Zodiac Interactive yesterday hired Brandon Brown as its new CEO, replacing Zodiac's co-founder Michael Rivkin, who will become the company's CTO.

Brown’s new role will be to identify business opportunities as the company moves into a new growth stage, Zodiac said.

"Brandon is a seasoned IT veteran, bringing to Zodiac more than 20 years [of] experience executing and growing profitable businesses for both commercial and open source markets, and we're pleased to have his multinational expertise," said Alexander Libkind, Zodiac's co-founder and COO.

Brown has held executive management positions at several start-ups, including Sigaba, a provider of secure messaging solutions, and Persistence Software, a database middleware company acquired by Progress Software.

"Zodiac has done an excellent job driving iTV standards into the cable market and creating a platform that allows Interactive Television 2.0 to run across any combination of tru2way devices," Brown said. "Interoperability is key to a successful iTV rollout, and Zodiac removes those concerns from operators with its PowerUp framework, allowing operators to offer these exciting new services more quickly to their subscribers.

"I'm thrilled to join the Zodiac team at this stage in the company's growth, so they can answer the demand from operators for true iTV ubiquity while keeping an eye on new and additional opportunities in the entertainment industry,” Brown continued. “Zodiac has a remarkably talented team of execs, engineers and marketers, and I feel privileged to be part of Zodiac's successes today and in the future."

In recent months, Zodiac has announced partnerships with Ensequence, Alticast, Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) and ActiveVideo Networks related to tru2way.

Zodiac, headquartered in Valley Stream, N.Y., has 15 employees in the U.S. and 75 engineers based in Russia.