Howard Ford
Chairman
Howard has many years of operational experience in the IT and telecoms sector with IBM Europe, BT/Cellnet and Equant Network Services where, as Managing Director, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Paris Bourse until its takeover by France Telecom in 2005.
In addition to being Chairman of LBO, Howard is Chairman of Filtronic plc, Cambridge Semiconductor Limited and the Branshaw Foundation. Previously, he served as the Chairman of Thames Valley Training and Enterprise Council and the French company Varioptic SA. Howard earned a B.Sc and an M.Sc in Chemical Engineering from Christ’s College, Cambridge University.
Barak Maoz
Chief Executive Officer
Barak comes from a background of technical, operational, business and management roles in the worlds of semiconductors, electronic components and venture capital investment. He was an IC designer, P&L executive and CEO in private and public companies on three continents and one island…
Barak enjoys working with energetic technology teams, leading them to the excitement of fast growth. Barak brings to Light Blue Optics strategic leadership, a hands on management style and a sharp focus on people and performance.
Barak’s BSEE, MSEE and MBA work was done in Israel and the USA. He joined Light Blue Optics as the CEO in August 2011.
Dr. Adrian Cable
Chief Technical Officer
Adrian is one of LBO’s founders, bringing with him deep expertise in diffractive optics and visual science. Adrian leads the Innovation Group that has been responsible for much of the patented innovation within the Company, driving the research and development effort behind LBO’s present and future product portfolio.
A graduate in Electronic Engineering from Cambridge University, Adrian’s PhD focused on holographic optics, projection technology, and design and simulation of novel optical system architectures.
Krishna Visvanathan
Partner, Encore Ventures, DFJ Esprit
Krishna has been a Venture Capital investor for over 10 years. He was previously a Partner in 3i’s Venture Capital team and was responsible for several successful investments including Ezurio Ltd, Ubinetics Ltd, Blue Lithium Inc, E2V plc, Fastnet Systems Ltd and BTN Ltd.
He started his career at Ernst & Young before founding Optika Fibre Technologies, a polymer fibre and display technology start-up based in SE Asia. He currently sits on the boards of Icera Inc, Netronome Systems Inc, Taptu Ltd, The Cloud Networks Ltd, Light Blue Optics Ltd and Cambridge Semiconductor Ltd.
He has a degree in Management Sciences from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Wolfgang Seibold
Partner, Earlybird Venture Capital
Wolfgang joined Earlybird’s Technology Team in 2001. Since then, he has made several technology investments and has driven Earlybird’s investment strategy in areas such as semiconductors, materials and clean technologies.
Prior to Earlybird, Wolfgang worked as a management consultant for The Boston Consulting Group in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, focusing on strategic management of IT and High-Tech for various industries. For several years, he was a member of BCG’s Worldwide IT-Practice Group and prior to that worked in communications engineering at Alcatel/SEL. Wolfgang has studied Physics and Mathematics at the universities of Ulm and Newcastle upon Tyne, and has a Dipl. Phys. with a major in semiconductor physics and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
Marc Wachsmuth
Partner & Co-founder, Capital-E
Marc Wachsmuth, is Partner and co-founder of Capital-E, an early stage European venture fund focused on micro-electronics and new materials.
Prior to Capital-E, Marc was Executive Investment Manager within the Venture Capital ICT team of GIMV for 6 years. He has helped set-up/was a board member in more than 10 high tech start-ups of which 3 were successfully exited.
Marc holds engineering degrees from the Universities of Brussels (VUB) and Liège (ULG), a Master of Science degree from the Cranfield Institute of Technology in the UK as well as a postgraduate degree in finance from the Solvay Business School (ULB).
Marc sits on the board of the following companies: Capital-E (B), CMOSIS (B), eoSemi (UK),
LBO (UK), Movidius (Ir) and Trinean(B).
Dr. Claus Schmidt
Managing Director, Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH
Claus is located in the Stuttgart office with responsibility for technical strategies and decisions, and for maintaining contacts between RBVC and the Bosch management organisation.
Following 16 years spent in operational roles at Bosch, Claus joined RBVC as one of its founding managing partners in 2007. With over 24 years experience in different operational jobs at IBM, DEC and Bosch, Claus has deep insight into various markets including disk drives, display technology, automotive electronics and semiconductors. In addition, he has comprehensive understanding of the production process from R&D, quality and reliability engineering, through to purchasing, P&L responsibility and general management. Claus gained his Ph.D. from the University of Stuttgart after studying at the Max-Planck Institute for Metal Physics.