Anousheh Ansari

Business leader

Anousheh Ansari is an Iranian-American engineer, space tourist, and entrepreneur. Ansari is the CEO of XPRIZE Foundation. Ansari and her family sponsored XPRIZE’s first venture in 1994: the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE. Prior to XPRIZE, Ansari was the CEO and Chairwoman of Prodea Systems, an Internet of Things (IoT) technology firm she co-founded in 2006. While under her leadership, the company earned recognition as one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest-growing companies and Deloitte & Touche’s Fast 500 technology companies.