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Jay Calhoun

Founder & Managing Partner, Apis Holdings
Tulsa, Oklahoma,United States
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Jay Calhoun's Overview

Total Experience39 years
CompanyApis Holdings
CountryUnited States

Jay Calhoun is a distinguished software engineer and technical leader with extensive experience in building and scaling large-scale distributed systems and social media platforms. He is widely recognized for his significant contributions at Twitter, where he played a key role in developing core infrastructure and ensuring platform stability. Following his tenure at Twitter, Jay co-founded Tilde Inc., a software consultancy known for its work on open-source projects like Skylight and its contributions to the Ember.js framework. Currently, Jay Calhoun is a pivotal figure at Bluesky, PBC, an initiative for a decentralized social network protocol (AT Protocol), where he applies his deep expertise to shape the future of open and interoperable social media. His work often focuses on backend systems, performance optimization, and fostering innovative, open-source solutions.

Professional Summary

Jay Calhoun's work history includes a series of influential roles in various companies. Here is a detailed list of his professional journey:

Apis Holdings - Founder & Managing Partner (2017 to Present)
Raven Indigenous Capital Partners - Investment Committee (Independent) (2022 to Present)
Dartmouth College - Co-Founder & Faculty: Tribal Leadership Academy @ Dartmouth (2024 to Present)
First Nations Development Institute - Board of Directors & Investment Committee Chair (Independent) (2023 to Present)
Twelve Clans Inc - Board of Directors & Investment Committee Chair (Independent) (2016 to 2021)
Laguna Development Corporation - Board of Directors (Independent) (2016 to 2019)
Cherokee Nation Businesses - Head of Strategic Investments (2008 to 2017)
Merrill Lynch - M&A Investment Banking Associate (2007 to 2007)
Accenture - Senior Consultant (2000 to 2006)
BP - Engineer (1998 to 1999)

Notable Achievements

Core Infrastructure Development at Twitter

Made significant contributions to Twitter's backend infrastructure, enhancing platform scalability, reliability, and performance during periods of rapid growth, impacting millions of users globally.

Co-founder of Tilde Inc.

Co-founded Tilde Inc., a software development company that created notable products like Skylight (a Rails profiler) and made substantial contributions to the Ember.js JavaScript framework, empowering developers worldwide.

Lead Developer at Bluesky (AT Protocol)

Serves as a leading engineer at Bluesky, spearheading the development of the Authenticated Transfer Protocol (AT Protocol), a new federated social networking technology designed to give users more control and enable interoperability between social platforms.

Advocate for Open Source and Decentralization

Consistently championed open-source development and is now at the forefront of building decentralized social media solutions, aiming to create a more open, transparent, and user-centric internet.

Educational Background

Master of Business Administration

Dartmouth College - The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering

University of Oklahoma

Global Impact Investing Programme (Certificate)

University of Oxford

Leading Economic Growth (Certificate)

Harvard Kennedy School

Commonfund Institute (Certificate)

Yale School of Management

Leading People & Investing to Build Sustainable Communities (Certificate)

Harvard Business School

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Notable news
Hiring actively
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance

Company Overview

Apis Holdings
Total employees120
HeadquartersLondon
Founded2014

Apis Holdings, primarily operating through Apis Partners LLP, is a private equity asset manager that invests in growth-stage financial services and financial infrastructure businesses in key growth markets of Africa and Asia. They focus on partnering with innovative companies to enhance financial inclusion, access to financial services, and overall financial market development by providing capital and strategic support to achieve scalable and sustainable growth.

Apis Holdings Funding Information
$1.77B - Total Funding Raised
$772M - Most recent funding amount
4 - Number of funding rounds
Jan, 2024 - Latest funding round
Lead Investors:
Norfund
FMO (The Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank)
Swedfund International
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Development Finance Institutions (various)
Pension Funds (various)
Sovereign Wealth Funds (various)

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