Verdicchio (pictured) joins the Vancouver-headquartered firm from fintech company Hyperwallet, where she was senior manager, IT security and compliance. She specialises in governance, risk, and compliance with a focus on data protection and audits, including SOC 2, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001.

In her new role, Verdicchio will lead security, compliance and privacy for Rival’s insight platform.

Brands can use the research platform to gain insight on consumers through SMS, social media and messaging apps. 

Andrew Reid, chief executive and founder of Rival Technologies, said: "Venetia’s impressive experience at Hyperwallet and PayPal will be incredibly valuable as we accelerate scaling our platform, add more innovative features, and bring in more clients and partners."

Verdicchio’s appointment follows a number of new hires in the company's product engineering, sales and customer success teams in Vancouver and Toronto.