Startup, 2016 VCIC@UNC
LinkedIn
Robert is a thought leader, entrepreneur, technocrat and father of two. He is currently the founder and CEO of KWIPPED, Inc. (KWIPPED.com), a B2B marketplace that matches businesses who need to rent equipment with a global network of rental suppliers.
Prior to KWIPPED, Robert founded and executed strategic growth initiatives for B2B eCommerce company GlobalTestSupply.com, growing the company to become an influential force in the Test and Measurement industry, ranking #800 on Inc’s 5000 list in 2010 and ultimately exiting upon the company’s acquisition by a leading Industry participant.
Prior to founding GlobalTestSupply.com, he was founding employee #1 and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for MFG, Inc., a leading online marketplace that provides a web-based sourcing platform for contract manufacturing services. MFG is a portfolio company of Fidelity Ventures and Jef Bezos’s Bezos Expeditions.
Robert is also an active investor whose portfolio includes the Greater Wilmington Business Journal and WILMA Magazine in Wilmington, NC, NextGlass (a beer and wine recommendation app), Entigral (an RFID sensor automation platform), and Ground Floor (a peer to peer lending network).
His career began at Electronic Data Systems, also known as EDS, as an application engineer and channel manager for Unigraphics Solutions supporting their CAD/CAM software platform. Preville holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.