Michael Gardner
Aqaix
Co-Founder & CEO
Mike has had a long career in Silicon Valley as an entrepreneur and technology leader, including as the VP of Technology at Apigee, a vendor of cloud API and data management tools, and as head of Search technology at eBay. Mike founded or worked at many startups, and has worked with companies such as Burberry, Nike, Telefonica, AT&T, Verizon, and Target as they devised and implemented their Digital strategies. He also opened and ran the Innovation Center Silicon Valley for BNY Mellon, one of the world's largest banks, researching Fintech and cloud technology. In 2017 Mike founded Aqaix, a Fintech startup using cloud software and data to transform the financing of water infrastructure to bring more funding to water projects of all types, including landscape and green infrastructure. Mike developed a lifelong passion for water and rivers on his first whitewater rowing trip at age 15, worked as a whitewater guide before starting his software career, and is still an active whitewater boater. He holds a degree in natural resource economics from UC Berkeley.