Lars Davies, CEO and Founder
Lars is a physicist and a lawyer by training. He founded Kalypton as a result of his legal, academic, and technical experiences in order to deliver solutions that enable users to achieve regulatory compliance and evidential weight for their electronic communications. Prior to this he was a Senior Visiting Fellow to the Institute for Computer and Communications Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London (CCLS).
Lars joined the Centre for CCLS in 1995 as a full-time academic lawyer. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Lars worked in the computer industry.
Whilst at the CCLS, Lars specialized in Information Technology Law, Internet Law and Telecommunications Law, and concentrated on issues that included electronic financial services, security, authentication, and regulatory compliance. One of his first areas of research was into digital and electronic cash (he co-authored the paper ‘Digital Cash’ with Professor Chris Reed). His research delved into the limitations and risks posed by standard electronic and digital cash payment solutions.
During his time as an academic, Lars also consulted to a major city law firm, where he worked closely with the firm’s IT, telecommunications, and e‑commerce groups in relation to both contentious and non-contentious matters on a range of legal and regulatory issues relating to telecommunications and electronic commerce. Lars was a frequent and well-known speaker on these topics and is widely published, including past contributions to the telecommunications volume of the Encyclopædia of Forms and Precedents.
Lars subsequently held the post of Senior Visiting Fellow at the CCLS until 2005. He went on to form Kalypton in order to deliver solutions that enable users to achieve regulatory compliance and evidential weight for their electronic data, communications, and transactions. In 2010 Kalypton extended its product range to create an advanced electronic and mobile payments system called Tereon.
Lars is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners of the City of London.
Published reports by Lars include:
- Digital Cash – The Legal Implications, Chris Reed & Lars Davies (IT Law Unit 1995)
- Legal Regulation of Internet Banking: a European Perspective, Chris Reed (IT Law Unit 1996)
- A Model for Internet Regulation? Constructing a framework for regulating electronic commerce, Society for Computers and Law, Bristol 1999.
Relevant book chapters include:
- Electronic Commerce, Chapter 10 Computer Law 4 ed 2, eds Chris Reed and John Angel, Blackstone Publishing 2000.
- Telecommunications, Lars Davies and James Ibbetson, Volume 39(1) The Encyclopædia of Forms and Precedents, Butterworths 1999 Reissue.
- Developments in Securities Law and the Internet in the United Kingdom, Yearbook of International Financial and Economic Law 1999, ed Joseph J Norton, Kluwer academic publishers, 2001. FS_uncertainty
Luke Barton, Chief Business Officer and Investor
Luke’s career spans 25+ years in the IT infrastructure and services markets. Focused on taking fledgling companies through the usual growth challenges to acquisition stage, whilst becoming successful and profitable organizations during the process. He’s highly experienced in identifying new business opportunities, creating strategic partnerships and delivering business outcomes.
John MacLeod, Head of Strategy
John as adviser to Kalypton has 30 years of successful corporate experience in leading companies delivering sales targets, marketing programmes and corporate strategies within the Chemicals, Plastics, Financial Services, infrastructure finance and tech sectors.
He is a structured thinker (Degree in Economics/ MBA/ CIM Diploma in Marketing), and can troubleshoot, formulate plans and deliver them across different audiences.
Post MBA (Imperial) he shadowed the CEO and COO of the largest stockbroker in the UK and ran the strategy team to produce the strategic plan. He also identified an opportunity to stretch the brand into banking and identified and was involved in acquiring an offshore bank.
He has specialist knowledge of the financial services sector and holds the IMC/ PCIAM. He is qualified to level 6, (CF30) and as a Private Banker he was responsible for HNW clients worth £150m. Senior positions held include MD, Head of Broker Sales (Barclays), and Head of Pensions at the largest stockbroker in the UK. He was also a Vice President and Private Banker at Barclays Wealth and provides strategy and consultancy advice to a successful tech fund.
Tony Summers
Tony is Kalypton’s CFO having previously been an audit partner at Baker Tilly and before that eleven years at PwC in London. He has almost 25 years of experience working with companies both listed and private, primarily in the software and technology sectors, but also worked for several years with a global credit card issuer.
Tony was a computer programmer prior to studying accountancy. This proved very useful when he worked on a major global software implementation project. He worked closely with the software developers to redesign and fully field-test certain aspects of the software’s robustness and functionality.
Tony enjoyed a secondment as the Financial Controller of a London Stock Exchange listed plc, where he lists integrating a number of acquisitions amongst his key achievements. He has been quoted in the financial press and trade publications on a number of topics, typically providing insight or analysis to particular market or sectors and often the implications of changes in tax legislation on those sectors.
Chris McDonald
Chris is an experienced senior programme manager with a background in B2B, B2C, professional, technology, education, financial, banking, government, commercial, and international corporate sectors. Ha has a broad range of management experience, and regularly engages with stakeholders at CXO/COO level, to deliver cost appropriate solutions and business process change via emerging technology solutions.
Chris has delivered on a range of programs, ranging from business transformation, IT transition, IT strategies, technology road-maps, and programme rescue, through to technology evaluation, stakeholder governance, project delivery. He has demonstrable experience applying best practice frameworks and methods successfully, including those of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and has repeatedly delivered added business value through the adoption of new technology.
John Cole
Based near San Francisco, USA, John is a Sales Partner with Kalypton with extensive expertise in business application software, including PeopleSoft, Oracle and Lawson. Expertise includes consultative and complex sales experience in a wide variety of business-to-business markets. Accomplished in territory and account planning, uncovering revenue opportunities, identifying short and long term sales goals whilst efficiently managing resources to deliver results and profit. Experience at the executive level in negotiations and account planning; Industry acumen spans Manufacturing, Distribution, Financial Services, Retail, Food & Beverage and Automotive.