Microsoft hires Fishburners' Annie Parker

Microsoft is set to name Annie Parker as its new global head of start-ups, following the reported departure of Tzahi Weisfeld last week.

Annie Parker (Credit: Fishburners)

Parker has been interim CEO of the Australian start-up hub Fishburners for the past seven months.

She also previously co-founded Telstra’s muru-D start-up accelerator program.

In a brief statement on Twitter this morning, Parker said she was “super excited to announce that in March I’ll be joining Microsoft as global head of start-ups".

“It's a wonderful opportunity to work at scale and to make a global impact,” she said. “I can't wait to get started."

The news came just a week after it was reported that Microsoft’s current global start-up programs manager, Tzahi Weisfeld, had left after eight years in the role.

According to that report, the job's remit covers a global network of accelerators, a venture investment arm, and programs that provide Microsoft tools to start-ups.

Fishburners yesterday promoted its current chief operating officer Pandora Shelley to the role of CEO.

It said Parker would "step down at the end of February", without revealing where she was headed.