Today, Friis has his attention firmly on self-driving delivery robots. They also developed Joost-an application for distributing TV shows and other video content over the Web.īut reports have suggested their relationship isn’t quite what it used to be, with one source saying that the duo are no longer on speaking terms. The duo have a long history and their entrepreneurial endeavours go way back: Friis cofounded Kazaa with Zennström, and prior to that they worked together at Tele2, a European telco. Skype had several cofounders, but Friis, a 43-year-old from Denmark, is widely regarded as the main cofounder, alongside Zennström. Janus Friis, cofounder and CEO of Starship Technologies. And more recently the fund backed a digital agriculture firm that examines weather, soil and field data to help farmers determine potential yield-limiting factors. Atomico has backed a German startup called Lilium, for example, which is developing a small electric flying vehicle that could help to cut emissions and reduce congestion. Tall and composed, Zennström is particularly keen to back sustainable businesses that have the potential to mitigate the impact of climate change. The fund has backed dozens of businesses, and big wins to date include Supercell (stake sold to SoftBank), Xobni (acquired by Yahoo) and Klarna, which is now valued at over $5 billion. Zennström set it up because he wanted to build the VC he couldn’t find when he was raising for Skype in Europe. Set up in 2006, Atomico is investing over $1.5 billion into early-stage technology startups across a range of industries. Just outside the Atomico office, Rolls Royces and Bentleys drop off wealthy shoppers on the doorsteps of swanky stores like Louis Vuitton and Belstaff. Some of his Skype proceeds went into setting up his own venture capital fund, Atomico, in London’s Mayfair district. The series of acquisitions made a lot of Skype’s early employees millionaires, but ex-Skype CEO and cofounder Niklas Zennström netted the lion’s share.įorbes estimated in 2015 that Zennström-who also cofounded peer-to-peer file-sharing service and Napster rival Kazaa-had a net worth of around $900 million.Ī keen yachtsman, the 53-year-old Swedish entrepreneur used some of his Skype profits to build racing yachts that have won major races such as the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. He also reportedly sails for around 90 days a year.
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