Crossplatform advertising firm Drawbridge has taken its first step into EMEA, with the opening of a new office and its first international hire, vice president Kate Burns.

Burns was also the first hire Google ever made outside of the US, taking the position of UK director back in 2001, and has since held executive roles at companies including AOL, Bebo and DailyMotion. 

“Having Kate on board brings a level of expertise that will continue to fuel our international growth,” said Drawbridge CEO Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan. “Kate was instrumental in driving Google’s early growth in Europe and her effort building AOL’s advertisers and publishers networks, made her a perfect choice to lead our international expansion. She provides an ideal mix of sales experience, creativity, and knowledge of the needs of European advertisers to help their evolving businesses.”

Drawbridge was founded 18 months ago by Sivaramakrishnan, herself a former Google and AdMob employee. The company offers a solution for matching up users across their desktop and mobile devices.