Cyriac Roeding
Cyriac Roeding | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 26, 1973 Constance, Germany |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, investor |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Earli; co-founder and chairman of Rewind Co.; former Executive Vice President at Paramount Global / CBS; co-founder of shopkick |
Cyriac Roeding (born March 26, 1973) is a German-American entrepreneur and investor based in Silicon Valley. He is the co-founder and CEO of Earli, a company specializing in early cancer detection and treatment located in Redwood City, California. Earli employs a genetic mechanism that activates exclusively within cancer cells to stimulate the immune system to target tumors. This technology originated from research at Stanford University and has progressed through advancements in AI and bioengineering. The company has secured over $100 million in funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Perceptive Advisors, Casdin Capital, Sands Capital, Menlo Ventures, ZhenFund (China), and Marc Benioff. Additionally, Roeding co-founded and serves as chairman of Rewind Co., which focuses on reversing type 2 diabetes. His investment portfolio includes ventures in artificial intelligence, brain-machine interfaces, consumer enterprises, biotech-software convergence, and consumer robotics.
Roeding held the position of Executive Vice President at Paramount Global / CBS (NASDAQ: PARA), where he initiated the successful CBS Mobile division. During his tenure as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Kleiner Perkins and its iFund partnership with Apple Inc., he co-founded shopkick. Shopkick raised $22 million in venture capital and was later acquired by SK Telecom/SK Planet—a Fortune 100 South Korean corporation—for $250 million, expanding its user base to 20 million. The application incentivizes users to visit retail outlets such as Target, Best Buy, Macy's, and Walmart while interacting with products from leading brands like Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, and L'Oreal. This engagement has generated over $1 billion annually for its partners. Fast Company recognized shopkick as one of the world’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Retail.
The World Economic Forum honored Roeding as a Tech Pioneer in 2013 and named him a Global Innovator in 2021. In 2023, he became a member of World.Minds, an international community comprising leading scientists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.
Roeding is a Limited Partner in numerous venture capital funds including Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Bond (Mary Meeker), Coatue Management, Greylock Partners, KPCB, IVP, Atomic VC, Breakthrough Ventures, Olive Capital, Script Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. He also makes direct investments and provides advisory support to startups such as OpenAI (focused on artificial general intelligence), LTSE (Long-Term Stock Exchange), Science Inc. (brain-machine interfaces), Karma Science (acquired by Facebook), Cardspring (acquired by Twitter), Visby Medical, Cars24 (India’s used car marketplace), Blinkit (India’s e-grocery platform), Curbside (acquired by Rakuten), and Zumper (a home rental platform).
As a frequent expert on innovation-related subjects—including comparisons between Chinese startups and those from Silicon Valley—Roeding has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg, and CNN. He has contributed analyses to Vox/Recode and delivered talks at prestigious events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Program, CTIA Wireless Summit, and Money 2020.
Early years and education
Born in Constance, Germany, Roeding spent his childhood near Frankfurt, Germany. His father worked as a physicist while his mother was engaged with assisting disadvantaged children. He completed portions of his secondary education both in Texas (United States) and Germany.
At age 15, Roeding developed his first computer program which he sold to a local newspaper to automate his work tasks; subsequently he became a programmer for Hewlett Packard during high school. He pursued studies across Germany and Tokyo before graduating summa cum laude with a degree in engineering and business administration ("Wirtschaftsingenieur") from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. In 1994, he expanded his expertise by studying Japanese management at Sophia University, where he gained early exposure to mobile phone technology.
Career
While attending university, Roeding gained experience as a radio talk show host, reporter, and management consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, focusing on the retail and technology industries. After completing his studies, he joined McKinsey and Company in Munich, where he specialized in growth strategies for media enterprises and co-wrote Secrets of Software Success, published by Harvard Business School Press.
Roeding co-established the mobile marketing agency 12snap, operating in Munich, London, and Milan, with clients including Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Nokia, and L'Oreal. The firm achieved recognition by winning the inaugural Lion Awards for mobile creative concepts at Cannes. Subsequently, he managed CBS Mobile, CBS's mobile division, where his work in interactive entertainment led to Emmy Award nominations.
In 2008, Roeding embarked on a worldwide journey examining mobile usage across diverse cultures, visiting locations such as Bhutan, India, and the Brazilian Amazon. Following this exploration, he spent a year as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Kleiner Perkins, focusing on innovative cross-platform mobile and online business opportunities. In 2009, he launched shopkick, an innovative company that incentivizes consumers to visit retail outlets or engage with products through their smartphones.
Accomplishments
Roeding was honored by the World Economic Forum as a Tech Pioneer in 2013 and recognized as a Global Innovator in 2021. He also serves as co-chair of the forum’s Lung Cancer Working Group. In 2012, Fortune Magazine featured him on its 40 Under 40 Mobilizers list. He received the first Emmy Award nominations for Mobile in both 2007 and 2008 and secured early accolades for mobile concepts at the Cannes Lion Festival in 2003 and 2004.