Neat Co. names new CEO

The Neat Co., which makes scanners to organize receipts, business cards and other documents, announced today that Jim Foster has been named chief executive.

The privately held company, which is based at the Science Center in University City, said Foster has 30 years' experience in the software industry, and had served on the board over the last year.

He is expected to work closely with company cofounder Les Spero, who had been CEO and will take the role of chairman.

The company said that, over the last several years, it had launched a Mac version of its scanner. This summer, the company received a $7.3 million follow-on investment from Edison Venture Fund and MentorTech, targeted to expansion in sales, marketing and product development.

Foster had been vice president of Computer Sciences Corp. and executive vice president of Sage Software North America.

Neat Co. was founded in 2002 by Les and son Rafi Spero (who is executive vice president) as NeatReceipts to provide a way to streamline expense-reporting. Neat Co. employs about 160 people and had revenue of $29.1 million in calendar 2008.

Company spokesman Kevin Garton said this morning that the company expected growth this year in the low double digits.