After a 19-year career at e-commerce giant Amazon, Laura Orvidas has started a new venture as the CEO role at OnXmaps, Inc., provider of the Onx Hunt mobile app and a leader in mobile mapping technology for outdoor adventurers.
Orvidas joins the Onx team following her career at Amazon, where she served as vice president of consumer electronics. She brings extensive experience in fields ranging from finance to operations to e-commerce.
“Laura’s expertise in growing leaders, attracting talent and creating a people-focused growth culture was far beyond what we could have hoped for,” said Eric Siegfried, founder of Onx. “We are truly blessed to have Laura as our CEO to lead us through our next phase of growth while remaining focused, first and foremost, on our customers.”
Orvidas most recently managed Amazon’s U.S. consumer electronics business, global private brand business and a global technology team centered on innovation and feature development. She also served on a global leadership team focused on combining science, data and technology to increase productivity and lead senior leadership training. With Onx, Orvidas saw a chance to apply her expertise to a new field.
“The more I learned about Onx, its investors and its leaders, the more excited I became about this opportunity,” said Orvidas. “Onx is in a growth stage and has a highly passionate customer base. I see a lot of blue sky ahead for the future of Onx.”
Founded in 2009, Onx has grown rapidly from a one-person start-up to a staff of almost 100 people. The company received $20.3 million of Series A venture capital investment in February 2018, co-led by Boston-based Summit Partners and Silicon Valley-based Bessemer Venture Partners. That marked the first round of funding from outside investors for Onx. The funding will help the company grow its teams in its Missoula and Bozeman offices, as well as develop an increased product line in the years to come.
The company’s maps encompass 985 million acres of public land and more than 121 million private properties. Hunters and outdoorsmen are able to use their mobile phones as a GPS, tracking their movements, delving through different topographic maps with unique applications for hunting, fishing, hiking and more. Those maps are accessible via a membership or can be used on a traditional GPS device with a purchased, pre-loaded chip.
Eric Siegfried will remain onboard as founder, continuing work to enhance the off-pavement location experience, as well as leading advocacy efforts for public lands and access.
