SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CallFire, the cloud-based text and voice platform that enables businesses to reach customers directly, today announced that Charles Hilliard has been named to its board of directors. Hilliard, the former president and CFO of Demand Media, advisor to industry storage leader DropBox, and CFO of United Online and NetZero, brings to CallFire 25 years of strategic planning, operating and financial management experience, including leading two venture-backed Internet start-ups through $1 billion+ IPOs.

"Charles is one of the most insightful business operators in technology today, and I am excited to be working side by side with him again," said Ron Burr, CEO of CallFire. "He brings a fresh perspective to CallFire, and has an exceptional track record of shepherding Internet startups through immense growth periods."

Hilliard, a former investment banker, has been involved with the successful execution of over $30 billion of financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions. Companies that Hilliard has worked with include Time Warner, Disney, Coca-Cola, Harrah's Entertainment, Digital Equipment Corp, Times Mirror and Office Depot.

"I've known the founders of CallFire for some time and have a lot of faith in the company's vision and leadership," said Hilliard. "The team has made great strides at the forefront of a rapidly expanding market and I'm looking forward to helping scale operations as they move into the next phase of the business."

Prior to CallFire, Hilliard was the President and CFO of Demand Media, managing over 100 employees and all aspects of accounting, finance, legal and IT operations. During his tenure, the company tripled annual revenue to over $350 million, closed several strategic acquisitions, raised $135 million in private growth equity and, in January 2011, raised $174 million in the first US Internet IPO to achieve a market capitalization of over $1 billion since Google.

About CallFire:
CallFire is a Text and Voice platform that helps businesses reach customers, drive revenue and increase sales. We make telephone messaging simple. CallFire products include Business Text Messaging, Voice Broadcast, Toll Free Numbers, Local Phone Numbers, Call Tracking, IVR, Power Dialing for agents and more. Call analytics enable our 200,000 users to reach customers more often using text marketing, virtual numbers, autodialers and mobile messaging. To learn more about how to Grow your Business, visit http://www.CallFire.com.

SOURCE CallFire