UpLift Appoints former Cisco Executive Rob Soderbery as Company’s First President

UpLift today announced it has appointed former Cisco Enterprise SVP/GM Rob Soderbery to be its first President. Soderbery, an early investor and founding board member of the company, will be responsible for all business, engineering and operations functions at UpLift. The company also announced the appointment of Tom Botts as Chief Commercial Officer and Noha Carrington as Chief Capital Officer to build scale in go-to-market, and capital strategy and operations.

"Rob brings the operational skills and leadership scale to enable UpLift in our mission to make travel more accessible, affordable and rewarding for everyone," said UpLift Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Barth, "His experience managing the $20B enterprise product business at Cisco and deep understanding of enterprise needs is a perfect complement to our team of deep travel, financial and consumer expertise. With Tom's proven ability to create value in travel markets and Noha's global capital markets experience we are ready to serve the largest and most complex travel providers in the world."

Barth, who founded SideStep - acquired by Kayak in 2007, now one of 6 primary brands of Booking Holdings - and created the meta-search for travel category, founded UpLift in 2013 to change the way consumers are able to purchase travel. UpLift Pay Monthly has been adopted by top travel suppliers and is enabling those brands to drive conversion, enhance profitability and build loyalty with travelers. Uplift is live today on the vacation package sites of Universal Studios, American Airlines, JetBlue, Funjet, Spirit as well as United Vacations and Southwest Vacations.

"We set out to build the best digital lending platform for Point of Sale," said UpLift President Rob Soderbery. "With that platform, we are now focused on creating great experiences for travelers while driving conversion, revenue and ancillaries for our travel partners. I am excited to take an operating role at UpLift helping Brian and the team achieve their vision."

UpLift enables travel providers to offer low, fixed monthly payments to their travelers. Uplift is focused on responsible lending, security and privacy for both consumers and providers. UpLift offers are always simply and clearly presented enabling consumers to make responsible choices. UpLift is PCI Level 1 compliant, and never shares or sells partner or consumer data.

Rob Soderbery - President

Rob Soderbery brings more than 30 years of product, technology and general management experience, most recently at Cisco as SVP and General Manager of the Enterprise Segment, with responsibility over $20B in Cisco products. He is active as an investor and advisor to numerous startups. Prior to Cisco, he held executive roles at Symantec and Veritas Software. He holds a BSEE from Caltech and MSEE from Stanford University.

Tom Botts - Chief Commercial Officer

Tom Botts brings deep travel industry knowledge and experience to UpLift. Botts has held positions in hospitality, online travel agencies and airlines including mostly recent serving as SVP and CMO at Miraval Group, a KSL Capital Partners portfolio company acquired by Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. Earlier, Botts co-founded travel industry consulting practice Hudson Crossing where he served as Managing Partner. Botts also has senior management experience at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Hotwire.com, and Delta Air Lines. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, and is an active investor and advisor across the travel landscape.

Noha Carrington - Chief Capital Officer

Noha Carrington brings proven ability to work with the most demanding global equity and debt investors, with deep experience in capital markets in New York, California and the Pacific Rim. Most recently, as founder and Chief Investment Officer at Carrington Strategic Advisors she provided customized investment products for clients around the globe. Prior to her shift to the buy-side, she spent 15 years as a global equity derivative sales trader with senior roles at Goldman Sachs and Salomon Brothers. She started her career with roles at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.

Carrington received her BS Finance summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut and her M.B.A. cum laude in Finance from New York University Stern Business School. She serves on the Board of the University of Connecticut and is a member of both the Investment and Governance committees.

About Uplift

Uplift is a leading Buy Now, Pay Later solution that empowers people to get more out of life, one thoughtful purchase at a time. Serving the world's top enterprise-level travel and hospitality brands, Uplift's complete range of flexible payment options drive higher conversion and loyalty for partners while giving customers a simple, surprise-free way to pay overtime with no late fees or prepayment penalties. Uplift is currently available throughout the United States and Canada. Loans are issued by Uplift Inc., Uplift Canada Services ULC, CBW Bank, Member FDIC or Celtic Bank, Member FDIC. Uplift is a division of Upgrade, Inc., a leading fintech company that offers affordable and responsible credit. To learn more, visit www.uplift.com and www.upgrade.com.

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