Movista co-founder Seggebruch leaves for ‘the next chapter’

April Seggebruch, a co-founder and COO of Bentonville software firm Movista, has left the company.

Seggebruch said her final day in an active role was Dec. 31, wrapping up a transition out of the business that’s been planned for more than two years.

“It was a tough decision, but it’s one wrapped in excitement,” she said. “I grew up at Movista. It’s the bulk of my professional career. Everything I’ve been able to accomplish has been rooted in Movista. But it’s time to start the next thing, and I’m excited about the next chapter.”

Originally from Cissna Park, Ill., Seggebruch was recruited to play basketball at the University of Arkansas and graduated cum laude in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Sam M. Walton College of Business. She completed an MBA from the UA in finance and entrepreneurship in 2008.

While in graduate school, Seggebruch and classmate Stan Zylowski developed the business plan that would become Movista, whose cloud-based software allows companies to manage their distributed workforces via smart devices.

Seggebruch and Zylowski left full-time jobs in 2010 — when there weren’t many tech startups in the region — to launch Movista. It’s grown from a two-person startup to more than a hundred employees across North America. Movista also picked up $12 million in Series A funding in 2018 from Level Equity, a New York-based growth equity fund. That same year, the company acquired its most significant rival, Natural Insight, and devoted most of 2020 to integrating the two platforms.

Like other retailers and suppliers, Walmart Inc. is a longtime Movista client.

“April will always be a founder,” said Zylowski, Movista’s CEO. “She will always be a key reason we held together through myriad tech challenges, financing rounds, growth pains, acquisitions, recessions and even a pandemic. She worked tirelessly toward success, built an amazing team of dedicated folks and was always able to handle the most demanding situations with poise.

“She is in the DNA of our company.”

Zylowski said Seggebruch is missed around the Movista offices but acknowledged that it’s unrealistic for her to remain in the same spot forever.

“When we started Movista, April was in her mid-twenties,” he said. “She has grown so much professionally and personally. She did an amazing job onboarding our CFO, then a CPO and a CTO as she worked her exit plan, so we are well-staffed to win. We all remain close to her and can’t wait to see what she does next.”

Seggebruch, 39, said she’s nowhere near done in Northwest Arkansas. She is involved and invested in the region with other hospitality and real estate ventures — some of them with Zylowski — and that’s what she will focus on initially.

“I’m going to take some time to double down on some investments we’ve made over the past few years,” she said. “Focus on taking those from good, maybe great, to exceptional. Then jump full-time into what’s next. I’m not ready to share those details, but I’ll have some more news in the next couple of months.”

Zylowski said that whatever Seggebruch is planning, he expects it to be a great success.

“I’ve often said that if one is looking for somebody to talk about something, that’s me. If one is looking for someone to do something, that would be April,” he joked. “She is the single-most determined, resourceful, tenacious, committed person I’ve known. There is simply no stopping her.”