Rapid7 eyes expansion with new EMEA chief

Former Kaseya global vice president Alexander Draaijer appointed to drive growth in the region

Rapid7 is on a mission to grow in EMEA and has poached a top Kaseya exec to spearhead its plans.

Alexander Draaijer (pictured) has taken on the position of regional vice president EMEA to oversee its expansion across the region as the firm moves into a new HQ near the World Trade Centre in Amsterdam.

He had previously spent 14 years in the industry, most recently as vice president of global sales at Kaseya.

Rapid7 originally launched in the UK in 2011 and was billed as one of the fastest-growing security vendors, having enjoyed eight consecutive quarters of growth. Since its launch, the firm revealed it has signed 126 new customers and 11 reseller agreements.

In a statement, Draaijer said: "Cybercrime is on the rise, and with so much hype and scaremongering going on, it can be hard for organisations to assess the risk to their business. Rapid7 simplifies this challenge, helping our customers identify their vulnerabilities and understand the context around them, so they can prioritise remediation and mitigation efforts.

"We are excited to build out this offering to help EMEA organisations. This is part of our global expansion – which also includes new offices in Asia-Pacific and the US – and is another step in executing on the vision we laid out for the company when we secured our last round of funding.”

Also joining the company is security researcher and malware expert Claudio Guarnieri, and Armand Sieben, strategic alliances and channel manager for Europe and Africa.