Gootee tapped to lead TechPoint
INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Indianapolis-based TechPoint has selected Ting Gootee as its next president and chief executive officer. Gootee currently serves as chief investment officer for Elevate Ventures in Indy and succeeds Mike Langellier, who in January announced plans to step down after nine years leading the organization. TechPoint is the tech sector initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Gootee said she looks to build upon TechPoint’s existing relationships with stakeholders in the public and private sectors.
“I have been working with startups and venture capital [firms] for a long time,” she said. “It’s been very rewarding in its own way, and this an opportunity to build upon that knowledge base and grow into other innovation-driven areas through opportunities to work with stakeholders in a very expanded role. That’s very exciting and I think I’m ready for this new challenge.”
Gootee joined Elevate Ventures as a key founding executive in 2011 and has served as CIO since 2014. TechPoint says she has led investment decisions in more than 500 Indiana startups in the past 11 years for Elevate.
She says her initial plan is to hit the ground running to further TechPoint’s work in talent development, thought leadership and stakeholder advocacy.
“It will be very important for me to spend the first few weeks in active listening to the TechPoint/CICP members, to the board and to the broader community,” she said. “There’s no question on the potential growth opportunities as our tech community has experienced the last decade or so, and now the tech enablement has been proliferating across various sectors. The goal is to drive not only feasible growth strategies, but also strategies that most of the stakeholders can get behind for the long term.”
Gootee was chosen to lead TechPoint after a national search conducted by a CICP committee led by Board Chair and Cummins Chief Digital Officer Sherry Aaholm.
“Indiana’s tech sector is at an important inflection point as it prepares to address momentous challenges with regard to talent and the need to continue to encourage new startups and attract investment for them and for scale-ups on the rise while also nurturing the enterprise tech and tech-enabled companies that together comprise our tech ecosystem,” Aaholm said in written remarks. “There are a lot of competing parts and challenges, and we couldn’t see anyone more perfectly suited to step into this role and continue the impressive work Mike and his team have done.”
Gootee will begin her new role May 2.