text: Julian Kyula to step down as CEO of MODE - MODE
  HomepageMedia & AwardsNewsJulian Kyula to step down as CEO of MODE
  12 March 2018, Nairobi, Kenya – The Board of Directors of MODE announced that Julian Kyula, the Chief Executive Officer and one of the Founders of MODE, has taken a decision to step down from his role at the Company.
  Since 2010, Julian led MODE through a period of tremendous growth, during which MODE evolved from a start-up company in Kenya to a leading global provider of airtime credit. The Company will be led by the existing management team headed by Shatse Kakwagh, Chief Operations Officer and Costa Tripodis, Chief Financial Officer as co-CEOs.
  Shatse Kakwagh, the current Chief Operations Officer joined MODE in 2016 and has 16 years of experience in the Telecommunications industry. He has managed significant telecoms operations and big multi-country change programs.
  Costa Tripodis has been Chief Finance Officer at MODE for over 2 years. He has nearly 30 years of industry and advisory experience in Corporate Finance, strategy and operations improvement, IPO's, M&A and capital raising across a wide range of sectors.
  The current Chairman of the Board Christopher Baxter, commented: "We thank Julian for his vision and leadership throughout the years and wish him success in all future endeavours. Under his leadership the Company has grown to become one of the largest providers of airtime credit in the world, completing over 1.8bn transactions and lending over USD 800m in 2017. We look forward to expanding the business further under the guidance of Shatse, Costa and the rest of the management team, with the support of Novator."
  Commenting on the announcement, Costa and Shatse said "we are very excited by the opportunity to take MODE to the next stage in its development, with the support of Novator, as the new majority shareholder, following its recent investment in MODE."
  About Novator:
  Novator is an investment firm founded and led by the Icelandic businessman Thor Bjorgolfsson, and is headquartered in London. Its principal focus lies in the telecommunication and generic pharmaceuticals sectors, with other investments in the technology and fintech space, which include Aasa Global, Big Data Scoring, Machine Zone and Zwift.