Keith Teare: The “good” investment in the new normal (Pandemic)
The “good” investment In the new normal (Pandemic)
Keith Teare is a Founder and Executive Chairman at Accelerated Digital Ventures Ltd – A UK based global investment company focused on startups at all stages. He was previously founder at the Palo Alto incubator, Archimedes Labs. Archimedes was the original incubator for TechCrunch and since 2011 has invested, accelerated or incubated many Silicon valley startups including Quixey; M.dot (sold to GoDaddy); chat.center; Loop Surveys; DownTown and Sunshine. Teare has a track record as a serial entrepreneur with big ideas and has achieved significant returns for investors.
History
(a) Founding shareholder of Mike Arrington’s TechCrunch (acquired by AOL in Sept 2010) (b) RealNames Corporation, founded in Palo Alto in 1998. Teare was founder and CEO. The company created a multi-lingual naming system, with distinct national namespaces, sitting on top of the DNS. It used natural language keywords, mapped to URIs to allow native language navigation. Teare raised more than $130 million in venture funding and filed for an IPO (led by Morgan Stanley, with Mary Meeker as lead analyst) in 1999. After negotiating a world-wide agreement to include RealNames in the Microsoft browser in early 2000, the company had an implied valuation of more than $1.5 billion. By 2002, it was responsible for over 1 billion keyword navigations per quarter. It had agreements in Japan, China and Korea, and was responsible for supporting the nascent multi-lingual DNS system run by Verisign.
(c)The EasyNet Group: Founded in 1994 as one of the first ISP’s in Europe, Teare was CTO and co-founder. It went public on the AIM exchange in London in 1996 and was trading at a valuation of more than $1 billion by 1999. In 2007, it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s B Sky B, where Teare’s co-founder, David Rowe is still CEO of the division. In 2010, via management buyout, it is once again an independent company.
(d) Co-founder of edgeio corporation in 2005 (acquired by Looksmart in 2007) (e)Seed funder of NetNames (Acquired by NetBenefit in 2001),
(f)Founder of Clerkswell (formerly cScape), a leading UK systems integrator (acquired by NetB2B2 in 2001). (g) Co-founder of CYBERIA, the world’s first Internet Cafe
(h) Founding board member of fotopedia, a company founded by Jean-Marie Hullot, former CTO of Apple’s applications division. Teare studied for his BA and unfinished PhD at the University of Kent in the UK. He is on the university’s US alumni board. He is also a Smithsonian-Computerworld Laureate for his contribution of RealNames. RealNames remains part of the Smithsonian permanent collection. Teare is the author of “The Easy Net Book”, published by International Tompson in 1996; and “Under Siege”, published by Penguin in 1988. He writes regularly for TechCrunch.
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David Cao is a community builder, investor, and entrepreneur at the forefront of the Physical AI and Embodied AI ecosystem. He is the Curator of the Physical AI Newsletter and Managing Partner at F50, where he leads initiatives engaging innovators, investors, and industry leaders across manufacturing, construction, and real estate.
He is the Producer of the F50 Physical AI Summit and the Future 50 Physical AI Builders Program, platforms designed to spotlight and accelerate breakthrough entrepreneurs. As a community and ecosystem builder, David has founded and nurtured networks spanning Silicon Valley and the Greater Austin–San Antonio Corridor, including SVE, Silicon Valley’s largest and oldest entrepreneurs community.
David is also a seasoned venture investor, having backed more than 40 companies across multiple sectors, including Knightscope (IPO 2022), Doc.AI (acquired by Sharecare, IPO 2021), Gummicube (acquired by Airship), Oculii (acquired by Ambarella), and Voke VR (acquired by Intel).
Beyond entrepreneurship and investment, he is a leading thinker on the North America Manufacturing Corridor from Monterey Mexico to Dallas, helping frame its role as one of the most dynamic and economically vital regions in the world. David is helping shape the next wave of Physical AI innovation in North America and beyond.
In his spare time, David explores the intersection of mindfulness and entrepreneurship. He is the upcoming author of Standing Meditation (forthcoming), and shares the practice with entrepreneurs as a tool for clarity, resilience, and presence.
F50 Physical AI Summit: http://physical.f50.ai
Future 50 Physical AI Builders: http://f50.ai/future
SVE Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs 