Gavin Starks

With a unique background in business, technology, science and media, Gavin has broad and deep knowledge of how data can change the world.

He began developing internet-based research tools in 1993, and joined Branson’s award-winning Virgin Net (now Virgin Media) in 1995 as its fifth team member.

In 2006 he created AMEE, raising over $10m from world-class venture investors including O’Reilly, USV, and Amadeus (organising the world’s environmental data, standards, and calculations into a simple web-service). In 2011 he joined the UK Government’s “Energy Sector Board” as part of their Midata open-data initiative.

Having helped to kick-start the streaming media industry in Europe in the late 90’s, Gavin created award-winning media-technology service, Tornado, selling it to a larger media group in 2003. He then helped create the digital media supply-chain, as founding CEO of world-leading digital distributor, CI. CI was the first company to deliver digital products to iTunes, and delivered Amazon US ~25% of its download store at launch.

At the UK’s Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory he worked on systems designed to map and interpret the universe. He created courses and lectured in Engineering and Music at Glasgow University, and has degrees in Astronomy (B.Sc.), and Electronic Music (M.Mus.). He co-created a co-operative harbour on the Thames where he now lives, as a musician has released his own album, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.