Jax-based tech firm relocates HQ to Philadelphia (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — On the heels of a rebrand and the appointment of a new CEO, a 1,500-person technology consulting firm has relocated its headquarters back to Pennsylvania after calling Jacksonville home for the past five years.
In February, Bridgenext, formerly Emtec, named John Castleman its CEO and moved its headquarters back to the Philadelphia area where both the company and Castleman have roots. Bridgenext took a 5,000-square-foot lease at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania which is now home to 10 to 15 of its employees. That includes C-suite level executives like Castleman, as well as the chief revenue officer, chief human resources officer and head of marketing, who all have ties to the area.
The move marks a homecoming of sorts for the company which was founded in 2001in Radnor, Pennsylvania, where it was based until 2019 when it relocated to Jacksonville. The move comes under the leadership of Castleman, who succeeded Sunil Misra, the company’s CEO for 15 years who has since taken on the role of board chair.
Castleman is entrenched in the tech scene in Philadelphia, having already made two exits totaling some $230 million. The Princeton University graduate got his start locally with Radnor-based Safeguard Scientifics and later served as CEO of Conshohocken-based portfolio company Alliance Global Services. Under his leadership, Alliance Global Services grew to about 1,200 people and was acquired by Newtown-based EPAM in 2015 for $50 million.
Less than a year later, Castleman was named CEO of New Spring Capital-backed Mobiquity. In 2019, the 650-employee Massachusetts-based Mobiquity was acquired by India-based Hexaware Technologies for $182 million. Castleman guided Mobiquity through the Covid-19 pandemic before stepping away, ultimately joining New York-based private equity firm Kelso and Co.
In the fall of 2022, Kelso and Co. bought Emtec at which point Castleman became the company’s executive chairman.
Bridgenext has offices across five states in the U.S., plus outposts in Canada and India.
The relocation of its headquarters and new CEO are part of a string of changes for Bridgenext, which works with a range of clients to help consult on their digital roadmap. It counts Zillow, UPS and the American Heart Association among its clients.