Palo Alto, CA – NEXT Insurance recently announced the appointment of IPO veteran Teodora Gouneva as the company’s Chief Financial Officer, following another year of significant growth, innovation and business momentum. She steps into the role previously held by Michelle Cheung, who will now serve as NEXT’s first Chief Corporate Officer and will lead the company’s legal, people and operations functions. As CFO, Gouneva will drive the company’s financial operations and continue to scale its performance and management processes to further equip the company for sustainable growth.
“I’m very excited to join the dedicated team at NEXT who truly cares about helping unlock the potential of entrepreneurs and small businesses everywhere, and I’m looking forward to building on the company’s achievements in 2022 and beyond,” Gouneva said. “I am passionate about how technology and innovation can improve and advance age-old industries that people rely on everyday. NEXT’s mission to transform small business insurance for the good of their customers aligns incredibly well with my interests and expertise,” Gouneva said.
Gouneva brings over 20 years of experience working in finance at major investment banks and hypergrowth technology companies, including PayPal and Airbnb where she supported their successful IPOs. She also has extensive acumen in M&A, equity and debt financing, international expansion and new product launches. As the VP of Finance at Airbnb, she built the business finance function and created performance and financial management processes needed to enable growth as a public company. Prior to Airbnb, she spent over 15 years at PayPal in various finance leadership roles, including CFO of acquired companies Venmo and Braintree.
“We are thrilled to have Teodora join NEXT and her appointment marks a significant step in our journey towards scaling our business and becoming the number one insurance provider in the U.S. for small businesses,” said Guy Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of NEXT. “2021 was another incredible year at NEXT, and I could not be more proud of our team for making such significant and bold strides to support our mission to help entrepreneurs thrive. In 2022 we are determined to continue providing affordable, customized and accessible insurance coverage for our customers.”
Source: PRNewswire