RICCARDO ZACCONI

Founder, PTEN Research

Riccardo is a Trustee and the Founder of PTEN Research (ptenresearch.org). A UK-based charity dedicated to the discovery and development of treatments for a rare condition – PTEN hamartoma tumour syndrome (PHTS.) It funds, supports and facilitates research and brings together a global network of PHTS-focused experts. He is passionate about the Foundation’s ability to globally facilitate clinicians, academics, researchers, and the biotech & pharma industries to improve outcomes for PHTS patients.

Riccardo is also co-founder of the tech angel venture capital fund Sweet Capital (sweetcapital.com), investing in mobile consumer start-ups. He was the CEO and co-founder of King.com, developer amongst others of the game Candy Crush. King went public on the NYSE in 2014, and in 2016 was acquired by Activision Blizzard. Riccardo has been working in technology and start-ups since 2001, including at uDate, Spray Network and Benchmark Capital. Prior to this, he worked in consulting at BCG and LEK.Riccardo holds a BA with honours in economics from Luiss University in Rome. He was knighted by the Italian President in December 2016 with the title of Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia.