Lorne Abony (born August 26, 1969) is a Canadian businessman, currently the managing partner of Texas Venture Partners, a venture capital company located in Austin, Texas.

Early life

The grandson of

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

, Abony was born and raised in Toronto. After graduating from the University of Windsor law school in 1994, Abony practiced corporate and securities law at the Toronto firm Aird & Berlis. Abony earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

, an LL.B/J.D. from the International Law Center at the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

and a B.A. from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. Abony is the former CEO of

Mood Media Corporation Mood Media Corporation is an international in-store provider of music, digital signage, hold music, on-hold messaging, scent, integrated audiovisual, audio/video, and interactive mobile marketing products. It was founded in 2004, and is based in ...

, a public company listed on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...

and the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

. He co-founded FUN Technologies in 2001 and in 2004 as CEO of FUN became the youngest CEO of a listed company on the

(TSX).

Career

Petopia.com

In January 1998, Abony quit his job as a lawyer and founded online pet-supply business Paw.net in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Together with Andrew Reisman, the company raised $300,000 from friends and family, $150,000 from EcomPark, and later, $9 million from TCV. The company, which was eventually renamed Petopia.com, grew to 200 full-time employees within two years and raised over $114 million in financing. Petopia.com was sold to

Petco Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. is an American Pet store, pet retailer with corporate offices in San Diego and San Antonio. Petco sells pet food, products, and services, as well as certain types of live small animals. Founded in 1965 as ...

in 2001.

FUN Technologies

Abony's next venture was Columbia Exchange Systems Software PLC, an Internet gaming company co-founded with

Andrew Rivkin Andrew Rivkin (born May 31, 1969) is a Canadian investor and entrepreneur. Rivkin is best known as the co-founder of CryptoLogic, a pioneering online casino software company, and FUN Technologies, one of the world's largest providers of casual ga ...

after the two raised C$1.8 million from investors. Later renamed

FUN Technologies FUN Technologies was an online game company based in Toronto. Founded in 2002 by Canadian businessmen Lorne Abony and Andrew Rivkin, FUN grew to become the world's largest provider of online casual games and fantasy sports, with over 35 milli ...

, Abony became the company's CEO and the largest individual shareholder. In 2003, FUN completed an IPO on the London Stock Exchange raising over $11 million. When FUN listed on the

in 2004, Abony became the youngest person to serve as CEO of a company on the exchange.

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in the Formula One Group, S ...

acquired a majority interest in FUN Technologies in 2005 and purchased the remainder in late 2007 at a valuation of nearly C$500 million.

Orange County Breakers

In 2013, Abony purchased the

Orange County Breakers The Orange County Breakers was a World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise founded in 2003, owned by Laguna Beach businessman Eric Davidson. The Breakers won the WTT Championship in 2004, 2017 and 2021. In 2014, the franchise moved to Greater Austin, Texa ...

of the

World Team Tennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...

professional tennis league and relocated the team to Austin. He sold the team in February 2017.

Mood Media Mood Media Corporation is an international in-store provider of music, digital signage, hold music, on-hold messaging, scent, integrated audio/video, and interactive mobile marketing products. It was founded in 2004, and is based in Austin, Te ...

Abony is the former CEO of

("Mood Media"). Mood Media provides in-store media to over 575,000 locations worldwide, including clients such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Gucci Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...

, H&M,

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (A&F) is an American lifestyle store, lifestyle retailer, founded in 1892 which focuses on contemporary clothing targeting customers in their early 20's to mid 40's. Headquartered in New Albany, Ohio, the company operate ...

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...

and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. Mood Media has offices in 48 countries employs over 2,700 employees and plays over 115 million songs and 10 million on-hold and on-premise messages daily. In 2011 Mood Media was named Canada's fastest growing company by ''

Profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory inter ...

''. In January 2013, Abony was featured in the CBS series ''

Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...

''.

Green Dot (German: Der Grüne Punkt) Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD)

Abony was part of the private equity syndicate that acquired Der Grüne Punkt (The Green Dot) "DSD" from

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

in 2011. Abony sits on the board of DSD and is one of its largest shareholders. DSD was founded in 1990 and was the first company to introduce a dual take-back system in Germany, in response to the Packaging Ordinance & Waste Act. The Green Dot is the license symbol of a European network of industry-funded systems for recycling the packaging materials of consumer goods. The logo is trademark protected worldwide. DSD employs 247 people in Germany, and is considered the largest dual take-back systems provider in Europe. In 2009, DSD recovered approximately 2.75 million tons of sales packaging, saved 60 billion megajoules of energy and reduced CO₂ emissions (and its equivalents) by 1.5 million tons. According to Reuters, DSD a former non-profit organization, had 2009 sales of 684 million euros.

Nuuvera

In November 2017, Abony became the CEO and founder of Nuuvera, a Canadian company that focused on health and wellness products. In March 2018, Aphria Inc. agreed to buy Nuuvera for $826 million CAD in cash and stock. Abony continued working with Aphria to help grow the medical products globally with his international connections.

EMMAC

Since 2020, Abony has been one of the shareholders of EMMAC, a European independent medical wellness and nutrition company. Abony helped EMMAC become a global leader in life sciences as their Executive Chairman. In 2021, EMMAC was valued in a cash and share deal at approximately $345 million (USD).

Other business activities

Pluri is an Israeli based leading biotech company that transforms cells into solutions that promote wellbeing and sustainability. In 2023, Abony joined the Board of Directors of Pluri. In 2024, cultivated meat company

Meatable Meatable is a Dutch biotechnology company aimed at cultured meat, particularly pork. History Meatable was co-founded by Krijn de Nood, Daan Luining, and Mark Kotter in 2018. It began operating on the campus of Delft University of Technology. ...

named Abony to its board of directors. In the aftermath of the

October 7 attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

, Abony co-founded Texas Venture Partners (TVP), which closed its first $50 million

venture fund Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number o ...

to invest in Israeli defense tech startups on 10 July 2024.

Philanthropy

Abony and his wife Valerie donated $500,000 to The Weiss School in

Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Miami. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 59,182 at the 2020 census, and was estim ...

, Florida. The donations funded the Abony Family Kindergarten Wing, which broke ground in 2012. The Abonys are listed as founders of the

University of Austin The University of Austin (UATX) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts university located in Austin, Texas. The university has established a campus in Downtown Austin's Scarbrough Building, and e ...

, a non-profit private liberal arts university located in Austin, founded in 2021 as an institution "dedicated to the pursuit of truth and open inquiry." The Abonys donated at least $100,000 to the university.

Personal

Awards and honors

* Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (nominee) *

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' is a financial news website, and business section of the ''National Post'', both publications of the Postmedia Network. It started as an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the ...

"Bossies" (2011) * Canada's Top 40 Under 40 (2006) * Ambassador for the Province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

* University of Windsor's Odyssey award (2006)

Tennis

Abony is a competitive tennis player. He was a member of the Team Canada men's tennis team which competed in the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games (), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Poli ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He also competes in both the ITF and USTA men's over-40 divisions in both the state and national level in both singles and doubles. Abony's doubles' partner in the men's over-40 category is

Jared Palmer Jared Eiseley Palmer (born July 2, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player who won 28 professional doubles titles (including his wins at the Australian Open and Wimbledon) and one singles title in his career on the ATP Tour. He ...

, formerly the world #1-ranked doubles player and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

doubles champion. As of July 3, 2012, Abony, along with tennis partner

, is ranked #2 in the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and devel ...

's National Men's over-40 Team Doubles rankings. In March 2014, Abony and doubles partner

Robert Kendrick Robert Bradley Kendrick (born November 15, 1979) is an American retired professional tennis player. He turned professional in 2000. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 69, achieved in July 2009. Early life Robert Kendrick was born to ...

reached the finals of the

National Hardcourt Championships in the men’s over 30 category . In August 2012, Abony was selected as one of two Players Representatives on a 6-member Competition Committee of the ATP. The committee was composed of members of the international tennis community including former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek and was created to "explore new and creative ideas for enhancing the competition and presentation of the sport."
(accessed 05 September 2012) In June 2014, Abony and doubles partner Robert Kendrick won the

National Indoor Championship in the men's over 35 category.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abony, Lorne 1969 births Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian chief executives Jewish Canadian sportspeople Columbia Business School alumni Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games Living people McGill University alumni University of Windsor alumni Lawyers in Ontario Canadian media executives 20th-century Canadian philanthropists 21st-century Canadian businesspeople University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni Participants in American reality television series 21st-century Canadian philanthropists