Ray Sharma Explained

Ray Sharma
Birth Date:25 December 1973
Birth Place:Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India
Occupation:Founding Partner and CEO of Extreme Venture Partners
Alma Mater:University of Western Ontario
Richard Ivey School of Business

Ray Sharma is the founding partner and CEO of Extreme Venture Partners, the founder of XMG Studio and a super angel investor.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Early life and education

Sharma was born in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India.[3] He obtained his degree in Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario.

Career

Sharma started his career in the global investment banking industry where he worked as a stock market analyst, focusing on wireless-related technology companies at Credit Suisse First Boston in San Francisco before moving to BMO Nesbitt Burns and GMP Securities in Toronto.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] He was ranked the top tech analyst based on both Greenwich and Brendan Woods International surveys of fund managers for five of eight eligible years, and was the lead analyst on BlackBerry, Handspring, and other companies.[14]

In 2007, he co-founded Extreme Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm in Toronto,[15] followed by Xtreme Labs - the largest app developer worldwide at the time of exit to Pivotal Labs in 2016. He later co-founded Extreme Accelerator which offered funding, mentorship, and resources for startups relocating to Canada.[16] In 2009, he founded XMG Studio, a mobile games studio, after being inspired by his children on the convenience of mobile games versus traditional consoles.[17] In 2012, Sharma oversaw the development of the prototype "Matchbox" created in a hackathon within Xtreme Labs, subsequently renamed Tinder.

Other roles

Sharma has spoken at mobile industry events including Interactive Ontario's iP3 Forum, the 2013 Milken Institute Global Conference, the 2012 Application Developers Conference hosted by Scotia Capital, and the 2010 CTIA Mobile Web and Apps World Forum.[18] [19] In February 2013, Sharma participated in a discussion panel with Tony Clement and other entrepreneurs and developers over the open data made available by the Canadian government.[20] [21] Through XMG Studio, he founded The Great Canadian Appathon in 2011, an app-building competition for Canadian university students.[22] [23] [24] [25]

Sharma is also a guest author for Pocket Gamer and The Globe and Mail.[26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] He has also served on the Ontario Judicial Council, the Government of Canada's Advisory Panel on Open Government and the Royal Ontario Museum's Board of Trustees.[33] [34] He is also the creator of the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE), which is Canada's largest open data hackathon.[35] [36] [37] In 2015, Sharma co-founded Hackergal - a not-for-profit organization that aims to introduce young girls to coding.[38] In that same year, he also co-founded Hackworks, a Toronto-based company that specializes in executing hackathons and open innovation events.[39]

In 2019, an Ontario Superior Court ruling found that Chamath Palihapitiya and two former partners at Extreme Venture Partners conspired to hide an interest in dating app Tinder as part of a sale of shares in Xtreme Labs - resulting in the three paying $15.69 million to Extreme Venture Partner's current partners and co-founders.[40] [41]

Since 2020, Sharma has sat on the Technical Advisory Committee at the Duality Accelerator at the University of Chicago. In 2024, he was given the Ivey Alumni Achievement Award.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ray Sharma, Extreme Venture Partners: Profile and Biography. 2021-10-20. Bloomberg.com. en.
  2. Web site: RIM signs U.K. deal. Ottawa Business Journal. 29 October 2013.
  3. News: XMG Studio scouts for partner in India. Business Standard India . 21 November 2011 . Business Standard. 29 October 2013. Kannan . Indira .
  4. Web site: Someday, Your Smartphone Will Actually Improve Your Life. U.S. News. 29 October 2013.
  5. News: Ray Sharma talks about mobile, apps and games. The Globe and Mail. 14 November 2010 . 29 October 2013.
  6. News: A second wind: Extreme Venture Partners looks to 'import' entrepreneurs, invest in IoT, Big Data. Financial Post. 12 August 2014 . 28 October 2014. Montigny . Philippe de .
  7. Web site: Extreme Venture Partners Returns with Fund II. Tech Vibes. 28 October 2014.
  8. News: 2011-11-22. Another perspective on apps. Financial Times. 2021-10-20.
  9. Web site: Tech stocks hit skids - Apr. 12, 2000. 2021-10-20. money.cnn.com.
  10. News: live . Feb 23, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220223162210/https://www.pressreader.com/canada/national-post-latest-edition/20051004/282776351929419 . Research In Motion should split operations, analyst says . 2005-10-04 . Peter . Evans . . en . 18 August 2023 . PressReader.
  11. Web site: Analyst: New BlackBerries not yet ripe. 2022-02-23. CNET. en.
  12. News: Avery. Simon. 2006-09-30. After stumbling, RIM's back in motion. en-CA. The Globe and Mail. 2022-02-23.
  13. News: Austen. Ian. 2013-01-29. BlackBerry 10 Critical to Research in Motion. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-02-23. 0362-4331.
  14. Web site: 2024 Ivey Alumni Achievement Award Recipient Ray Sharma, HBA ’96 . 2024-04-09 . Ivey Business School . en.
  15. News: Montigny. Philippe de. 2014-08-12. A second wind: Extreme Venture Partners looks to 'import' entrepreneurs, invest in IoT, Big Data. en. Financial Post. 2021-10-21.
  16. News: Keung. Nicholas. 2017-06-16. Software startup abandons Trump's U.S. for 'welcoming' Toronto. en-CA. The Toronto Star. 2022-02-23. 0319-0781.
  17. News: 2011-11-22. Another perspective on apps. Financial Times. 2022-02-23.
  18. Web site: Portable Media and the Business and Technology of iDevices. Media Caster. 29 October 2013.
  19. Web site: Developers speak: BlackBerry is making great progress. 11 May 2012 . CrackBerry. 29 October 2013.
  20. Web site: TBS Prez Tony Clement talks open data at 'first ever' ministerial Google+ hangout. dead. CBC News. 29 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130731104134/http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/politics/inside-politics-blog/2013/03/tbs-prez-tony-clement-talks-open-data-at-first-ever-ministerial-google-hangout.html. July 31, 2013.
  21. Web site: Tony Clement discusses open data during Google+ hangout. Global News. 29 October 2013.
  22. News: National Post teams up with XMG Studio to launch first ever Great Canadian Appathon. Financial Post. 17 February 2011 . 29 October 2013. Hartley . Matt .
  23. Web site: Can an Appathon create the next big thing in one weekend?. The Globe and Mail. 29 October 2013.
  24. Web site: 14 February 2014. Great Canadian Appathon [4] Awards $35,000 To Student Game Makers]. 25 March 2014.
  25. Web site: Hutchison. Bill. 2011-03-20. WebMania: Students compete at Great Canadian Appathon. 2022-02-23. Toronto. en.
  26. Web site: XMG Studio's Ray Sharma points to the creative power of 48 hours hackathons. Pocket Gamer.biz. 29 October 2013.
  27. News: By sitting on the sidelines in fintech, Canada risks losing golden reputation in banking. The Globe and Mail . 18 April 2016 . Sharma . Ray .
  28. News: 2010-11-14. Can start-ups get what they need from Canada's venture capital ecosystem?. en-CA. The Globe and Mail. 2021-10-20.
  29. News: Sharma. Ray. 2015-05-14. Why I got rid of my Apple Watch in less than a week. en-CA. The Globe and Mail. 2021-10-20.
  30. News: Akkad. Omar El. 2011-10-05. Steve Jobs: the man who changed your world. en-CA. The Globe and Mail. 2021-10-20.
  31. Web site: Author. Guest. Tiny entertainment cost-per-hour is the secret of apps' success, says XMG's Ray Sharma. 2022-02-23. www.pocketgamer.com. en.
  32. Web site: Author. Guest. Apps are eating the global wireless spectrum, warns XMG's Ray Sharma. 2022-02-23. www.pocketgamer.com. en.
  33. Web site: Archived - Open Government Engagement Team . 2021-10-20. www.ontario.ca.
  34. Web site: ROM Trustees. dead. Royal Ontario Museum. 29 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130623140145/http://www.rom.on.ca/en/about-us/rom-leadership/rom-trustees. June 23, 2013.
  35. Web site: 28 February 2014. Minister Clement Celebrates the Launch of CODE. . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140326043648/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/28/idUSnMKWdl1nna+1c0+MKW20140228. 26 March 2014. 25 March 2014.
  36. Web site: 20 January 2014. Canada-wide hackathon to create apps using Canadian government data. 25 March 2014.
  37. Web site: 2015-02-24. The opportunity of open data and the importance of hackathons BetaKit. 2022-02-23. en-CA.
  38. News: Andrea Woo. 2018-12-10. Bonding over bots: Hackergal teaches Canadian girls about coding. en-CA. The Globe and Mail. 2021-10-20.
  39. Web site: SideDrawer attracts venture industry and technology veteran Ray Sharma to its Board of Directors . 2023-01-12 . blog.sidedrawer.com . en.
  40. Web site: 2019-05-15. Ontario judge rules against Xtreme Labs co-founders, Chamath Palihapitiya in Tinder-focused lawsuit BetaKit. 2021-10-20. en-CA.
  41. News: MacMillan. Douglas. 2015-03-11. Tinder Hook Up Leads to a Lawsuit. en-US. Wall Street Journal. 2021-10-20. 0099-9660.

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