Mobeam names new CEO, EVP

New Mobeam CEO George Garrick, left, and EVP retail and consumer solutions Joseph Battoe. 

PALO ALTO, Calif. — E-commerce technology company Mobeam has appointed George Garrick as president and CEO, and Joseph Battoe as EVP retail and consumer solutions.

Founded in 2010, Mobeam uses patented light- and audio-based beaming technology that enables sale scanners to reading barcodes from smartphones. Unlike other mobile payment apps, Mobeam communicates with the credit card payment terminal, instead of the scanner. The company currently operates with more than 200 million Samsung phones 

“Mobile payment apps are the hottest area in mobile today with billions being invested to allow smartphones to pay at retail in place of cash, plastic cards and paper,” Garrick said. “You have SamsungPay, ApplePay, GooglePay in the US, and then Alipay, Wechat, and BaiduPay in Asia, just to mention the major ones. But with all due respect, every one of these apps is incomplete because they cannot replace bar-coded gift cards or coupons, which represent $20 billion in transactions annually for retailers.”

Specializing in growth-stage companies and turnarounds, Garrick brings CEO experience from Flycast and Shopzilla, among other companies.

Battoe joins Mobeam fromDS-IQ, where he served as senior vice president of corporate development. He previously served for 12 years as CEO of Concept Shopping Inc. and division president of IRI.