# Sumir Karayi

> Sumir Karayi is a London-based technology entrepreneur, investor and engineer who co-founded 1E in 1997 and served as its CEO until 2021. After more than two decades of organic growth, Carlyle acquired a majority stake; TeamViewer subsequently acquired the company in January 2025. He is founder and principal of Ver3, participates in Boardwave’s AI work, and supports education and female entrepreneurship through the Fair Chance Foundation and The SuperScalers.

- **Role:** Founder & Principal at Ver3
- **Organizations:** 1E, Ver3, Fair Chance Foundation, Boardwave, The SuperScalers, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year UK, GateAI
- **Education:** BEng, Electronic Engineering, University of Warwick, MSc, Information Technology for Manufacturing, University of Warwick
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led 1E through more than 20 years of organic growth., Built a business with more than 40 patents, as described by EY., Founder of the Fair Chance Foundation, supporting educational opportunity.

## Career timeline

- **Before 1997** — Managed PC networks for the BBC, Reuters and Lombard, then worked as a technical consultant with Microsoft.
- **1997** — Co-founded 1E with Phil Wilcock and Mark Blackburn, starting from his flat in West Ealing.
- **1999** — Started OfficeOnTheNet, an early remote-first work venture; later described the market as unready.
- **2014** — Ran the London Marathon with Will Edmondson and Nick Milne-Home, raising £20,000 including company matching for BAAF.
- **2021** — Carlyle acquired a majority stake in 1E; Karayi retained a significant minority holding. Later that year, Mark Banfield succeeded him as CEO.
- **2022** — Served as a London and South East judge for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year UK.
- **2024** — TeamViewer agreed to acquire 1E at a $720 million enterprise value.
- **2025** — TeamViewer completed its acquisition on 31 January. Ver3 lists 2025 as its establishment year.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led 1E through more than 20 years of organic growth.
- Built a business with more than 40 patents, as described by EY.
- Founder of the Fair Chance Foundation, supporting educational opportunity.
- Patron of The SuperScalers, supporting female entrepreneurship.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — A Music Spoken Here anniversary feature credited his donation with enabling the club to purchase a Nord Stage 4 keyboard a year earlier.
- **2025-01** — TeamViewer completed its acquisition of 1E on 31 January.
- **2024-12** — Welcomed the agreement for TeamViewer to acquire 1E and praised the team’s work.

## Links

- Website: https://ver3.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumirkarayi/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sumir-karayi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21