April 2, 2019, NEW YORK, NY Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: APRN) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Linda Findley Kozlowski as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors, effective as of April 8, 2019. Kozlowski brings a proven record of success at innovative, consumer-focused companies, having most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Etsy, Inc. and prior to that as COO of Evernote Corporation. Brad Dickerson, who joined Blue Apron as Chief Financial Officer in February 2016 and was appointed as President, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors in November 2017, has decided to resign in order to pursue new opportunities. Following Kozlowski’s appointment, he will serve as an advisor to the company for a period of time to assist with the transition.
“This is an exciting time to join Blue Apron,” said Kozlowski. “Over the past year, the company has made significant product, platform and operational advancements, and now has the right foundation for growth. I look forward to working closely with the team to focus on the best opportunities to attract and engage consumers and drive the business to new levels of performance.”
Kozlowski is a highly accomplished e-commerce and consumer-focused executive with 25 years of experience across product, sales, marketing, business development and operations. Most recently, she served as COO of Etsy, with responsibility for product, marketing and customer engagement and acquisition. In this position, Kozlowski helped realize a transformation that grew annual marketplace sales to more than $3.9 billion and revenue to over $600 million in fiscal year 2018. Prior to Etsy, Kozlowski served as COO of Evernote, where she oversaw worldwide operations, managed cross-functional teams across seven countries and led the successful launch of the company’s multi-tier pricing strategy to drive accelerated revenue. Before Evernote, she worked for Alibaba.com based out of Hong Kong, most recently as Director of Global Marketing and Customer Experience with responsibilities spanning multiple revenue-generating and customer-facing functions.
“We are incredibly excited to have an executive of Linda’s caliber as Blue Apron’s next CEO,” said Matt Salzberg, Chairman of Blue Apron’s Board of Directors. “Linda’s exceptional leadership and marketing expertise, as well as her understanding of Blue Apron customers as a long-time customer herself, will help her advance the company towards sustainable, profitable growth.”
Robert Goodman, Blue Apron’s lead independent director, added: “We congratulate Linda on her appointment and look forward to working with her to build upon the strong foundation for future growth that is now in place.”
In addition, Ilia Papas, Blue Apron’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, will be departing the company to pursue new opportunities. His last day with Blue Apron will be May 3, 2019. The company has a transition plan in place.
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Brad for his leadership, and for the progress the team has achieved in the past year, including in driving operational optimization, realizing meaningful margin expansion, and evolving the company’s product portfolio and channel strategy,” said Salzberg. “I’d also like to thank my co-founder Ilia for all of his contributions over the past 7 years, particularly in developing Blue Apron’s technology infrastructure and capabilities as our Chief Technology Officer. We wish both Brad and Ilia the best with their future pursuits.”
“Blue Apron has reached an important point in the company’s history, highlighted by a clear path towards adjusted EBITDA profitability and a sharpened focus on the strongest opportunities for the business, and the Board and I believe this is an appropriate time to transition to a new leader who can optimize for growth,” said Dickerson. “I am proud of the great things our team has accomplished and am confident that with Linda as CEO, Blue Apron will implement the appropriate strategies to create value for all of its stakeholders.”
Kozlowski serves on the Board of Directors and as a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the Ralph Lauren Corporation, in addition to serving on the Board of Directors of Styleseat, Inc., an online platform for beauty and wellness professionals, and Dress for Success, a not-for-profit organization focused on empowering women. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communications and Journalism from Elon College and a Master of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Based on its current view of the business, Blue Apron also reaffirms its prior guidance of a significant improvement in net loss and achieving profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis for the first quarter of 2019 and for full year 2019. Please refer to “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information” below for further discussion of the Company’s use of non-GAAP measures.
Blue Apron’s mission is to make incredible home cooking accessible to everyone. Launched in 2012, Blue Apron is reimagining the way that food is produced, distributed, and consumed, and as a result, building a better food system that benefits consumers, food producers, and the planet. The company has developed an integrated ecosystem that enables the company to work in a direct, coordinated manner with farmers and artisans to deliver high-quality products to customers nationwide at compelling values.
This press release has been condensed. View the full press release here.
