Jan Koum, the founder of the instant messaging service WhatsApp, is taking part in the TUM Speakers Series. Koum will be fielding questions from TUM students and staff at the Audimax on January 18, at 4.30 p.m. The 39-year-old entrepreneur is also a member of Facebook’s Board of Directors. Koum will be taking part in discussions with Technical University Munich members exclusively.

The discussions will be hosted by Axel Hofmann, deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine Gründerszene. The event has been organized by students of the TUM Business Club and TUMentrepreneurship, the TUM’s start-up initiative.

Together with Brian Acton, Jan Koum founded the successful instant messaging service WhatsApp in 2009. In 2014, Facebook acquired the company for around $19 billion dollar. Since then, the WhatsApp CEO has also held a seat on Facebook’s Board of Directors.

Koum grew up in the Ukraine and has resided in the USA since 1992. He worked at Yahoo before founding his company.