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“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
— Ellen Sirleaf, Africa's First Female Head of State
About Evan
Evan Wray is the Cofounder of Swyft Media, a mobile advertising company specializing in deeply native ad units in some of the world’s most popular mobile messaging applications. At Swyft, Wray has pioneered the idea of delivering native branded content, such as branded emoji, directly to consumers, in their favorite messaging applications. He and his cofounder grew Swyft from a dorm room idea into a global technology company with 60+ employees across 3 continents. With Swyft, Wray negotiated major licensing and advertising deals with brands such as Disney, Dreamworks, Fox Entertainment, MillerCoors, Sony and many more.
Swyft was acquired by Monotype Imaging (NASDAQ: TYPE) in February, 2015 where Wray and his cofounder currently run Swyft as a subsidiary of Monotype.
Involvement
Wray cofounded Swyft Media in 2012 with his friend and roommate, Sean O'Brien. What started as a fun project in college, grew into a larger technology business. Today, Swyft Media helps brands and advertisers become a part of the world’s largest conversation by creating and distributing branded content that consumers want, love and share with friends across a wide variety of mobile apps.
To date, Swyft has worked with more than 300 popular global brands such as MillerCoors, Sony, Interscope Records and SEGA to create deep consumer engagement through branded emoji and keyboards.
The combination of Swyft’s mobile marketing platform and expertise helps brands and advertisers drive highly engaging, measurable and amplified campaigns, with the ability to reach nearly three billion consumers worldwide. Through its relationships with approximately 60 application partners, Swyft boasts one of the largest opportunities for brands to reach younger consumers in way that feels natural and unobtrusive.
In 2015, Swyft was acquired by Monotype Imaging (NASDAQ: TYPE).
Wray has been a member of Emerging Young Entrepreneurs Society since early 2015. Emerging Young Entrepreneurs Society (EYES) is the international society for extraordinary young individuals with unique entrepreneurial talent. EYES brings together these individuals in an environment of trust, friendship and inspiration. EYES organizes global and local events where we encourage both entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurial action. EYES is a recommendation based society. New members can be only introduced by senior members, which is followed by an extensive selection process.
The Miller Lite Tap the Future competition is a program put on by Miller Coors to support and encourage entrepreneurship throughout the country. Each year, there is a pool of thousands of applications, that is ultimately whittled down to 5 companies in 5 regions (LA, NYC, CHI, HOU, ATL), all competiting for hundreds of thousands of dollars in entrepreneurial grants.
After winning this nationwide business competition in 2013, Wray and his cofounder, O'Brien, were invited back to participate as judges and mentors, along side Shark Tank's Daymond John. In addition to this national tour, Wray is an active mentor to entrepreneurs coming through the Tap the Future program.
The McCloskey Business Plan Competition is an annual event hosted at the University of Notre Dame. Business teams, that have at least one current Notre Dame student, compete through written business plans and ultimately live pitches to judges in the Notre Dame community. Many of these companies go on to raise additional funding through the Notre Dame community and beyond.
Wray participate as a judge and a mentor to teams coming through the competition.
Wray is a member of the Irish Entrepreneurs Network, a group of Notre Dame alumni who have gone on to found, or be part of, entrepreneurial ventures. The group focuses on connecting and mentoring other entrepreneurs in the Notre Dame family. The group has chapters across the nation and is continually striving to make an impact in growing entrepreneurs. Through the Irish Entrepreneurs Network, Wray makes an effort to spend time mentoring and guiding young founders to help them succeed in their entrepreneurial ventures.
Honors & Speaking Events
Power of Mentorship
Wray has been incredibly fortunate to have several exceptional mentors throughout his life. Without these individuals' influence, he would not have become the person he is today. Each one of these mentors had a similar positive influence and guidance in their lives and careers. Wray enjoys being able to give back advice to aspiring entrepreneurs (and share many mistakes that have been made!). He hopes that he can provide some guidance and clarity to others, as his mentors have, and continue to provide, to him throughout his personal and professional life.
Evan has been honored with awards and participated as a featured speaker at industry events including:
Press
Contact Evan
Let's connect! Send me a note if you want to learn more about my upcoming projects or speaking events.