Aliza Knox joins Unlockd as COO

Twitter’s former Asia-Pacific vice president, Aliza Knox, has joined mobile ad platform Unlockd as chief operating officer.

Australian startup Unlockd gives consumers rewards and discounts in exchange for viewing ads or content when unlocking their smartphones. Global partners include News UK, Twitter, Facebook, McDonald’s, British Airways and Uber. The company has offices in New York, London and Melbourne.

Knox will be in charge of international expansion and global operations as Unlockd looks to grow its footprint worldwide, including in Asia.

At Twitter, where she spent four-and-a-half years, Knox ran the APAC operations, led the sales and self-serve advertising businesses and oversaw part of the Latin America region.

#Amazing 4.5 years at @Twitter! Proud to have built a great APAC team to hand over to @Maya_Hari. Thanks for the farewell! #LoveWhereIWorked pic.twitter.com/GaMrBABvbR

— alizaknox (@alizaknox) March 31, 2017

Last week she announced on the social network that she was leaving, becoming the latest of several senior executives to quit the business. She has previously held senior positions at Google and Visa.

“I have always been drawn to businesses with a strong entrepreneurial spirit that are creating value for consumers in unique ways,” Knox said.

“Given Unlockd’s strong growth pipeline in emerging markets like Asia Pacific, I am confident my skill set will add a lot of value to the business and equally, working in this role will be a rewarding experience for me.”

Matt Berriman, CEO and co-founder of Unlockd, said: “Aliza has an amazing track record of business growth and accomplishments regionally and globally. The team and I are excited about her joining as we expand our business into other verticals like content streaming and geographies including Asia.”

In a statement following her departure, Twitter thanked Knox for her “contributions and leadership”, and for pioneering the company’s APAC business.