Aurora Payments Names Derek Dean Chief Executive Officer, Brian Goudie Transitions To Executive Chairman

Leadership transition positions Aurora to accelerate organic growth and its evolution from merchant services leader to full-stack fintech platform

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aurora Payments, a full-service payment technology provider, today announced that Derek Dean has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dean succeeds Brian Goudie, who will transition to the role of Executive Chairman after nearly a decade leading the company’s rapid expansion.

Since joining Aurora as Chief Revenue Officer, Dean has expanded the company’s direct sales organization, strengthened marketing, and advanced Aurora’s ISV-focused go-to-market engine. As CEO, Dean will accelerate organic growth and position the company as the end-to-end financial-technology partner of choice across multiple verticals.

“Handing the CEO reins to Derek is the natural next step in a leadership transition we put into motion a year ago,” said Brian Goudie, Executive Chairman of Aurora Payments. “Derek’s energy, customer focus, and ability to scale high-performance teams have already advanced our mission and as CEO he will propel Aurora even faster while I concentrate on long-term strategy and strategic partnerships—including targeted M&A.”

As Executive Chairman, Goudie will guide board governance and long-range strategy while cultivating key relationships with processing partners, sponsor banks, and ISOs. He will also lead Aurora’s M&A agenda to complement Dean’s organic-growth initiatives.

“Aurora combines a powerful technology platform with an unwavering commitment to merchant and partner success,” said Derek Dean, Chief Executive Officer of Aurora Payments. “Brian built an exceptional foundation. My focus now is to unlock the next wave of growth by deepening our fintech capabilities and delivering even more value to our partners and customers.”

Dean brings more than 25 years of go-to-market leadership in enterprise software, data management, and service-commerce platforms. He joined Aurora from Syndigo, an enterprise SaaS data-management company, where he served as President and Chief Revenue Officer. Before that, he was Senior Vice President of Sales and Customer Success at EverCommerce, a service-commerce platform that provides vertically tailored SaaS solutions.

“Aurora’s leadership transition underscores both the strength of its bench and its commitment to long-term value,” added Jeremy Schein, Aurora Payments board member and Partner at Corsair. “We are excited to continue supporting Derek, Brian, and the entire team as they accelerate the company’s fintech journey.”

Dean’s appointment as CEO continues a series of strategic moves Aurora Payments has recently made to position the company for further growth, including the launch of its flagship cloud-based payment solution, ARISE, which empowers small to midsize businesses to manage their payments through one seamless customized tech solution.

About Aurora Payments

Aurora Payments is a united network of processing, technology, and payments solutions, supporting over 27,000 merchants and $12 billion in annual processing volume. Founded in 2005, Aurora has carved out leadership in several industries through its innovative products, exceptional service, and deep vertical expertise. The company’s proprietary platforms —ARISE, RISE CRM, Calendarise, and NailSoft—are cloud-based solutions designed to simplify payments and operations for small and midsize businesses. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Aurora Payments is backed by Corsair, a leading private equity firm focused on payments, software, and financial service investments.

Follow Aurora Payments on LinkedIn or X, or learn more at https://risewithaurora.com.

About Corsair

Corsair is a specialist investment firm offering opportunities for investors and solutions for companies across its private markets Buyouts and Infrastructure businesses. The firm’s buyouts business is a financial services investor focused on making control investments in three verticals: payments, software, and business services. The infrastructure business operates as a strategic partnership with Investcorp as of December 2023. Investcorp Corsair focuses primarily on value-add opportunities in transportation, logistics, and associated infrastructure subsectors, blending operating platforms and deep sectoral expertise with equity sponsorship. Corsair has invested $13.6 billion in capital across buyouts and infrastructure since inception. For more information, please visit www.corsair-capital.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Contacts

Aurora Payments
Dominic Litten
SVP, Marketing and Partnerships
+1 216-513-2935
Dom.Litten@risewithaurora.com

Prosek Partners
pro-Corsair@prosek.com