Arben Kane

Arben Kane
Born Arben Kryeziu
Residence New York City, New York and Hawaii, United States
Citizenship Dual German/American
Alma mater Berufsakademie Stuttgart
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences
Occupation Software developer, CEO, CTO
Years active 2001-present
Employer Code Rebel, Kontur Labs, mbloom
Known for Media streaming technology, emulation software, geo and data visualization
Website Kryeziu Ventures

Arben Kane, formerly known as Arben Kryeziu, is a German-American software developer, entrepreneur, and business executive.[1] Previously known as the co-founder, CEO, and chairman of the remote access software technology company Code Rebel, in 2016, The M&A Advisor awarded Kane their annual Emerging Leaders Award.[2] In 2015 he founded the venture builder Stacked Venture Builder in New York.[1]

Early life

Arben Kane was born as Arben Kryeziu in 1977[3] in Kosovo,[4] moving to Germany[5] at a young age.[6] He speaks fluent German, English, and Albanian.[7]

College

In 1999 Kane graduated from Berufsakademie Stuttgart with a Bachelor of Science Degree in logistics. Afterwards he attended Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, where he graduated with a BS in computer science in 2000.[6] He relocated to Hawaii in 2001.[5]

Career

Bump Networks

In 2001 Kane founded and became principal owner of the technology consulting and digital services company Bump Networks Inc., now dba KonturLabs.[6] With a broad client base that has included the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,[8] Bump Networks (dba KonturLabs) has also been involved with diverse businesses and organizations in Hawaii, including the Pacific Disaster Center, Maui Gold Pineapple, Maui Food Bank, Blue Hawaiian Helicopters,[9] and others. Through KonturLabs and its work with the Pacific Disaster Center, Kane developed software focused on disaster management. His "DisasterWare" program is used in command centers for natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis.[10] In 2004 Kane began focusing on "solving problems" as compared to programming directly himself, with a focus on out how to "overcome friction points" in development.[10]

Paradise Television

From 2002 to 2005 Kane served as the CTO of Paradise Television Network in Hawaii.[6] Through the Paradise Television subsidiary[11] Maui X-Stream (MXS),[12] a startup company based in Lahaina, Hawaii,[11] he also became lead developer[13] on the CherryOS project in 2004.[14] CherryOS was a PowerPC G4 processor emulator for x86 Microsoft Windows platforms, which allowed various Apple Inc. programs to be operated on Windows XP. Made available for pre-orders on October 12, 2004,[12] the program encountered a number of launch difficulties its first year,[11][15][16] including accusations that CherryOS used code grafted directly from PearPC, an older open source emulator. Kane subsequently stated that PearPC had provided the inspiration for CherryOS, but "not the work, not the architecture,"[13] and that the direct grafting PearPC code had been done by a single programmer, since fired from MXS.[13]

By late 2004, Kane stated to Wired that he'd been contacted by Apple Computer for an undisclosed reason that "wasn't bad."[13] After further development,[17] CherryOS 1.0 was released in its final form on March 8, 2005.[18] Estimated to be compatible with approximately 70 percent of PCs,[19] it was described as automatically detecting hardware and network connections and allowing "for the use of virtually any OS X-ready application,"[18] including Safari and Mail.[19] Again fielding accusations that CherryOS 1.0 incorporated code from PearPC, MXS argued CherryOS was "absolutely not" a knockoff,"[19] and that though "certain generic code strings and screen verbiage used in Pear PC are also used in CherryOS... they are not proprietary to the Pear PC product."[19] The controversy, however, remained a focus of the press, and CherryOS announced that "due to overwhelming demand, Cherry open source project launches May 1, 2005."[20]

Code Rebel

Main article: Code Rebel

In 2006 Kane became the co-founder, CEO and chairman of the software technology company Code Rebel.[6] Headquartered in Kahului, Hawaii, Code Rebel's initial goal was to create a new object oriented remote access protocol.[21] The company went on to develop, manufacture, license, support and sell computer software typically related to terminal services and virtualization software for Apple Inc. products.[22] In particular, the company is known for its remote access software application called iRAPP, and a Mac terminal services application called iRAPP Terminal Server (iRAPP TS).[23] As the company grew, it began catering software to companies such as Intuit, Bloomberg and Wells Fargo. Code Rebel later relocated to the United States mainland, setting up an office in New York City.[10] In October 2010, University of Alabama’s Management Information Systems program announced a partnership with Code Rebel to create Apple iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad applications.[24]

In March of 2011, competitor Aqua Connect filed suit against Code Rebel for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. To bolster their defense, Aqua Connect cited the controversy relating to PearPC and CherryOS some years earlier.[25] Over three years later, the United States District Court for the Central District of California entered judgment in favor of Code Rebel on all claims, stating “Aqua Connect has failed to establish any act of reverse engineering by Code Rebel or any other illegal act that would support any of its claims.”[26] Code Rebel filed a countersuit against Aqua Connect in June 2013, alleging, among other things, a pattern of trade libel, business interference and unfair business practices. On October 14, 2014, the District Court entered a monetary judgment in favor of Code Rebel and against Aqua Connect.[27]

Code Rebel went public in May 2015, in the first IPO for a Hawaii technology company since 2000, and is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. By its second day of trading, the company's stock was up over 200% from its initial offering price.[28] Dr. James Canton joined Code Rebel as director in 2015.[29] On July 28, 2015, Code Rebel announced it had acquired ThinOps Resources,[22] for $9.25 million.[22][10] In August 2015, Kane was featured in a webcast by BizTechReports, discussing topics including the increased adoption of Code Rebel's iRAPP Solution by customers such as AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Bloomberg, and J.P. Morgan Chase. [29]

On January 14, 2016, Code Rebel announced that it would likely merge with Aegis Identity Software, Inc.,[30] which is a private software company in Colorado[31] that provides "on-premise [sic] and cloud-based identity and access management products and services for the K-12 and higher education markets."[30] After the announcement, Code Rebel's shares doubled in market value.[31][32] A definitive merger agreement between the two companies was signed on March 11, 2016.[33][34] Aegis Identity's CEO stated that Aegis would continue to maitain its branding, with the two companies working as a joint operation.[35][36] As of 2016, Code Rebel was undergoing a bankruptcy. Kane was quoted stated "digesting a bankruptcy after building Code Rebel for over ten years, will take some time - and my only way forward is to pick up the pieces and optimize the next steps I take."[1]

EchoEcho, Ozolio, and Flikmedia

From 2011 to 2012, Kane worked at Echoecho Media Inc. as Senior VP of Engineering.[6] Kane also founded the HD video live streaming company Ozolio in 2012.[6]

Also in 2012 Kane became Chief Technology Officer of Flikmedia,[6] a mobile video dating service. Flikmedia debuted a program for iOS in May 2012, with TechCrunch calling it "an innovative mobile video dating service that feels like a mix between Chatroulette and Match.com."[37] The app was written by a team of female programmers, and limits users to short 90 second conversations with strangers, with optional longer conversations.[37] A free Flikdate app debuted at the App Store in July 2012. [37] As of June 26, 2014, Flikdate's technology was patent pending.[38]

While CEO of Code Rebel and an executive or chairman for several other companies, Kane also served as an operating partner at Pegasus Capital in 2014.[9]

mbloom Ventures

"We're startup guys [at mbloom], not [venture funding] guys. We've been through multiple cycles of fundraising as startup guys, so we believe we can be objective, bring talent in when we need to, and help build the Hawaii startup ecosystem. We want to be able to join in with entrepreneurs and create conversations around scaling or infrastructure, rather than just being a source of capital."
— Arben Kane in 2014[5]

Together with business partner Nick Bicanic[39] from Venice, California,[40] Kane co-founded[5] the Maui-based business incubator and technology fund[9] Mbloom Ventures LLC in 2013,[3] becoming general partner.[6] The Star Advertiser wrote in January 2014 that, "with the fund, [Kane] and Bicanic plan to provide mentorship, strategies, and business networks that nurture and cultivate the success of new Hawaii startups."[39]

This initial venture capital fund,[41] mbloom Fund 1, was described as "a public-private partnership" between the Hawaii State Development Corporation (HSDC) and a private investor.[39] Devon Archer, a co-founder of Rosemont Capital and a New York-based investor,[40] invested the remaining $5 million to cap the fund.[42][41]

Announced as closed on January 22, 2014,[40] Mbloom Fund 1 was to "target early-stage Hawaii technology companies, including those that are supported by the State’s HI Growth Initiative programs such as Blue Startups, Hawaii’s first technology venture accelerator."[40] While Kane stated that most of the fund's portfolio companies would have a connection to Hawaii, he described a return on investment as the primary consideration in selecting investments.[43]

Mbloom began to work on deals and looked to expand into Honolulu in early 2014.[5] In March 2014, Kane announced that mbloom expected to make five to ten investments in 2014, most likely in the $50,000 to $250,000 range.[43] On June 26, 2014, Flikdate announced they had raised $350,000 from mbloom to launch a new version of its app, with backing provided by the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation (HSDC),[38] and by July 2014 mbloom had invested $200,000 in Vantage Sports,[44] a sports data company.[41] In October 2015, mbloom announced it had provided a seed investment to Fanhandle, Inc., which had been founded by Darius A. Monsef IV of Creative Market. Fanhandle marked mbloom's seventh investment.[45] In 2016, the M&A Advisor awarded Kane their Annual Emerging Leaders Award.[2] He resigned from mbloom after the fund was renamed Reef Capital Ventures.[1]

Stacked

In 2015, Kane founded Stacked Venture Building, a startup incubator focused on computer software. Based in San Francisco,[46] the company has satellite offices in New York, San Francisco, Sydney, and Kosovo.[1] Kane in 2016 moved to New York to focus on the venture full-time.[1] Beyond investing in various markets, the company develoeps its own apps through Stacked Labs.[47] Managing partners beyond Kane include Patrick Nguyen and Jennifer Zanich, while operating partners include Jin Sun Park and Tanya Loh. Technical leads are Karel Herink and Craig Malone, while director of product is Steve Saul.[48] As of April 2016, Stacked had nine active companies in its portfolio[48] and by June 2016 it had 50 partners.[1]

Patents

Kane holds five US patents related to media data processing,[6] including code for compression and decompression of media data.[7] His first patent was assigned on August 30, 2005, and was titled "methods, data structures, and systems for processing media data streams." The software was focused on media players that automatically configured themselves and began playing diverse data types.[49] His second patent, assigned in 2008, used a color matrix layout among other features to compress and decompress media.[50] Similar to his first patent, his third was assigned in February 2009, and again provided systems and data structures to allow for the custom compressing and streaming of media data, with an encryption process added as well.[51] Finalized in March 2010, his fourth patent was again focused on media players and the compression, streaming, and playing of media data.[52] In 2014, he was assigned a fifth US patent along with Nikola Bicanic,[53] for a live camera hosting program that allowed for successive interactive video sessions with users,[53] "facilitating selection of dating partners in online dating environments," among others.[54]

Personal life

As of 2014 Kane has dual American and German citizenship,[6] and he lives in the Maui district of Kula[9] and in New York City.[4] After getting married in October 2015, he and his wife moved their primary residence to New York City in June 2016.[1]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gallagher, Kathleen (June 29, 2016). "Founder of Code Rebel speaks about future plans". Pacific Business News. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  2. 1 2 "7th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards Winners Announced" (PDF). The M&A Advisor. April 6, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  3. 1 2 "Code Rebel Corp. Profile". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  4. 1 2 Arben Kryeziu on Twitter
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Rushin, Jason (2014-03-20). "Mbloom's $10 Million Hawaii Tech Fund Begins to Take Shape". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "People at FlikMedia Inc (FLKM.PK)". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  7. 1 2 "Arben Kryeziu". Linkedin. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  8. ↑ O'Neil, Tom (February 24, 2011). "Are the Oscars copying the Golden Globes' cyber strategy?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Entrepreneur follows trends, creates strategies". Focus Maui Nui - Maui Economic Development Board. August 27, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Code Rebel Corporation CEO Interview". Wall Street Analyzer. August 24, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  11. 1 2 3 Martin, Dan (October 15, 2004). "Maui firm ignites Mac-PC firestorm". Star Bulletin. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  12. 1 2 Singer, Michael (October 14, 2004). "Cherry OS Sweetens Mac on Windows". Internet News. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Kahney, Leander (October 24, 2004). "November Harvest for CherryOS". Wired. Associated Press/Reuters. Archived from the original on December 23, 2005. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  14. ↑ "MXS Releases Cherry OS PC to Mac Conversion Software". MXS PRNewswire.com. October 12, 2004. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  15. ↑ LeClaire, Jennifer (October 21, 2004). "CherryOS Sparks Talk of Virtualization Wars". TechNewsWorlds. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  16. ↑ Kahney, Leander (October 18, 2004). "CherryOS Not BS, Author Says". Wired. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  17. ↑ "CherryOS: Free Trial Next Month". Wired. October 22, 2004. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  18. 1 2 Gibson, Brad (March 8, 2005). "Cherry OS Mac Emulator Released for PCs; Company Pleased With Speed". Mac Observer. Macobserver.com. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Windows fans enjoy fruits of Cherry's labours". Irish Times. March 24, 2005. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  20. ↑ Dalrymple, Jim (April 2005). "CherryOS goes open source". MacWorld. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  21. ↑ "The History & Future of iRAPP / Code Rebel". Arben Kryeziu. Code Rebel. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  22. 1 2 3 "Code Rebel Acquires ThinOps Resources". FinSMEs. July 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  23. ↑ "Code Rebel Customer Case Study". Microsoft. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  24. ↑ "UA MIS partners with Code Rebel, LLC". Jonathan Burns. University of Alabama. October 18, 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  25. ↑ Jade, Charles (March 30, 2005). "PearPC seeks virtual lawsuit against CherryOS". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  26. ↑ "Code Rebel, LLC Prevails Against Aqua Connect, Inc.'s Trade Secrets Claim in Federal Court". Reuters. February 15, 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Software Developer Code Rebel, LLC Obtains Another Judgment Against Aqua Connect In Second Federal Lawsuit". Enhanced Online News. October 27, 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  28. ↑ "Stock price for Maui-based software firm Code Rebel soars after IPO". Pacific Business News. 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  29. 1 2 "Code Rebel CEO Talks Growth in Bring-Your-Own-Device Enterprises and Rising Adoption of iRAPP Solution With BizTechReports". MarketWired press release. August 5, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  30. 1 2 "Code Rebel Pursues Merger With Aegis Identity Software and Entry Into Identity Security and Access Management Market". Code Rebel. January 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  31. 1 2 Haroutunian, Mourad (January 15, 2016). "Code Rebel to merge with Aegis; shares more than double". ProactiveInvestors. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  32. ↑ Darrell, Larry (January 15, 2016). "Code Rebel Corp Stock Skyrockets on Expected Merger With Aegis Identity". Bidness Etc. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  33. ↑ "Code Rebel and Aegis Identity Announce Definitive Merger and Joint Operations". MSN. March 17, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  34. ↑ "Code Rebel and Aegis Identity Announce Definitive Merger and Joint Operations". Code Rebel. March 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  35. ↑ "Code Rebel and Aegis Identity Announce Definitive Merger and Joint Operations". NASDAQ - press release. March 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  36. ↑ "Code Rebel Corporation (NASDAQ:CDRB) CEO Interview". Wall Street Analyzer. March 30, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  37. 1 2 3 Lardinois, Frederic (July 12, 2012). "Flikdate's New Mobile Live Video Dating Service Launches on iOS". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  38. 1 2 "Flikdate Raises New Round For Video Dating App". Press Release. June 26, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  39. 1 2 3 "Maui-based venture capital fund raises $10M for startups". Star Advertiser. January 21, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  40. 1 2 3 4 "State Closes $10 Million Investment Fund Based in Maui". State of Hawaii - Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. January 22, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  41. 1 2 3 "State of Hawaii says no reason for controversy in mbloom investments". Pacific Business News. July 18, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  42. ↑ "HSDC and mbloom Close $10M Startup Investment Fund". Aloha Startups. January 22, 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  43. 1 2 Rushin, Jason (March 20, 2014). "Mbloom's $10 Million Hawaii Tech Fund Begins to Take Shape". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  44. ↑ "Hawaiʻi's Top Entrepreneurs to Pitch Silicon Valley Investors". Maui Now. May 5, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  45. ↑ "mbloom Closes Seed Investment in Hawaii-based Company Fanhandle". HI Growth Initiative. October 6, 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  46. ↑ "Stacked Venture Builder". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  47. ↑ "Stacked". Facebook - Stacked. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  48. 1 2 "Team / Companies". stackedvb.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  49. ↑ Kryeziu, Arben (August 30, 2005). "Methods, data structures, and systems for processing media data streams- United States 6,938,047". United States Patent Office. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  50. ↑ Kryeziu, Arben (July 15, 2008). "Compression and decompression of media data - United States Patent No. 7,400,764". United States Patent Office. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  51. ↑ Kryeziu, Arben (February 24, 2009). "Methods, data structures, and systems for processing media data streams - United States Patent No. 7,496,676". United States Patent Office. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  52. ↑ Kryeziu, Arben (March 23, 2010). "Methods, data structures, and systems for processing media data streams - United States Patent No. 7,685,161". United States Patent Office. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  53. 1 2 Kryeziu, Arben; Bicanic, Nikola Vladimir (July 22, 2014). "Successive real-time interactive video sessions -United States Patent No. 8,786,662". United States Patent Office. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  54. ↑ "Arben Kryeziu Patents". Justia.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.

External links

Companies with Kane's involvement
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