International business adviser Kevin Roberts and global B2B SaaS business builder Ricky Sevta have been appointed as directors of Whip Around, a fast-growing fleet inspection and maintenance platform.
Founded in New Zealand in 2016, Whip Around has built a global customer base of fleet operators ranging from logistics, construction, sanitation, emergency responders, transportation, municipal and landscaping. Whip Around is utilised by fleet operators in all 50 US states and in South America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
Whip Around’s software and app help fleet managers, operators and mechanics improve safety and compliance and minimise costs through better inspection and maintenance processes.
Kevin Roberts.
Kevin Roberts brings deep US and global marketing expertise from his roles at Procter & Gamble, Pepsi-Cola, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide and Publicis Groupe. Over the past decade Roberts, through his consulting company Red Rose, has advised startups, agencies and corporates across multiple sectors and countries. The former COO and board member of Lion Nathan has chaired several companies including My Food Bag, guiding it to a successful public listing. He has authored five books on branding, leadership, and performance. Roberts is based in North America.
“It’s incredible that services that are vital to the daily life of communities, cities and countries are still largely stuck in paper,” said Roberts. “The opportunities for greenfield growth are vast, and Whip Around has a proven foothold to exponentially expand in the US and globally.”
Ricky Sevta brings exceptional SaaS and go-to-market expertise to Whip Around. As chief revenue officer of Simpro – software for tradies – Sevta led the company from early-stage growth to over US$100 million in annual recurring revenue, securing a US$550m investment and driving a billion-dollar valuation. An engineer with specialisms in mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering, he is co-founder of VentureOn Partners, guiding ANZ companies to scale through growth planning and M&A. Sevta is also CEO of Deep Space, which develops construction management software.
“I’m passionate about creating user-friendly software for people who work in field service management which involves every sort of commercial vehicle and piece of moveable equipment imaginable,” said Sevta. “Blue-collar trades make the world function. Whip Around has an entire global industry ahead of it, it’s not a niche.”
Pivotal time
Noah Hickey, CEO of Whip Around, said that the appointment of Roberts and Sevta as directors comes at a pivotal time for Whip Around’s growth.
“With over 32 million commercial vehicles and 3.5 million fleets in the US, and much of fleet maintenance still a mix of whiteboards, spreadsheets, Post-it notes and filing cabinets stuffed with paper, the trajectory for Whip Around is accelerating,” said Hickey. “Whip Around’s immediate focus is sell-through partnerships with companies specializing in mobile, telematics, advanced GPS and workflow automation solutions for the transportation industry.”
Whip Around CEO Noah Hickey.
In 2025 Whip Around has signed strategic partnerships with Fullbay in Phoenix, Arizona, and Platform Science of San Diego. Hickey said further partnership integrations are in negotiation which will assist Whip Around to scale exponentially.
Hickey said Whip Around’s growth potential is both horizontal given the sheer volume of fleet operators in the US and worldwide, and vertical in terms of other physical assets in the workplace that need monitoring and maintenance such as trailers, forklifts, pallet jacks, scaffolds, tools, machinery, appliances, medical supplies, and office equipment.
“Our goal is to make user-friendly software to keep things moving,” said Hickey. “Whip Around makes life easier for owners, drivers, mechanics by ensuring compliance, increasing safety, reducing downtime and streamlining processes.”
Whip Around has offices in Auckland, San Diego, and Charlotte in North Carolina. Whip Around has increased ARR for the last eight consecutive quarters. The company has been chaired since 2017 by Aucklander Peter Drummond.
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