Ambarish Mitra

Education

Born into a middle class Indian family in Kolkata India, Mitra lived in Indian mining town Dhanbad till the age of 14 where he attended the De Nobili School, FRI.

Career

He is best known for founding Blippar, a visual search and augmented reality (Arkansas) company based in the United Kingdom, of which he is the Chief Executive Officer.

Mitra ran away from home as a teenager following a dispute with his family about his future. He moved into a slum in Delhi where he worked selling magazines door-to-door by day, and in a tea stall by night. After taking the company public with a successful IPO, Mitra relocated to the United Kingdom to continue his education, earning a master"s degree from the London School of Economics.

Following his graduation, Mitra continued his entrepreneurship by co-founding several startups, including United Kingdom insurance provider Swiftcover where he served as Head of Innovation, as well as a mobile social network called "Stuck".

In 2007, Swiftcover was acquired by AXA Investment Managers Insurance. While working for AXA Investment Managers Insurance, Mitra met Omar Tayeb, and the two were inspired to create Blippar in 2011 after sharing a joke in a public about imagining the Queen of England coming to life from a £20 note.

Today, Mitra serves as Chief Executive Officer of Blippar. and in January 2016, Blippar was named on Bloomberg"s list of top United Kingdom Business Innovators and recognized by Business Insider as one of the most innovative companies. In February 2016, Mitra was named as an ambassador for the British government"s GREAT Britain campaign "to promote British innovation around the world.".

Achievements

• While living the slum, Mitra entered and won a business plan competition for "e-businesses" which he spotted in an English-language newspaper, netting him $10,000 to start what would become womeninfoline.com, an internet portral for women. Under Mitra"s leadership, Blippar has won several technology and innovation awards, including being ranked #19 on Consumer News and Business Channel"s 2015 Disruptor 50 list.