Cybersecurity & Machines

As robots, autonomous vehicles, drones and sensors enter our workplaces, homes and lives hackers are planning ever more nefarious attacks. RobotLab will take a deep dive with the investors, innovators and leaders of New York's planned Global Cybersecurity Center to understand the security challenges and opportunities on the horizon with John Frankel of ffVC and Guy Frankin of SOSA NY (see bios below).

John Frankel is the founding partner of ff Venture Capital. He founded the firm in 2008 and has been a seed- and early-stage investor since late 1999. John focuses on advising and growing technology and technology-enabled companies across emerging industries, including artificial intelligence, cyber security, drones, enterprise software, crowdfunding, and data analytics, among others. He has served on the boards of more than 35 companies and has led investments in more than 80 companies, including Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD), Indiegogo, Ionic Security, Unikey, Skycatch, Plated, 500px, Distil Networks, Pebblepost, and Owlet. John also sits on The NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Board of Overseers.

Prior to founding ffVC, John worked at Goldman Sachs for 21 years in a variety of roles that involved technology development, reengineering and capital markets. At Goldman Sachs, he worked closely with some of the world’s leading hedge fund managers and developed a keen understanding of emerging technologies and portfolio risk/return management.

Guy Franklin is the General Manager of SOSA NYC and the founder of "Israeli Mapped in NY". SOSA, a global network of tech innovation hubs, was founded in 2013 by 25 leading Israeli investors and hi-tech entrepreneurs. SOSA brings together the world’s most innovative startups and entrepreneurs, and delivers cutting-edge ideas to corporations and investors looking to enhance their business.“Israeli Mapped in NY”is an interactive platform that maps the Israeli startups operating in NY. Israeli Mapped in NY helps to show the Israeli innovation and creativity to the world and promote the Israeli startups community in NY to investors and other players in the startups eco-system in NY.

Prior to joining SOSA, Guy worked as an accountant at Ernst and Young in Tel-Aviv and NYC dealing with startups for over 10 years. Guy was recently named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Israel by The Marker Magazine and named one of the 10 Israelis making a mark on New York’s tech scene.Based on the success of “Israeli Mapped in NY”, Guy founded additional platforms in Boston and London.The platforms guy created received several awards and recognition's, as this was something that changed the conversation about Israel and continues to promote the Israeli startups community.

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