If you had visited the Cambridge University Library in the late 1990s, you might have observed a skinny young man, his face illuminated by the glow of a laptop screen, camping out in the stacks. William Tunstall- Pedoe had wrapped up his studies in computer science several years earlier, but he still relished the musty aroma of old paper, the feeling of books pressing in from every side. The library received a copy of nearly everything published in the United Kingdom, and the sheer volume of information--5 million books and 1.2 million periodicals--inspired him. It was around this time, of course, that another vast repository of knowledge--the internet--was taking shape. Google, with its famous mission statement "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," was proudly stepping into its role as librarian to the planet.

Amazon Echo, the acclaimed voice-controlled AI device, is built on the technology of a little-known British company, Evi, which Amazon acquired in 2012. Formerly known as True Knowledge, Evi was founded in 2005 by AI aficionado and entrepreneur William Tunstall-Pedoe, who wanted to develop software that accurately interpreted questions and framed more natural, conversational answers. When it reached the market in 2012, the technology, Evi 11, was positioned as a contender to Apple's Siri - although not by Tunstall-Pedoe, 47, who says he set out to build something new, not to compete. Now, 11 years after its inception, he can celebrate Evi's real-world impact. "These technologies are now good enough that they are able to create useful products that change lives and are used daily," he says.

Just a decade ago, few would have guessed that virtual goods could create a real market. Then the smartphone age sparked a whole new universe of ephemeral, yet lucrative, commerce. "People have gotten much more comfortable with the idea of paying for things that are virtual," says Joost van Dreunen, the co-founder and CEO of SuperData, a gaming research firm. For startups in this fast-growing market, the goods may be fake, but the sales are real. Some of the most promising new areas of business are hidden behind what can sound like Millennial smartphone-speak: Kimoji!

William Tunstall-Pedoe, the founder of a voice recognition app that was acquired by Amazon and used to develop the Amazon Echo device, has invested in a London-based art startup called Artfinder. Tunstall-Pedoe, the founder of Evi Technologies, which later became Amazon Alexa, has been investing in artificial intelligence startups ever since he departed Amazon in February. Founded by Swedish entrepreneur Jonas Almgren in March 2013, Artfinder describes itself as an online art marketplace that helps people to find art spanning a variety of tastes, budgets, and styles. Artfinder claims to have 500,000 subscribers worldwide, with 8,500 artists selling their works on the platform. Artfinder announced the investment on Wednesday, saying that it has raised $2.2 million (£1.8 million) from Tunstall-Pedoe and venture capital firm Oxford Capital.

A Cambridge entrepreneur who sold his company to Amazon is increasing the amount of angel investing he's doing now he no longer works for the e-commerce giant. William Tunstall-Pedoe sold Evi Technologies, his voice recognition startup to Amazon in 2012, for an undisclosed amount that TechCrunch reported to be around 26 million ( 20 million). Following the acquisition, Tunstall-Pedoe became part of the Amazon family. However, his investment activities have been somewhat limited over the last four years. "I did a bit of investment while I was in Amazon but obviously that was constrained by Amazon legal; I had to get permission if it overlapped at all with anything Amazon did and most things overlap with something that Amazon is doing," Tunstall-Pedoe told Business Insider at his home in Cambridge.