John Ciannamea – Chief Executive Officer  Mr. Ciannamea has been involved in technology commercialization and investing in early-stage companies for more than 22 years.    He was a co-founder and Managing Partner of Academy Funds. Additionally, he has served as the President and CEO of the North Carolina Technological Development Authority, Inc. Mr. Ciannamea spent 10 years at the New York State Science and Technology Foundation making and managing venture capital investments in a variety of technology areas. Mr. Ciannamea received BS and MS degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University.He has served on several university advisory boards as well as the Boards of Directors of a number of emerging technology companies.   Peter Denison-Pender – Chief Operating Officer    Mr Denison-Pender spent eight years in the UK early-stage technology venture capital community before co-founding Academy IP in 2006. He was involved as an investment manager and interim CFO for portfolio companies, a specialist adviser on R&D tax credits and as a business consultant. He was with the UK technology merchant bank, Interregnum (now ParkMead Group), for six years and prior to that had two years with the boutique investment firm, Hudson Venture Partners. Previously, Mr Denison-Pender was Parliamentary secretary to Rt Hon Alan Clark MP, deceased Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea in 1997-98, and trained with Hambros plc from 1994-97. Mr Denison-Pender is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the CFA Institute. He has a BSc in Economics and Economic History from the Universityof Exeter.