Irvine’s Vessel Advisors Acquires Chief XO for Executive Talent Solutions

Irvine-based business consulting and services firm Vessel Advisors has announced the acquisition of human capital services firm Chief XO. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of Chief XO is a natural next step in our growth strategy,” said Brennan de Raad, founder and managing director of Vessel Advisors, in a statement. “This acquisition expands our platform and strengthens our reach into middle-market companies who need our services.”

With the acquisition of Chief XO, Vessel Advisors has expanded its offerings beyond fractional CFO and accounting services to include executive talent solutions, operational advisory and a national network, the company said in a statement.

Founded in 2017 by Brennan de Raad, Vessel Advisors is a national finance operations service firm providing fractional CFO services and strategic consulting to business owners. Chief XO marks Vessel Advisors’ second acquisition.

“The acquisition of Chief XO also brings executive recruiting capabilities and a perspective on building healthy, high-functioning organizations that complements what we do at Vessel. This gives us the ability to serve business owners more through their stages of growth,” said de Raad in a LinkedIn post.

Chief XO was founded in 2024 by Joshua Walters and is based in Irvine. The firm specializes in equipping growing small and middle-market businesses with leadership and operational support.

Walters will join Vessel Advisors as director, where he will focus on deepening relationships across key markets nationwide, growing the firm’s client base and leading Vessel’s network partnerships.

“Joining Vessel gives us the Vessel Advisors team, productized-service offerings and platform to make an even bigger impact for the business owners, investors and leaders Chief XO has served,” said Joshua Walters, founder of Chief XO, in a statement.

Information for this article was sourced from Vessel Advisors.