Planet, a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, today announced that Niccolo de Masi, Director of dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV, will be joining Planet’s Board of Directors once it becomes a public company. Earlier this year, Planet entered into a definitive merger agreement with dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV (NYSE:DMYQ), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), to become a publicly-traded company. The addition of Mr. de Masi provides another accomplished expert to Planet’s board to help it grow after going public under the ticker PL on the New York Stock Exchange, and rounds out Planet’s planned board for its transition to a public company.
Mr. de Masi will be joining recent additions Ita Brennan (CFO, Arista Networks) and Vijaya Gadde (Chief Legal Officer, Twitter). These three executives join Planet’s four continuing board members Carl Bass (former CEO, Autodesk), Heidi Roizen (Partner, Threshold Ventures); and Planet’s founders Will Marshall and Robbie Schingler, in providing extensive expertise across technology, operations, and public markets at this important time in Planet’s history.
In his career, Niccolo de Masi has completed over 25 mergers and acquisitions and served on the boards of nine public companies. He currently serves on the boards of three companies that also went public with SPACs in the dMY Technology Group, including Rush Street Interactive, Genius Sports Group, and the public quantum computing company IonQ . His wealth of experience in taking companies public will be a vital asset to Planet in its next critical stages. With deep knowledge of Planet’s product potential, Mr. de Masi will provide invaluable insight as the company becomes a leading data-as-a-service provider for earth observation data.
“Niccolo has an exceptional talent for taking companies public and we have learned a great deal working closely with him over the past year. Niccolo immediately saw Planet for its full value as a data subscription business with a large market and huge implications in sustainability. With Ita, Vijaya, and now Niccolo joining Carl, Heidi, Robbie, and me, our board will have the capabilities and experience needed for a public company,” said Planet CEO and co-founder Will Marshall.
Mr. de Masi brings a vast array of skills and knowledge to the Planet Board with a proven track record in deep tech and mobile products. Further, he has extensive expertise in creating software-hardware ecosystems, which will be extremely valuable as Planet dramatically scales its user-friendly Earth data platform and advances its satellite technology in the coming years. With the finalization of their SPAC process, Planet will garner the resources necessary to further accelerate their operational growth and provide vital datasets for the global economic transformation.
“I believe in Planet’s ability to not just change the space industry, but change how all of our economies account for resources, goods, and services across the globe. By going public, Planet is going to have the ability to reach its full potential, providing critical earth insights, automated change detection, and unparalleled amounts of Big Earth data to the world. I am thrilled to be a part of this team,” said Niccolo de Masi.
Mr. de Masi received his B.A. and M.Sci degrees in physics from Cambridge University and has held prominent leadership roles at a number of mobile companies including Glu Mobile, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLUU) (“Glu”) and Essential Products, Inc. He served more than 10 years with Glu, a leading developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones. As the previous CEO and current Chairman of the Board of Glu, he has been instrumental in developing the company’s freemium gaming model and initiating some of the world’s first mobile virtual and augmented reality experiences. Prior to Glu, he served as the President and CEO of Hands-On Mobile, CEO of Monstermob Group PLC (formerly LSE: MOB), and held Board memberships on Xura, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: MESG) and Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI).
About Planet
Planet is the leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven by a mission to image the world every day, and make change visible, accessible and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest earth observation fleet of imaging satellites, capturing and compiling data from over 3 million images per day. Planet provides mission-critical data, advanced insights, and software solutions to over 700 customers, including the world’s leading agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education and finance companies and government agencies, enabling users to simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery. To learn more visit www.planet.com and follow us on Twitter at @planet.
