# Ashhad Syed

> Ashhad Syed is the New York-based founder and CEO of Blazeo, formerly ApexChat. He built its initial smartphone chat product, shifted toward managed lead capture for advertisers, and partnered with Jim Bert on business development. He holds engineering and business degrees from Cornell and Wharton and is a founding partner of Mentors Fund. Blazeo reports serving more than 35,000 businesses.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Blazeo
- **Organizations:** Blazeo (formerly ApexChat), Mentors Fund, Ibex Solutions
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, Master of Business Administration, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Built the first version of the product that became ApexChat and Blazeo., Bootstrapped the business; its early company profile says it began selling without outside investors., Led Blazeo, which reports serving more than 35,000 businesses and generating more than 15 million leads.

## Career timeline

- **Before ApexChat** — Principal at Ibex Solutions; also founded two businesses in internet lead generation and lead management before starting ApexChat.
- **2008** — Built the original smartphone chat product and connected with Jim Bert to develop the business. Blazeo’s company history dates its founding to 2008.
- **2009** — Blazeo’s executive biography dates Syed’s bootstrapping of the business to 2009.
- **2010** — ApexChat began selling services, according to its co-founder-associated Alignable company profile.
- **2013** — ApexChat hired its first salesperson, David Scheppler.
- **2017** — Listed among Mentors Fund’s founding partners.
- **2024-03** — ApexChat announced its rebrand as Blazeo on March 18.
- **2025-11** — Blazeo announced SmartHub on November 18, with Syed speaking about reducing response delays.

## Achievements

- Built the first version of the product that became ApexChat and Blazeo.
- Bootstrapped the business; its early company profile says it began selling without outside investors.
- Led Blazeo, which reports serving more than 35,000 businesses and generating more than 15 million leads.
- Named among Mentors Fund’s founding partners in its account of the 2017 launch.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Blazeo announced SmartHub on November 18. Syed described reducing the time between a lead arriving and a business responding.
- **2024-03** — ApexChat rebranded as Blazeo on March 18, reflecting its expansion beyond live chat.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashhad-syed-099414/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ashhad-syed
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22