Springleap’s Eran Eyal removed as CEO of Shopin and replaced with interim head [Updated]

UPDATE: Shopin co-founders Jeremy Harkness and Divakar Rayapaty appear to have taken control of the company, after removing SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal as CEO and replacing him with an interim head. “Please have confidence that we have not stopped working and we will continue to forge ahead to bring the Shopin product to the market,” Harkness and Rayapaty said in a statement released today, on 5 September (see here).

Shopin, the US startup founded by SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal who faces fraud charges in the US, has removed the former Springleap founder from his position as CEO of the US company and replaced him with an interim head.

In a statement on Medium yesterday (3 September), the startup — which raised $42.5-million in an initial coin offering (ICO) concluded in September last year — announced that the company expects to “formalise a new leadership structure shortly” .

“Our management team is operating Shopin and we’re moving forward on our mission. While the recent news is upsetting to all of us, it has not changed our day to day operations,” said the statement. It is not clear who in the company authored the statement.

An earlier statement last Tuesday (28 August) by the startup, announced that the company had formed a special committee, hired outside counsel and had appointed Jennifer Haggerty as interim CEO (Ventureburn had earlier incorrectly reported that Shopin had not yet released a statement).

Springleap’s Eran Eyal removed as CEO of Shopin says US startup and replaced with interim head

Haggerty lists herself as the COO and CFO at AtPeakSports.com. On its website the company is described as a platform that provides medically-backed strength and conditioning exercises that are proven to reduce youth sports injuries.

On her LinkedIn profile she notes that she’s “managed startups, hyper growth and turnarounds, defined longer-term vision or strategy and led improvements in near-term financial operations processes, and thrived in executing over $1-billion in internal capital raises”.

Eyal (pictured above) was charged on 24 August with allegedly stealing $600,000 from investors by fraudulently soliciting investors to purchase convertible notes through false representations of his company, Springleap. If convicted of the top count charged, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Eyal has yet to make a statement or respond to questions from Ventureburn.

According to charges, between 2014 and 2015, Eyal allegedly attracted investors to Springleap through a series of false representations about Springleaps’s management team, advisory board, creative professionals and client base. The US District Attorney emphasised in her statement last month that Eyal is innocent until proven guilty.

Also in yesterday’s statement, Shopin’s management team issued instructions to those who have yet to swap tokens.

The company further stated that the startup will continue with its token swap, adding that since last week Friday (31 August), Shopin had swapped 10% of its tokens, bringing the total percentage of tokens swapped to date to 68%.

Read more: Springleap’s Eran Eyal did not seem like scammer to me – DocuSign founder
Read more: Charges against Springleap founder not first time Eran Eyal’s in trouble with law [Updated]
Read more: Investor gatvol over losing R8.5m to Springleap through ‘misrepresentation’
Read more: Springleap charges: Are claims as world’s 7th most innovative firm a fabrication? [Updated]
Read more: SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal charged with fraud in the US over startup Springleap
Read more: Springleap’s Trevor Wolfe talks agencies, startups, and pivots [Q&A]
Read more: Springleap’s new Creatives Insights platform helps brands expand to foreign markets
Read more: Springleap goes big: expands into Middle Eastern, pan-African markets
Read more: SA crowdsource design startup Springleap secures R4m+ Angel round
Read more: Life after t-shirts: Ventureburn gets the exclusive behind Springleap’s pivot

Featured image: Former Springleap founder Eran Eyal (via Facebook)

Editor’s note (5 September 2018): Shopin co-founders Jeremy Harkness and Divakar Rayapaty appear to have taken control of the company, after removing SA entrepreneur Eran Eyal as CEO and replacing him with an interim head. 

“Please have confidence that we have not stopped working and we will continue to forge ahead to bring the Shopin product to the market,” Harkness and Rayapaty said in a statement released today, on 5 September (see here).