Dr Maciej Zurawski
Founder and CEO
Maciej is a serial entrepreneur. He co-founded a language technology company where he was responsible for product management and strategy. He holds a Ph.D. in Informatics from the Artificial Intelligence institute in the School of Informatics at University of Edinburgh. Moreover, he holds a Msc in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden. He is also a composer and The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation for Education in International Industrial Enterprise scholar.
Diwakar Thakore
Co-founder and Head of Business Operations, COO
Diwakar brings more than 18 years of business experience working with several top-notch organizations in Scotland, Asia and Europe including a number of start-ups, high growth and early stage companies. On top of his business background across operations, finance, marketing and business development, Diwakar brings strong knowledge and experience in research and technology commercialization. He holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School and certifications in intellectual property from World Intellectual Property Organization. He also holds professional degrees in accountancy and commerce.
Dr Ronen Barzel
CTO
Ronen’s experience spans software development, academia, and project leadership, with a emphasis on computer technology used in the service of artistic endeavors. He worked for a dozen years as an Animation Scientist at Pixar Animation Studios (where his most visible claim to fame is having built the Slinky Dog model for the first Toy Story movie), and more recently as a Senior Technologist at Adobe Systems. He served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Graphics Tools for over a decade from its inception in 1996, and was co-editor of the Audio Anecdotes series of books on digital audio. He was chair of the SIGGRAPH 2009 Conference, introducing for the first time a special focus on music as it relates to interactive techniques and graphics. He holds an BSc in Math and Physics and an MSc in Computer Science from Brown University, and a PhD in Computer Science from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Over the years he has held occasional visiting academic positions, including teaching at the University of Washington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ecole Polytechnique, and the University of California San Diego.
Anne CM Johnson
Investor / Board Member
Anne brings a wealth of high tech entrepreneurial and start-up experience to the company.
Anne is the founder and CEO of Cunning Systems, based in Los Altos, California. Prior to this she held the positions of US & European Business Development for XKL and Arista Networks, Vice President chip and subsystem company cPacket Networks and Technical Leader and manager at Cisco Systems in San Jose.
Anne holds a post-graduate IT diploma in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Economic Science from the University of Aberdeen.
Norman Harris
Advisor
Norman Harris is an experienced product design and development professional many years of industry experience. In 2000 he co-founded SFX Technologies, having invented and patented its core audio technology. Norman worked with SFX as Product Design and Development Director until 2009.
Norman has created strong links and a close working relationship with the Scottish high tech and digital media ecosystem, with a particular focus on new, high growth companies. A member of the British academy of songwriters, composers and authors, he holds a bachelors degree in industrial design technology.
Nigel Osborne
Advisor
Nigel Osborne is the Reid Professor of Music at University of Edinburgh. His works have been featured in most major international festivals and performed by many leading orchestras and ensembles around the world, ranging from the Moscow to the Berlin Symphony Orchestras, and from the Philharmonia of London to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
He is also carrying out neuroscience research with a particular interest in music and emotion. He is famous for his music therapy work. He frequently travels around the world and uses music therapy to help children traumatized by war and conflict. He is Musemantik’s creative advisor.
Chris Wright
Advisor
Chris has been involved in the video games industry since 1995 and is recognised as a pioneer in the mobile gaming sector. He joined I-play (formally Digital Bridges) in 1999 as employee number 2 to create the company’s game development and publishing arm.
Chris worked as the Head of Game Development, Europe for I-play, managing both internal and external development. This included running 4 internal studios as well as overseeing all external development studios.
Chris left I-play in 2008 to found his own consultancy business, which has gone on to work with many of the world’s leading video game developers and publishers, as well as a number of business, science, technology and arts organisations, which are exploring the ongoing evolution of videogames.
Chris is a board member of The Independent Game Developers Association (TIGA).