Chris Georgen
Founder &
Chief Architect

As Founder & Chief Architect, Chris leads the design of Topl's protocol and directs its business and legal operations. A graduate of Rice University, he obtained degrees in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy. During his time in college, Chris performed and published interdisciplinary research focused on emergent phenomena in complex systems and developed the core ideas that inspired Topl's development. He has a deep interest in the application of new technologies to economic and financial problems and is motivated by the potential for new economic systems to improve standards of living around the world.

Jim Aman
Founder &
CTO

Jim is the Chief Technical Officer and a co-founder of Topl. Concurrently, he is completing a PhD in experimental atomic physics at Rice University where he manages the quantum degenerate neutral strontium apparatus, one of only three in the world. At Rice, Jim's research focuses on the ultracold atomic regime and the search for new phenomena using novel states of matter. Before joining Topl, Jim served as CTO with Corporate Partners in Education; an education focused startup which worked to build a continuous fundraising mechanism for K-12 schools. Jim became involved in the blockchain space in 2015 after encountering Ethereum and the realization that blockchains represent a fundamental paradigm shift in the democratization of data and the interaction between users and organizations.

Nick Edmonds
Founder &
Lead Blockchain
Engineer

After solidifying a love for programming in his high school robotics team, Nicholas went on to graduate from the University of Houston with a degree in computer science. His former projects range from computer vision and virtual reality to neural nets and distributed computing. After reading the seminal Bitcoin whitepaper shortly after it was released in 2008, he has kept an eye on the burgeoning cryptocurrency market. Nick now leads technical development for the Topl protocol working with the rest of the technical team to continue pushing the potential of blockchain technology.

Kim Raath
Founder &
Head of Financial
Engineering

Kim came to the United States as a Div. I Track and Field Student-Athlete and has an undergraduate degree in Mathematics. She is currently the first student at Rice University to simultaneously pursue a M.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Statistics. Growing up in South Africa during the 1990’s, Kim witnessed much inequality and poverty. While working for various NGO’s by rebuilding and developing communities around the world she was frequently made aware of the financial burdens, lack of adequate resources, and need for access to low-cost capital throughout the developing world. As part of the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems and as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, she conducts interdisciplinary research allowing her to contribute to the larger economic issues that impact the availability of and the accessibility to basic needs.

Yamir Tainwala
Software Engineer

Originally from Kolkata, India, Yamir is currently pursuing a major in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania. After failing to make his millions by simply hodl'ing cryptocurrency, Yamir decided that if he couldn’t beat ‘em, he would join ‘em; thus began his nosedive into the blockchain space. With his specific interest and experience in Machine Learning, Yamir is helping Topl to implement the Divine Information Markets and is a key part of the team's efforts to create the first ever market-based risk analysis platform.

Albert Balinski
Blockchain Engineer

Albert is a developer by passion. In the blockchain space, he is fascinated by tokenization and the decentralization of traditional business models. In his free time he loves writing functional Javascript code and going to the gym.

Alex Bruns
Blockchain Engineer

Alex Bruns is currently attending the University of Minnesota. He is pursuing a Computer Science and Product Design double major. He's been involved with blockchain technology since 2016 and is passionate about distributed exchange technology and its ability to allow cryptocurrencies to fully recognize their potential. Alex is currently a full-time blockchain engineer for Topl, working locally in Austin Texas.

Oskar Person
Software Engineer

Oskar is currently working as a technology lead at Consense Data Exchange, a startup that revolutionizes the consent process to accelerate medical research. He joined Topl's ranks to integrate a digital self-sovereign identity solution. He has a background in applied mathematics and data science, which made him fit right in with visionary geeks at Topl.

Kamanzi Ntashamaje
Director of
Onboarding and
Integration

Kamanzi is currently completing his master's degree in International Business with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and SME Management at Maastricht University. He was born and raised in Switzerland but has his roots in Rwanda. Over the course of many trips to visit his family in Rwanda, he realized how creative and dynamic the people were but also how challenging it was to obtain financing for even the best businesses. When he heard about Topl, he understood that blockchain technology can significantly disrupt the usual way of seeking and providing finance in developing countries. By joining the Topl team, he wants to contribute to this revolution.

Paige Nicolaou
Community and
Content Manager

Paige Is in her fourth year at Texas A&M, pursuing an Economics Major. Although new to the blockchain space, she’s excited to see how the technology will continue to change the way things have traditionally been done, especially how it will promote a positive social impact worldwide. When Paige isn’t working, she can most typically be found at a coffee shop, crying her way through calculus homework.

Anna McGuffee
Operations Manager

Anna is in her third year at American University, pursuing a degree in communications with a minor in applied physics. While new to all things blockchain, she has a passion for startups and learning about developing areas of technology. She is excited to be on the inside of a movement and to watch it evolve and effect the world.

Thomas Bocek Ph.D.
Advisor,
P2P and Blockchain
Engineering

Thomas Bocek is a professor for distributed systems and ledgers at the HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil. He is a blockchain researcher and CTO of ScienceMatters. He is also involved in modum.io AG - a blockchain start-up that combines IoT sensor devices with blockchains, VALID - a blockchain-based solution for user-controlled digital identities, and he is a mentor at Iconiq Lab.

Matt Kindy
Advisor,
Security
and Consensus

Self-taught in C programming from a young age, Matt combined his coding interests with his love of mathematics to earn a degree in Computational & Applied Mathematics at Rice University. He has extensive experience with research and development of distributed systems and cryptographic protocols. Among his various projects, he developed and refined NIZK proofs for the JVM-based reference implementation of the STAR-Vote electronic voting system and designed a series of Solidity smart contracts used for a retail payments. Today, he is guiding Topl's implementation of the Ouroboros Praos proof-of-stake consensus protocol and is passionate about bringing secure development practices to Topl's growing team.

Katherine B. Ensor, Ph.D.
Advisor,
Statistical Modeling
and Financial Engineering

Kathy is Noah G. Harding Professor of Statistics and founding director of the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES) at Rice University. Established in 2002, CoFES supports education and research in quantitative finance at the graduate and undergraduate level. Kathy is an expert in statistics for dependent data, financial modeling, and financial risk. She is currently Vice President for the American Statistical Association and serves on the National Academies Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics. Kathy has been recognized for her leadership, scholarship and mentoring and is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

John Dobelman, Ph.D.
Advisor,
Financial Markets
and Engineering

John is a Professor in the Practice in Statistics at Rice University, researching quantitative finance opportunities for profit and risk management. Additionally, he is associate director of Rice's Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES). He has extensive experience in trading and financial engineering. John worked previously as a pricing scientist at PROS Holdings and has a love for improved communication and societally useful technology applications. He likes the idea of helping to nudge the momentum of the P2P application space. John also also serves on the Board of Directors of Houston Achievement Place.

Max Lautenschlaeger
Advisor,
Business Development
and Strategy

Max is a venture developer and blockchain enthusiast with years of experience in Consulting, Company Building, Venture Capital, FinTech, and Private Equity. He holds a BA in controlling along with an MBA from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. Max is Co-Founder, Managing Partner and Sourcing Director of Iconiq Lab, an ICO accelerator program for blockchain and crypto startups.

Mitchell Loureiro
Advisor,
Strategy
and Marketing

Mitchell Loureiro has built communities of hundreds of thousands and raised capital as one of the ICO pioneers. In the process, he designed many of the frameworks that govern how ICOs are run today. Today he serves as CMO of SingularityNET, the leading decentralized AI project lead by the creators of Sophia the robot. His deep commitment to pushing decentralization forward led him to back Topl.

Gary Milante Ph.D.
Advisor,
Economic Modeling
and Impact Assessment

Dr. Gary Milante is the Director of SIPRI's Peace and Development Programme. His research focuses on the intersection of security and socio-economic development. Throughout his career as a researcher and policy advisor, Dr. Milante has concentrated on the complex problems associated with sequencing of institutional reforms, with a special focus on the needs of fragile and conflict-affected states.