Janus Friis facts for kids

Janus Friis (born on June 26, 1976) is a Danish business person. He is famous for helping to create the file-sharing program Kazaa. He also co-founded Skype, which lets people make calls over the internet.

In September 2005, Janus Friis and his business partner, Niklas Zennström, sold Skype to eBay. Later, in May 2011, Skype was sold again to Microsoft for a large sum of money.

Friis and Zennström also created Joost. This was a program that delivered TV shows and videos online. The company's parts were sold in November 2009. In 2011, Friis started his own video streaming company called Vdio.

In 2014, Friis and Ahti Heinla started Starship Technologies. This company builds small robots that can drive themselves to deliver things.

Janus Friis's Journey to Success

Janus Friis did not go to college. He left high school and started working at a company called CyberCity. This was one of Denmark's first companies to provide internet service.

He met Niklas Zennström in 1996. At that time, Zennström was in charge of Tele2 in Denmark. Friis was hired to help customers there. Friis and Zennström worked together at Tele2. They helped launch another internet company called get2net. They also created a website called everyday.com.

Creating KaZaA and Other Ventures

After working at Tele2, Friis and Zennström decided to start their own projects. In January 2000, Friis moved to Amsterdam. There, they began to develop KaZaA. This program became very popular for sharing files online. They also created the FastTrack file-sharing system in 2001.

Because of KaZaA's success, the two partners started Joltid. This software company created and sold special internet technologies. These technologies helped companies share information more easily.

Friis also helped start Altnet. This was a network that sold music to KaZaA users.

In 2010, Friis and Zennström co-founded Rdio. This was an online service for listening to music. Rdio later faced financial problems and sold its assets to Pandora Radio in 2015.

In 2012, Friis also helped create Wire. This is a secure platform for people to work together online. It uses special coding to keep digital information safe.

Developing Delivery Robots

Janus Friis and Ahti Heinla started Starship Technologies in 2014. Their goal was to build small robots that could deliver packages on their own. In September 2016, these robots were tested on the streets of San Francisco.

Awards and Recognition

Janus Friis has received several important awards for his work.

In 2006, Time Magazine included him on their list of the 100 most influential people. This list recognizes people who have a big impact on the world.

Also in 2006, Friis received "The IT Prize" in Denmark. This award is given by the Danish IT industry. It recognized his important work and new ideas.

He and Zennström also won the 2006 Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award. This award honors people who use technology to change an industry or society.

Personal Life

Janus Friis was engaged to a Danish singer named Aura Dione. However, they ended their relationship in April 2015.

See also

In Spanish: Janus Friis para niños