Stephan Ouaknine

Stephan Ouaknine is a Canadian business magnate, best known for his activities in the telecommunications industry and in renewable energy. A native of Montreal, Ouaknine has been active at international events including the Clinton Global Initiative, the Durban World Climate Summit and the Rio+20 World Green Summit, and has been named one of Canada's most notable entrepreneurs by Profit magazine.[1]

Early life

Ouaknine, the son of Moroccan and Egyptian immigrants to Canada, attended McGill University and moved to the Israeli start-up industry,[2] first joining a dot-com multimedia company then known as Geo-Interactive. As vice-president of business development, Ouaknine led the firm’s 1996 IPO on the London Stock Exchange under the name Emblaze.[3]

Telecom industry

In 1998, Ouaknine founded Airslide Systems, an advanced telecommunications equipment company, from his home in Tel Aviv. He raised over $36 million in venture capital for this firm from investors including George Soros, Sequoia Capital, Intel and SingTel.[4] The firm's assets were ultimately acquired by Dialogic Corporation.[5][6]

After exiting Airslide, Ouaknine returned to Montreal to found Blueslice Networks in 2002.[7][8] Blueslice produced evolved Subscriber Data Management (eSDM) solutions for mobile operators.[9] The firm was acquired in 2010 by Morrisville-based Tekelec.[10]

Recent activities

Subsequently, to Blueslice's acquisition, Ouaknine moved to the renewable energy industry. With partners including Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison, Eric Ouaknine and Vincent Martel, Ouaknine founded Inerjys, a renewable energy and clean technology growth equity fund.[11] At Inerjys, Ouaknine’s activities have focused on a hybrid strategy of growth equity investment and infrastructure project finance, with the objective of accelerating the commercialization of innovative cleantech firms.[12] Ouaknine has promoted this investment thesis at major international events including the Durban World Climate Summit,[13][14] the Clinton Global Initiative,[15][16] and the World Green Summit,[17] a business conference affiliated with Rio+20.[18] In 2017, Oaknine was a guide in the March of the Living for teenagers.

References
  1. Shiffman, Kim (April 2012). "Canada's 30 Most Fabulous Entrepreneurs - Stephan Ouaknine". Profit Magazine.
  2. "Quebec can benefit from Israeli tech know-how: Charest". Canadian Jewish News.
  3. MacGregor, Alison (12 June 2004). "'Crazy' telecom idea now considered visionary" (PDF). Ottawa Citizen.
  4. "Airslide Founder, Former CEO Stephan Ouaknine Resigns From Operational Role - To Remain On As Advisor". Business Wire. June 21, 2001.
  5. "Company Overview of Airslide Systems, Inc". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  6. Tehrani, Rich. "Dialogic Buys Cantata".
  7. "Blueslice Networks" (PDF). The Wall Street Transcript. June 26, 2004.
  8. "Company Overview of Blueslice Networks Inc". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  9. "About Blueslice". Tekelec, Inc.
  10. "Tekelec Announces Agreements to Acquire Camiant and Blueslice Networks". Tekelec. May 6, 2010.
  11. Chernova, Yuliya (May 25, 2012). "New Clean-Tech Firm Inerjys Hires Industry Veterans Shah, Pullan". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. Fehrenbacher, Katie (May 25, 2012). "Whoa: Meet the new billion dollar cleantech fund Inerjys". GigaOM earth2tech.
  13. van Praet, Nicholas (December 12, 2011). "Changing the landscape". Financial Post.
  14. "Canadian CEO talks renewable energy in Durban". Business Wire. December 6, 2011. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
  15. "Inerjys announces $1B renewable-energy commitment at Clinton Global Initiative". Business Wire. September 23, 2011. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
  16. "President Bill Clinton Opens the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting with a Focus on Generating Jobs for the 21st Century, Sustainable Consumption for our Planet, "What Works" for Girls and Women, and Progress of Member Commitments". Clinton Global Initiative. September 20, 2011.
  17. "Programme - World Green Summit". World Green Summit.
  18. "World Green Summit at Rio+20". World Climate Limited. Archived from the original on 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
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