPS management. Anthony holds a Computer Science degree from San Jose State University.

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Alex Algard profile

Patchen Noelke

Vice President, Marketing

Patchen leads Hiya's marketing team which includes product marketing, demand generation, corporate marketing, and company communications. He is a veteran IT insider with over 20 years of experience with real-life IT operations and technical business management. He was previously the Senior Director of Product Marketing at Algorithmia where he focused on helping machine learning and data science leaders adopt operational best practices to improve the cost, quality, and performance of ML applications. He has a rich background in product management and marketing experience in IT solutions for analytics, agile development, collaboration, security, governance, and IT financial management.

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Alex Algard profile

Samantha Rist

Vice President, People

Samantha is a People and Business Operations executive with 25+ years of domestic and global experience. As VP of People, Samantha leads the function in building and cultivating exceptional programs to recruit, retain, and develop the Hiya team to meet the needs of the business. Samantha has worked across industries from oil and gas to tech, having been involved in over 10 M&A integrations ranging in headcount from 50 to 1500 across 8 countries. In her last role prior to Hiya, she guided the HR function from due diligence to full integration as part of the executive team at Ekata, which was acquired by Mastercard in 2021. Samantha holds a Bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from Cornell University and a Master’s from Heriot-Watt University in Management of the Oil & Gas Industry.

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Alex Algard profile

Tony Janusky

Vice President, Business Development, North America

Tony is a tech evangelist, sales leader, mentor, advisor, and strategist who is passionate about the intersection of transformative innovation and human interaction. He is also a performing musician & vocalist. Tony has a proven track record of business success fuelled by technology and trends for the next generation of consumers & enterprises and has been focused on the world of AI-centric platforms and experiences for many years. Tony brings his vast carrier experience to Hiya’s global focus on eliminating and keeping safe the customers of telcos being bombarded with scam & fraud call activity. Prior to joining Hiya, Tony was VP of Strategic Accounts at ASAPP for 4 years where he brought the company its largest net-new successes with several Fortune 50 firms. Before that he was G.M. & Sr. Director of North American Telco and Canadian Enterprise markets at Nuance Communications for over 16 years, driving enormous growth year-over-year. Tony’s mix of technology with his musical & performing skills has also rendered him a successful public speaker at numerous business events covering topics such as product innovation, customer-centric and market trends, digital strategy, and artificial intelligence. He also currently advises a few startups who are pivoting towards growth in enterprise markets. Outside of work, Tony has been a performing musician and vocalist in many genres for several decades. Tony also has a great degree of wanderlust for world travel experiences, typically involving the consumption of high-quality coffee, great food, and all types of live music.

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Alex Algard profile

Won Park

Vice President, Mobile Ecosystem Development

With many years of expertise in the telecom industry, Won leads Hiya’s ongoing growth and distribution strategy, with a specific focus on Mobile OEM partnerships. Prior to Hiya, Won was Head of Mobile Partnerships at LinkedIn where he grew the mobile app user base through OEM and carrier partnerships. Before LinkedIn, Won worked at Evernote where he helped distribute the company’s mobile app to tens of millions of smartphones through partnerships with companies like Samsung, LG and NTT. Won also worked in Samsung’s Mobile Division for over 10 years in Korea and the Bay Area, where he led numerous partnerships with US companies like Swype, Dropbox and Flipboard. Won holds a B.A. in Media Studies from University of London and a Masters in Marketing from the University of Manchester.

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Alex Algard profile

Tanvi Saxena

Vice President, Product Management

Tanvi is the Vice President of Product Management for Hiya Connect, solving the biggest pain points for enterprise customers to help them succeed with Hiya’s Voice Performance Platform. She has years of experience in product management, operations, and strategy across multiple industries, including the call center space. Previously, Tanvi worked at A Place for Mom, Starbucks, and the Boston Consulting Group. She holds a B.S in engineering and B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania / Wharton School of Business, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

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Alex Algard profile

Sarah Hermanns

Vice President, Sales

Sarah Hermanns is Vice President of Sales, overseeing Hiya’s direct sales teams in the United States, Canada and Europe. Sarah brings 14 years of selling and leadership experience in both SaaS and eCommerce. For the 6 years prior to joining Hiya, Sarah advanced her career within Ekata (formerly Whitepages Pro) mostly notably leading their Enterprise Sales org through a high value acquisition by Mastercard in 2021.

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Alex Algard profile

Matt Haan

Vice President, Channel and Partnerships

Matt Haan is the Vice President of Channel & Partnerships, overseeing all partner relationships and engagement with Hiya Referral partners, Resellers, and Wholesalers. Matt brings over 18 years of technology and channel building experience including Technology Sales at global solutions provider CDW in Chicago, IL, National Channel Management at Communications provider Mitel Networks in Kanata, Canada, and most recently, assisted in building a global channel organization for Contact Center as a service leader Talkdesk, based in San Francisco, CA

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Alex Algard profile

Jonah-Kai Hancock

Vice President, Demand Generation

Jonah-Kai is the Vice President of Demand Generation where he oversees Hiya’s marketing operations, advertising, events, and SDR teams to drive greater awareness, acquisition, and revenue. He is a proven leader with 15 years of experience in product marketing, online marketing, marketing strategy, and content strategy for B2B focused companies. Prior to joining Hiya, Jonah-Kai led marketing programs for several of Seattle’s top companies, including Algorithmia (acquired by DataRobot), Concur (acquired by SAP), Tableau (acquired by Salesforce), and AdReady (acquired by CPXi). He also previously served in marketing roles for TUNE, Razorfish, and Weber Shandwick.

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Alex Algard profile

Daniel Lehoczky

Managing Director, Hungary

As Managing Director of Hiya Hungary, Daniel is in charge of building out and running the Central European engineering operations in Hungary. Daniel leads the financial, legal, operational and HR functions, and helps define Hiya’s global strategy. Prior to Hiya, Daniel worked at Whitepages where he also lead the regional engineering operations in Hungary. He has over 20 years of finance and management experience working in different industries and companies that include Deloitte & Touche and Silicon Valley Bank. Daniel holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University and a law degree from Eötvös Lóránd University.

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Board

Hiya Board Mike McSherry

Andrew Snead

Advisor

Andrew is a highly passionate telco, media and tech professional with over 26 years of global experience, operating as an executive, advisor and investor. During his career, Andrew has lived and worked in New York, London, Dubai and Singapore, advising Boards, management teams and investors of large-cap companies and early-stage ventures. Andrew has a deep passion for innovation, is an incurable optimist and a strong believer in non-linear, tech driven growth.

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Hiya Board Mike McSherry

Brian Kang

Board Director

As the cofounder of Nautilus Venture Partners, Brian brings more than 20 years of experience in venture capital investment and various corporate development roles to Hiya’s board. Prior to co-founding Nautilus, Brian was a managing director at Samsung Ventures, where he led the firm’s global investments in the mobile and consumer IT sector. In addition to his extensive VC network in the Silicon Valley, Brian has close relationships with key executives and technology leaders from Asian global corporations for proprietary investment validation and early access to market/technology innovation. He holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

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Hiya Board Mike McSherry

Sarah Franklin

Board Director

Sarah is the President and Chief Marketing Officer at Salesforce. In her previous role as EVP and GM of Platform and AppExchange, Sarah led Salesforce’s developer initiatives with a focus on democratizing technology. She is passionate about empowering everyone to pursue successful careers in technology and bridging the skills and equality gaps by making technology accessible to all. Throughout her career, Sarah was often one of the only women on her team. Witnessing the incredible inequality of women and minorities in STEM careers firsthand inspired her to help spark the Trailblazer movement by launching Trailhead, Salesforce’s gamified online learning platform. With Trailhead, she has seen people transform their careers from hairdressers, salsa dance instructors, and factory workers to successful technologists. She is proud to work with the best and the brightest to change the face of the technology industry. Sarah’s career has spanned large enterprises to scrappy startups. She specializes in bringing emerging technologies and trends to market and has a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen. She is proud to have worked at Salesforce for 10 years now. Sarah holds a dual degree in chemical engineering and biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

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Hiya Board Mike McSherry

Mike McSherry

Board Director

Mike brings twenty years of experience focused on mobile networks and technology to Hiya. Today, Mike serves as CEO of Xealth, a digital prescribing and analytics platform integrated into healthcare electronic medical records (EMRs). Prior to Xealth, he was CEO of Swype, an innovative touchscreen keyboard installed on over one billion smartphones and tablets, which he sold to Nuance in 2011. He also co-founded Zivo, the largest web development company in Australia and New Zealand, and was co-founder and head of product for Boost Mobile both in the US and Australia. He has also held several different product roles at Microsoft. Mike received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Business from William & Mary college in Virginia.

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Hiya Board Mike McSherry

Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen

Board Director

After executive leadership roles covering mobile in the early days of Dropbox and Uber, Lars adds unique value as an investor in Hiya. At Uber, where he was Vice President Mobile, he fueled the company’s rapid growth through strategic alliances with global telcos, including Verizon and Carlos Slim's América Movil group. As Head of Mobile at Dropbox, where he was one of the firm's first 25 employees, his business development deals with Samsung and others helped the file-sharing company reach its first 100M users. At WhatsApp, Lars was advisor to the business team on non-organic growth and distribution, until the messaging app's acquisition by Facebook in 2014. Lars holds an MBA from London Business School, an MSc from Oxford University and a BSc from Kings College London.

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