Alex Israel

Alex is the Co-Founder and CEO of Metropolis, the leader in applied AI. Metropolis uses its computer vision platform to eliminate friction from daily life, power checkout-free payments, and unlock seamless, predictive, and personalized experiences in the real world. Founded in 2017, it is leading the Recognition Economy, a new age of personalized intelligence where presence replaces devices and credentials as the foundation for a more intuitive, connected, and human world. Under Alex’s leadership, Metropolis operates in 4,200+ locations across 40 countries worldwide, touching more than 50 million customers and processing over $5 billion in payments annually. Metropolis is growing its base at a rate of 1 million Members per month and envisions a future where people transact in the real world with even greater ease than they experience online. Backed by leading global investors, including Eldridge, LionTree, BDT & MSD, and Vista, Alex has led Metropolis to raise nearly $4 billion and expanded its capabilities into new verticals across fueling, retail, mobility, hospitality, and office. He has overseen several acquisitions, notably the take-private of SP Plus, the largest M&A transaction by a venture-backed company in 2023, behind only OpenAI and Anthropic. Previously, Alex co-founded ParkMe, which became the world’s most comprehensive dynamic, real-time parking database before it was acquired by global traffic intelligence company and Microsoft spinoff INRIX in 2015.  He's an active angel investor and a major supporter of the venture ecosystem in LA, where he resides.