smaXtec has appointed Charlie Sheppy as its new CEO, succeeding Stefan Scherer, who will transition to a Non-Executive Director role on the board. The company also added Hein Schumacher to its board as Non-Executive Director, strengthening its leadership team.
Photo: smaXtec
smaXtec, a company focusing on advanced dairy cow health monitoring, has announced new leadership appointments as the company continues its global expansion in the United States, Europe and New Zealand.
At a time of significant momentum for smaXtec, the company has appointed Charlie Sheppy as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to further drive its global growth and innovation agenda, effective immediately. Sheppy is an experienced animal health executive with more than 25 years in the animal nutrition and livestock technology industries, most recently a member of the Global Marketing & Technology Solutions leadership team at MSD Animal Health, a division of MSD (also known as Merck & Co.).
Charlie Sheppy succeeds Stefan Scherer, CEO of smaXtec since 2020 and the architect of the company’s initial dynamic growth phase, who will execute his planned transition to the smaXtec Board as a Non-Executive Director. In this new role, Scherer will continue to contribute strategically to smaXtec’s long-term growth and innovation roadmap.
smaXtec also unveiled the appointment of Hein Schumacher, former CEO of Unilever and FrieslandCampina, to the company’s Board as a Non-Executive Director. With these additions, smaXtec is expanding its management team and Board with world-class expertise across finance, strategy, dairy technology, and global business leadership.
Stefan Scherer, Non-Executive Director and outgoing CEO, remarked,“I am excited to hand over the CEO position to Charlie after six very successful years of growth. smaXtec has become the leading global dairy health management system, and I’m fully committed to supporting the company’s continued success from my new board role. Under Charlie’s leadership, the outstanding team at smaXtec is ready to write a bold next chapter of innovation and continuing to deliver for our customers. I want to thank our team all of the great achievements so far. More to come!”
Charlie Sheppy, incoming CEO, stated, “I am hugely excited to join smaXtec at this moment of great opportunity and to lead this talented team in continuing to build on the impressive growth they have delivered under Stefan’s leadership. Livestock farming, particularly the dairy industry, is undergoing a technological revolution and few companies are as uniquely positioned as smaXtec to make a genuine and lasting impact on both animal wellbeing and farm efficiency.”
Hein Schumacher, newly appointed Board Member, commented, “I am pleased to be part of the exciting smaXtec journey. Animal health is a pre-requisite for any farmer to run a successful operation, the SmaXtec solutions contribute significantly to this goal. I am looking forward to contribute to the global growth of the company.”
Marta Szczerba, Board Member and a Director on KKR’s Tech Growth team, noted, “On behalf of the board, I want to thank Stefan for his significant contributions to the company, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role. What Stefan has achieved is truly remarkable, leading to smaXtec’s position today as the benchmark in dairy health monitoring technology. We are also thrilled to welcome Charlie Sheppy as the new CEO to lead smaXtec’s next phase of growth and Hein Schumacher as a Non-Executive Director. Their deep expertise and track-record in the dairy industry is a testament to smaXtec’s great momentum and will support the company’s further expansion.”
