Petaluma's Hydropoint hires CEO

<p>Petaluma's HydroPoint Data Systems, a startup that makes "smart" irrigation technology, has hired a new chief executive to oversee its growth.</p><p>The company has grown from 4,000 to 15,000 subscribers since 2005 and should grow another 50 to 100 percent in the next few years, said new CEO Paul Ciandrini, a former executive at software makers Oracle Corp., Plumtree Software and Walker Interactive Systems.</p><p>HydroPoint's digital controllers use daily weather reports, downloaded from satellites, to run automatic sprinkler systems. Irrigation is automatically adjusted based on the weather and landscape needs, according to HydroPoint.</p><p>In 2007, its customers saved 6.7 billion gallons of water and cut their irrigation costs by $60 million, he said.</p><p>Businesses and municipalities are choosing HydroPoint's WeatherTRAK irrigation system because it saves water and money, he said. Its commercial customers include Coca-Cola, Google, Jack in the Box, Kohl's, Lockheed Martin and Wal-Mart. Public agencies that use the system include Petaluma, Healdsburg and Newport Beach.</p><p>"We attribute the growth to the recent swell of corporate sustainability programs," Ciandrini said. "The company offers the most compelling value proposition in the clean technology marketplace."</p><p>Ciandrini succeeds HydroPoint founder Chris Spain, who will become chairman and chief strategy officer.</p><p>HydroPoint has raised $46 million in venture funding since it was founded in 2002 and expects to complete a final round of funding in 2009, Ciandrini said.</p><p>The privately held company doesn't release revenue or earnings.</p><p>Ciandrini, who guided acquisitions and initial public offerings as a software executive, said it's too soon to say whether HydroPoint will go public.</p><p>"We expect to entertain a variety of capitalization options, but it would be premature for me to comment on our plans," he said.</p><p>In the past year, the company has grown from about 50 to 76 employees, with about 60 employees at its headquarters in Petaluma, where it does sales, marketing, product development, service and some assembly.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.</p>