Funding Circle’s Desai makes top 10 of ‘Tech 100’ list
FUNDING Circle’s chief executive Samir Desai has been named as one of the top 10 most influential people in the British tech industry.
The peer-to-peer pioneer appears alongside fellow fintech leaders such as Starling Bank chief executive Anne Boden, and Tom Blomfield, chief executive of Monzo.
The Tech 100 list is compiled by Business Insider and aims to celebrate “the 100 coolest and most ground-breaking people in the UK tech industry over the past 12 months”.
Desai (pictured) claimed fourth place on the list, behind Dr Demis Hassabis, Mustafa Suleyman and Dr Shane Legg of artificial intelligence company Deepmind, Deliveroo chief executive Will Shu, and Facebook whistle-blower Christopher Wylie, who won the top spot.
Earlier this year, Wylie exposed the Cambridge Analytica data breach. The scandal forced Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg into a media apology tour while his firm launched a global advertising campaign.
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“Christopher Wylie has changed the global debate around privacy and helped people realise the power companies like Facebook have over our data,” said Business Insider’s executive editor Jake Kanter.
“His brave decision to blow the whistle will help make tech giants more accountable, and that can only be a good thing.”
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Other members of the Tech 100’s top 10 include Herman Narula and Rob Whitehead, co-founders of gaming firm Improbable, Maria Raga, chief executive of social shopping app Depop, Stan Boland, chief executive of self-driving technology firm Five AI, and Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, chief executive of Stemettes, a UK-wide initiative to encourage diversity in the STEM fields.
Many members of the Tech 100 – including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan – will attend a party in celebration of the ranking at Searcys at The Gherkin on 4 October 2018.
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