Tom Carter appointed as Ultraleap CEO; Steve Cliffe to retire
Posted; August 25, 2021
25 August 2021 – Ultraleap announced today that Steve Cliffe, CEO, has decided to step down and will be succeeded on Wednesday 1st September by Dr. Tom Carter, who founded the company in 2013 and has since been the company’s CTO.
Cliffe has led Ultraleap as CEO since the founding. During his tenure, he grew the company to a global team of over 150 people, oversaw multiple successful funding rounds, international expansion and the acquisition of Leap Motion Inc. Cliffe has decided to retire to spend more time with his family but is staying on as a Special Advisor to continue to support Tom Carter and the leadership team.
"It has been an honour and a privilege to lead Ultraleap as CEO for the past eight years, and I am very pleased with the success we have achieved” said Cliffe. "I have worked closely with Tom since he brought me onboard as CEO in 2013. This is the right time for him to step into the CEO role and I am confident that under his leadership, Ultraleap will continue to grow and prosper. The decision to step aside was one of the most difficult of my career, but it is the right time for me to spend more time with my wife and family. I look forward to continue supporting Tom and the Ultraleap team in an advisory capacity” said Cliffe.
"I am excited to serve as Ultraleap’s next CEO," said Carter. "I want to thank Steve for his outstanding leadership and mentorship. Having had the privilege of working closely with Steve over the past eight years, I have learned a tremendous amount from him and am pleased that I will continue to benefit from his guidance moving forward. Above all, I am excited to be leading an incredible team. The opportunity ahead for Ultraleap is vast, and over the coming years we will accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers around the world.
Carter added, "Ultraleap has a unique proposition: we are the leader in hand tracking technology, and we have the world’s only mid-air haptics technology. Recent design wins and product launches with Qualcomm, Varjo and other industry leaders demonstrate that our solutions are now rapidly being adopted in augmented and virtual reality. We also have world leading offerings in touchless technology for self-service kiosks and automotive HMI, which are both well established and global growth markets. As the world continues to face significant change, I am inspired by Ultraleap’s opportunity to power the user interfaces of the future.”
Mike Tobin, Chairman of the Ultraleap Board, commented: “Steve has been absolutely instrumental in making Ultraleap the great company it is today. He has built a great team and culture, he has overseen Ultraleap’s expansion into the US and Asia and the acquisition of Leap Motion which enhanced the company’s IP portfolio and product offering significantly.
“The board has been preparing for this handover for some time, most recently by doing an extensive succession planning exercise at the beginning of this year. The timing is right because the company is well financed, the leadership team is ready, and the technology is now proven and ready to scale rapidly. I am very pleased to see Tom now take on the CEO role. As a founder with both deep technical expertise and extensive entrepreneurial experience, he is the ideal leader to build on Steve’s great work and take the company to the next level. I’d like to thank Steve personally, and on behalf of the Board, for his contribution to Ultraleap. We wish him all the best and look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.”
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About Ultraleap
Ultraleap’s world-leading hand tracking and unrivalled mid-air haptic technologies allow you to engage with the digital world naturally - without touching surfaces. No touchscreens. No controllers. No keypads. From enhancing 2D screens to developing fully immersive 3D experiences, Ultraleap powers natural, safe and effortless digital interaction in the increasingly connected world.
Ultraleap employs more than 150 people across Europe, North America and Asia. It has become the first to offer the full vertical stack of software and hardware to enable spatial computing for the automotive, out of home, industrial, XR, entertainment and medical sectors.
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Tessa Urlwin
Ultraleap
+44 (0)7741 851 070
tessa.urlwin@ultraleap.com