Top British diplomat to join Blippar as COO

Blippar has appointed Danny Lopez, currently the British Consul General to New York and Director General for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in the United States, as its chief operating officer.

Lopez is expected to leave his current role in New York in early July and due to take up his new post at UK-based Blippar on 15th August.

“Danny has been a transformative leader, integrating a key public sector body and driving it forward with private sector precision and delivery,” said Blippar CEO and co-founder Ambarish Mitra.

“His extensive international business and economic development experience will prove to be an invaluable asset to us as we continue to grow the business on a global scale and deliver strong value to brands. Plus, his operational prowess, proven business development background and strong leadership will help our business accelerate at a much faster pace,” he added.

The announcement comes after Blippar, which is building a visual discovery browser using AI and AR, raised $54m in funding earlier this year.

Speaking about his upcoming role, Lopez said: “I’ve enjoyed a front-row seat over the years watching Blippar grow from an upstart company in the UK to a major presence in New York and across the globe.

“Having seen the company develop industry-leading technologies, I’m bullish on Blippar vision to transform the phone and head-mounted wearables into a virtual browser for the physical world, while establishing itself as a first-class media company,” he concluded.