CoLab Adds Experienced Growth-Stage CFO Jake Kornreich to Executive Team

National Post

4 days ago

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Former Own Company CFO brings deep experience scaling SaaS businesses and leading through $2.2B acquisition
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ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador — CoLab, the company building the AI operating system for hardware product development, today announced that Jake Kornreich has joined as Chief Financial Officer. CoLab's platform helps engineering organizations capture expert design feedback, centralize technical knowledge, and apply AI to accelerate product decisions. Kornreich brings a decade of leadership experience in high-growth B2B SaaS businesses, most recently serving as CFO of Own Company (formerly OwnBackup), which was acquired by Salesforce in 2024.
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At CoLab, Kornreich will be responsible for leading the company's finance function and driving a disciplined, data-driven approach to operational planning, forecasting, and execution. As CFO, he'll focus on scaling financial systems and processes, optimizing investments, and equipping leadership with the metrics and insights needed to make better, faster business decisions. He'll also play a key role in investor and board communication as CoLab enters its next stage of growth.
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'This is an incredibly exciting time for the business. Momentum is building as the market is validating the power of CoLab's products, with more and more of the world's largest companies choosing CoLab to modernize their design processes. Even more compelling is the release of AutoReview, which brings practical AI use cases to an incredibly complex process, augmenting design teams and accelerating their pace of innovation. It was clear from my first meeting with Adam that CoLab's vision goes well beyond their original idea, and that this is a world-class team that's laser focused on turning that vision into reality,' said Kornreich.
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Kornreich joined Own Company in 2019 and played a pivotal role in scaling the business through a period of rapid growth. During his tenure, he led efforts to raise several hundred million dollars in capital, completed multiple acquisitions, launched IPO readiness initiatives, and oversaw Own's expansion to more than 900 employees across seven countries. In addition to core finance and accounting responsibilities, Kornreich built and led teams across corporate development, tax, treasury, investor relations, HR, and business intelligence. He previously served as Chief of Staff to the CEO and held interim executive roles across the business.
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'Jake's track record speaks for itself—he has helped scale a high-growth SaaS company through every stage, all the way to a successful acquisition by Salesforce,' said Adam Keating, CoLab Co-founder and CEO. 'What really stood out is the breadth of his experience. Beyond finance, he has led HR, business intelligence, investor relations, and other key functions. That kind of cross-functional perspective is exactly what we need as we grow. Jake brings strategic insight, operational discipline, and a deep understanding of how to build a business the right way.'
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Prior to Own, Kornreich held strategy and finance roles at Homepolish and began his career in financial services with J.P. Morgan, Freeman & Co., and Morgan Stanley. He holds a B.S. from Cornell University and lives in New York City with his wife and three children. He joins CoLab part-time in July and will transition to full-time CFO in September.
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CoLab is the Design Engagement System used by engineering leaders at companies like Johnson Controls, Schaeffler, and GE Appliances to run faster, more effective design reviews. With the release of Autoreview, engineering teams can use AI to automatically check drawings and 3D models for errors, non-conformance with standards and guidelines, and DFM optimizations.
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