# David Campbell

> David Campbell is the co-founder and chairman of Tropic, a software procurement and intelligence company he started with Justin Etkin in 2019. A Berkeley English literature graduate and former aspiring novelist, he worked at BounceX and Microsoft before building for software buyers. He led Tropic as CEO until the planned August 2026 handoff to Etkin.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board at Tropic
- **Organizations:** Tropic, Microsoft, BounceX (now Wunderkind)
- **Education:** English literature, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Tropic in 2019 and led the business as CEO through its August 2026 leadership succession., Led Tropic through seed, Series A and Series B funding and its evolution from services to software and intelligence.

## Career timeline

- **2005-2009** — Attended the University of California, Berkeley; studied English literature.
- **Before 2019** — Joined BounceX among its first twenty employees and rose to vice president; met Justin Etkin there.
- **Before 2019** — Worked as a global business manager at Microsoft, selling to large financial institutions.
- **2019** — Co-founded Tropic with Justin Etkin and became CEO.
- **2020-04** — Tropic announced a $2.1 million seed round led by Founder Collective.
- **2021-08** — Tropic secured $25 million in Series A funding.
- **2022-02** — Tropic secured $40 million in Series B funding.
- **2023-05** — Tropic dates its transition to a true SaaS platform to this month.
- **2023** — Publicly announced a restructuring affecting 26 employees in preparation for Tropic’s 2024 strategy.
- **2026-08-13** — Justin Etkin became CEO; Campbell continued as chairman and advisor on go-to-market strategy and corporate initiatives.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Tropic in 2019 and led the business as CEO through its August 2026 leadership succession.
- Led Tropic through seed, Series A and Series B funding and its evolution from services to software and intelligence.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Tropic announced the planned CEO succession on August 13: Justin Etkin became CEO while Campbell continued as chairman.
- **2026-10** — Tropic, where Campbell remains chairman, was reported to have $25 billion in spend under management and $450 million in customer savings; these are company figures.

## Links

- Website: https://www.tropicapp.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidtropic

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/david-campbell-tropic
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23