Press Release
Forge Expands Leadership With Veteran Finance and Tech Leaders Adding New SVP of Tech and New Board Member
SAN FRANCISCO – The evolution of the private market ecosystem continues to evolve, and the demand for a suite of products, services, and expertise to satisfy the needs of companies, shareholders, investors, and institutions is constant. Forge is on the cutting-edge of that evolution and has made key additions to its senior leadership team and board of directors to support this demand.
Forge is proud to announce Marco Della Torre has joined the executive team as SVP of Technology and Asif Hiriji has joined Forge’s Board, adding more depth of expertise to the company’s already prestigious leadership. Both bring a wealth of financial technology experience to the team and will play critical roles in the growth and development of the company.
“It’s an exciting time to welcome Marco and Asiff — they bring incredible perspectives and experience to the Forge team,” said CEO of Forge, Kelly Rodriques. “We’re at a critical point as a company and as the industry continues to transform, we will require leaders like Marco, along with the expertise Asiff brings to expand Forge’s global footprint and to continue to meet the needs of stakeholders.”
New Executive Offers Extensive Expertise in Tech
As the SVP of Technology, Della Torre will lead product, design and engineering teams across the globe. Della Torre is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive who has built world-class technology teams and launched leading software platforms across the healthcare, sports, and automotive industries.
Prior to joining Forge, he served as CTO of Derive Systems, where he led the creation of their automotive technology platform and its rapid expansion. Della Torre was also the co-founder of Basis Science, a Norwest- and DCM-backed digital health platform startup, before selling the company to Intel Corporation. At Intel, he served in business development and lead technologist positions — launching product-driven partnerships with some of the world’s top brands, from Red Bull to the NBA and more.
“The incredible momentum already evident at this early stage of the private market makes this an extremely exciting time to be joining the team at Forge,” said Della Torre. “I look forward to bringing my experience to help further drive Forge’s leadership in this space.”
Digital Asset Leader Joins Board
Asiff Hirji joins the team as Forge’s newest board member. He is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Coinbase where he ran the company’s day-to-day activities, launching new products and ultimately scaling Coinbase over 40 times in volume and $1 billion in revenue. Hirji is an experienced private equity and venture capital investor and advisor, having held leadership roles at several top firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, TPG Capital, and TDAmeritrade to name a few.
“Forge has established itself as an innovator and a leader in the market,” said Hirji. “I am honored to be joining the Board of Directors and to work with Kelly and the team to further build on the company’s global momentum.”
In their new roles, Della Torre and Hirji will leverage their extensive backgrounds to drive momentum for Forge within the industry. They are poised to take Forge’s versatile customer and product portfolio and expand it even further to meet increased demand from investors, the private markets and the financial services sector.
This announcement builds on the company’s recent momentum. In November, Forge appointed the first chief revenue officer, Jose Cobos to lead growth initiatives across Forge’s expanding product and partner portfolio.