Amir Ansari

Who is Amir Ansari?

Amir Ansari is co-founder of venture capital firm Prodea Systems, Inc. Along with his sister-in-law Anousheh Ansari, he made a multi-million dollar contribution to the Ansari X Prize foundation on May 5, 2004, the 43rd anniversary of Alan Shepard's sub-orbital spaceflight. The X Prize was officially renamed the Ansari X Prize in honour of their donation.

Born in 1970 in Tehran, Iran, Ansari immigrated to the United States before the Iranian Revolution. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science at George Mason University.

Amir, along with his brother Hamid and sister-in-law Anousheh Ansari, founded Telecom Technologies, Inc. in 1993, and served as the company's CTO. TTI was acquired by Sonus Networks, Inc. in 2000.

Most recently, Prodea has announced the formation of a partnership with Space Adventures, Ltd. and the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation to create a fleet of suborbital spaceflight vehicles for global commercial use.