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The Azira Team

3 mins read

A Message from Azira’s Board of Directors to our Customers and Partners

We are writing on behalf of Near’s Board of Directors to provide insight into recent developments and assure you of our belief in and commitment to the stability and future of the company. As you may be aware, we have proactively undertaken a series of actions to position the company for growth, including appointing Gladys Kong as interim CEO and John Faieta as interim CFO (see below for bios) as part of recent changes to the board and the executive team.

Near and its employees remain devoted to providing best-in-class consumer behavior data to customers and partners. To accomplish this, the team is focused on harnessing new AI and machine learning capabilities, while taking affirmative steps to become the most privacy-safe data intelligence platform on the market. Our support for the team at Near remains stronger than ever, as we believe the right leadership is now in place to drive the company forward to a brighter future, primed for growth.

The Board has absolute confidence in the company’s current leadership team and its ability to continuously improve Near’s offerings – and your business outcomes. Near remains a trusted independent provider of aggregated, anonymized data on people and places, with marquee enterprise customers across multiple industries and a track record of success that’s longer than any other company in the market.

At a glance, Near’s metrics remain positive with:

  • 10+ year operational history
  • 10 granted Global Patents
  • One of the world’s largest sources of data intelligence, with 1.6B unique user IDs, and 70M points of interest, across more than 44 countries
  • Hundreds of customers and partners around the world

We extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support, and are happy to discuss any questions or concerns.

The Near Board of Directors

Gladys Kong’s Bio:

Ms. Kong has served as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary of the Company since March 2023. Ms. Kong joined the Company’s predecessor (“Legacy Near”) in April 2021 in connection with Legacy Near’s acquisition of UberMedia, where she served as Chief Executive Officer from September 2015 to April 2021 and Chief Technology Officer from 2012 to 2017. Ms. Kong served as Chief Executive Officer of Near North America from April 2021 to November 2021 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Legacy Near in November 2021. Prior to 2012, Ms. Kong was Chief Executive Officer of GoInteractive, Inc., a company she founded. Before that, Ms. Kong held senior positions at Idealab and its operating companies since joining in 1999. She is currently on the board of directors for Stellar Lago, a customer cloud platform for the Sports and Live Audience industries, and also serves on the board of trustees for Yo San University, a nonprofit organization that educates students to become exceptional practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Taoist healing arts. Ms. Kong holds a B.S. degree in Engineering and Applied Science from California Institute of Technology and an M.S. degree in Computer Science from UCLA.

John Faieta’s Bio:

Mr. Faieta brings more than 20 years of experience in financial planning and operational finance and has a track record of driving growth and building high-performance finance teams. Mr. Faieta joined Legacy Near in April 2021 as the Controller, with a focus on operations in North America. Mr. Faieta formerly served as the Chief Financial Officer of UberMedia from 2015 until it was acquired by Legacy Near in April 2021. Prior to joining UberMedia as Controller in 2011, Mr. Faieta served as Controller for eSolar, a developer of concentrated solar power projects around the globe. He worked in that capacity from 2008 to 2011, where he was responsible for all accounting, internal controls, cash management, financial reporting and analysis, insurance, and audit. Mr. Faieta holds a B.A. degree in Economics from California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, an MBA from Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management, and is a licensed CPA.