Frederick Ghahramani

Frederick Ghahramani
Residence Vancouver, British Columbia
Alma mater Simon Fraser University
(Electronic Engineering)
Occupation Founder of airG Inc.
CEO of Just10
Chairman of Braintest Ltd.
Years active 2000–present
Board member of airG Inc.
Just10
Braintest Ltd.

Frederick Ghahramani is a Canadian technology entrepreneur, engineer, and privacy advocate.[1] He studied electronics engineering at Simon Fraser University,[2][3] and is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Career and awards

Ghahramani is the founder and Managing Director of airG Inc., also known as airGames and airGames Wireless,[4] a Canadian software company headquartered in Vancouver.[5] He formed the company in April 2000 with his university class mates Bryce Pasechnik and Vincent Yen.[3] In 2007, airG announced that it had more than 20 million customers globally.[6] In 2014, airG reported that it had reached 100 million customers in 40-plus countries, with its global product sales having exceeded $1 billion.[7][8] airG has been recognized by Thomson Reuters [9] as one of the Top 50 employers of young people in Canada.[10]

In 2001, Ghahramani was awarded the BMO Bank of Montreal First Place Prize in the first annual New Ventures B.C. Competition.[11][12] In 2005, he was awarded the Business Development Bank of Canada's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[13][14]

Philanthropy and activism

In 2015, during the Canadian Federal Election Campaign, Ghahramani donated $1 million to groups fighting to repeal Bill C-51, Canada's controversial Anti-terrorism Act, 2015. Initial recipients of Ghahramani's donation included the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, OpenMedia.ca, and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law.[15][16][17]

In 2008, Ghahramani announced a donation of $200,000 to Canadian charity Kids Help Phone, along with a partnership to assist the charity to promote and advertise its cause through several digital and mobile outreach campaigns.[18][19]

In 2012, Ghahramani purchased at auction the controversial[20] oil on canvas painting Emperor Haute Couture by Canadian artist Margaret Sutherland. He stated his intention is to share the painting with Canadian high-schools and Universities for no fee, because "I think it's going to be a Canadian artifact, and does a brilliant job capturing the mood of over 60% of Canadians who felt our Prime Minister didn't want to listen to his own experts."[21][22][23]

References

  1. ↑ "Entrepreneur donates $1 million to fight anti-terror law C-51" (XBRL). CBC Radio. October 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Aberle, Katherine (Sep 6, 2001). "SFU STUDENTS ADVANCE TO FINAL ROUND IN NEW VENTURES BC COMPETITION". Simon Fraser University News. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Engineers Seek Top Prize" (XBRL). Simon Fraser News. September 6, 2001.
  4. ↑ Thomson, Clive (August 30, 2002). "Are cellphones meant to save time -- or waste it? These days, mobiles re the new Game Boys". The Globe & Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2002.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Rob (February 8, 2011). "Vancouver's airG - the world's largest mobile social network". Tech Vibes. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "airG Claims 20 Million Users of Mobile Social Networking Services". Cellular News. October 16, 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "airG Inc. Visiting company at MWC 2015" (XBRL). Government of Canada Trade Commissioner Service. February 12, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Meet airG, The Mobile Social Network You've Never Heard Of That's Ten Times Bigger Than Foursquare" (XBRL). Business Insider. Feb 3, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Top employers for young people" (XBRL). Canadian HR Reporter. June 3, 2010.
  10. ↑ Press, Jordan (Jun 1, 2010). "Full list of Top 50 Employers". The Globe & Mail.
  11. ↑ Luckow, Diane (Oct 18, 2001). "Engineering students win $50,000". Simon Fraser University News. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "2001 Competition Winner" (XBRL). New Ventures BC. September 27, 2001.
  13. ↑ "Frederick Ghahramani and Vincent Yen win BDC's Young Entrepreneur Award" (XBRL). BDC Bank of Canada. October 18, 2005.
  14. ↑ "BDC to honour young Canadian entrepreneurs for outstanding accomplishments" (XBRL). The Globe & Mail Globeinvestor.com. October 18, 2005.
  15. ↑ McQuigge, Michelle (Oct 14, 2015). "Tech founder donates $1 million of own money to overturn Bill C-51". Toronto Star.
  16. ↑ Yanyu, Liang (Oct 14, 2015). "企業家擬捐100萬 圖推翻新反恐法". Sing Tao Daily.
  17. ↑ Jaune, Marie (Oct 14, 2015). "Un homme d'affaires promet 1 M$ pour lutter contre C-51". TVA Nouvelles.
  18. ↑ Murphy, David (June 3, 2008). "airG Helps Kids with Mobile Ad Space". Mobile Marketing Magazine.
  19. ↑ Kids Help Phone
  20. ↑ Coles, Terri (October 6, 2012). "Harper nude painting sells to B.C. buyer". CBC Canada News.
  21. ↑ Quan, Douglas (December 1, 2015). "Vancouver CEO tells why he bought controversial nude painting of Stephen Harper". National Post.
  22. ↑ Jake, Kivanc (November 30, 2015). "The Guy Who Bought the Stephen Harper Nude Painting is a Legend". Vice Media.
  23. ↑ Coles, Terri (November 30, 2015). "Harper nude painting sells to B.C. buyer". Yahoo! News.
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