Strategic/Financial Committee

Sir Terence Matthews is the founder and Chairman of Wesley Clover, an investment vehicle and holding company. Terry has either founded or funded over 80 companies since 1972 including Newbridge Networks, a company he founded in 1986 and which became a leader in the worldwide data networking industry. In 1972, before launching Newbridge, Terry co-founded Mitel, a world leader in the design and manufacture of enterprise communications solutions. Wesley Clover now has interests in a broad range of next-generation technology companies, real estate, hotels and resorts.

In addition to being the Chairman of Wesley Clover, Terry is also Chairman or Director of a number of private and publicly traded companies.

Terry holds an honours degree in electronics from the University of Wales and is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 1994, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was awarded a Knighthood. In 2011, he was appointed Patron of the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute.

As Executive Vice President of Wesley Clover, Andrew Fisher is responsible for new venture creation. He currently manages multiple assets within the portfolio and is responsible for government and University outreach programs globally. In addition, Andrew run’s the Mitel Affiliate program that is responsible for identifying and commercializing gaps in existing portfolio investments.  He co-founded NewHeights Software Corporation, sold in 2007, where he managed all Service Provider, large enterprise, and vertical market accounts.

Leveraging Wesley Clover’s global technology portfolio of over a dozen companies, Andrew spearheads the corporation’s solutions strategies which reach from the network’s core to the end user experience, incorporating Voice-over-IP, IPTV, Unified Communications and IP Multimedia Subsystem technologies.

Andrew has an academic background in both economics and computer science and engineering and is a graduate of the University of British Columbia. Previous to Wesley Clover, Andrew has held production roles within the Canadian Department of National Defense and Natural Resources Canada.

Didier Tranchier

An alumnus of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications, with a Ph.D. in Computer Science (university of Rennes/INRIA) and a MBA (university of Columbia), Didier Tranchier is an expert in both technology and business. He has gained work experience in great firms (France Télécom, Beijaflore, Avaya) and start-up companies, in France, the United-States (3 years), Hong Kong (1 year), and North Africa.

His passion for innovation and his will to contribute to the creation and development of high-potential start-up companies, led Didier Tranchier to found Adelit in 2004, in order to boost the dynamism of the ICT ecosystem.

Didier Tranchier is also in charge of the Mastère in Innovation Management at Telecom École de Management in Évry, and he acts as a coach to start-ups from the incubator of this Grande Ecole, in order to help the students become successful entrepreneurs.

Last, but not least, Didier Tranchier is a Founding Member and former President (2001-2007) of the Club des Entrepreneurs Français des Télécoms, a Co-Founder of France Entrepreneurs, a Member of the Investment Board at Scientipôle Initiative, and an Expert for the OSEO.

Lionel Hovsépian

Lionel Hovsépian has a strong experience of starting-up, managing and developing companies and a good vision of the telecommunications and networking industry acquired during the last 27 years of professional experience. With a diploma from business school ISG Paris, Lionel joined Alcatel in 1982 in the export division as a junior sales engineer.

In 1986, he joined Eurotechnica, a system integrator of networking equipment’s (Infotron, Memotec, Gandalf...) to continue his sales career. Only 2 years later the opportunity of starting up the Gandalf subsidiary in France came to him. Starting as the Sales Director, he took the position of General Manager one year later and developed the French organization to a level of $10 million US.

After 6 years of success in the French networking market at Gandalf, Newbridge Networks offered Lionel the opportunity of starting up its French operation in 1993. In autumn 1999, Lionel joined WorldCom International, in order to lead the newly formed SMBs division in France before he was promoted to Managing Director of WorldCom France. In September 2000 WorldCom restructured and Country Managing Directors roles were eliminated to form a European management structure. Lionel was promoted and appointed as the Vice President Corporate Accounts in Europe, where he was responsible for the Corporate Line of Business and consequently revenue and the P&L for this division.

In 2002, Lionel joined Mitel Networks as the European Business Director to drive the development of sales into both his native France and the other core markets of Germany, Italy, Benelux, Spain/Portugal, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

Christian Szpilfogel

Appointed to the Office of the CTO in 2005, Christian Szpilfogel brings a breadth of experience in product management, research and development, and a strong business sense to his role as Vice-President of Strategic Business. In this role, Christian is responsible for identifying new business opportunities for Mitel, managing key customer account relationships, Managing Mitel’s Patent Portfolio and developing the company’s overall strategic technology plan.

Since joining Mitel in 2000, Christian has held positions in the product line management and R&D organizations. Previous to his current role, Christian was responsible for the product management of platforms, phones and applications where he was instrumental in designing and bringing to market Mitel’s flagship products, including the Mitel Communication Director, 3300 IP Communications Platform, and 5300 series IP phones.

Before joining Mitel, Christian owned and operated his own technology consulting company. He also worked for Nortel holding a variety of R&D leadership roles in CPE , Carrier Switching, and Carrier Data Networks groups. He has a Combined Honors Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics and Computer Science from Dalhousie University.