I’m Andre Watson, founder and CEO of Ligandal, a genetic medicine company that uses nanotechnology to develop targeted and personalised therapies.
We are Mat Hunter and Paul Rostas, co-founders and co-CEOs of Plus X. (Mat) Design and innovation have been central to my entire career. I studied interaction design at the Royal College of Art in the early nineties and went on to begin my career in Silicon Valley working with innovation firm IDEO, designing pioneering consumer digital and physical products and services.
I’m Mike Feerick, CEO & Founder of Alison.com, an educational technology company. Alison has 16 million learners in 195 countries. It provides free learning for basic education and workplace skills with over two million graduates of its 1,500+ free courses.
I’m Chloe Jessamy, a mother of one and business owner of two - Supportal Business Services, which provides virtual assistance and digital marketing support, and Clutter Cutdown, a professional organising and decluttering service.
My name is Eze, founder of alternative footwear brand Leather and Cotton London. I was born and raised in Nigeria, and from a young age I was very much into sports and fashion, thanks to my five trendy sisters and brother who were on top of their fashion game.
I’m Mac Alonge, CEO of The Equal Group. I started off working in the energy and utilities sector. My background is in regulatory economics, so I spent 10 years working as a regulatory consultant. Over the years, I worked with and for some of the largest public and private sector organisations including the UK and Scottish Government, KPMG, National Grid and Scottish Power amongst others.
I’m Craig, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Hadean, a deep-tech distributed computing company based in London, UK. I have over 25 successful years grounded in building and transforming technology-focused businesses and accelerating growth, and have been at the forefront of establishing Hadean’s strategic direction and team growth since early 2017.
I was struck by an inspiration that literally changed my life's path. I think true innovation is recognised in any sector, but in my sector (being somewhat bereft of imagination), my inventions have struck a chord and we’ve been supported by both large and small companies.
My co-founder and I are chartered management accountants so we spend quite a lot of time playing with numbers. We have weekly and monthly accounts / targets on our accounting software and check in with these as well as our cashflow forecasting. It sounds quite dull – but in truth it's a place where we feel really content…!
I studied history and political science and got my first doctorate in history. My doctoral dissertation dealt with Adolf Hitler’s worldview with a particular focus on his social and economic policies and was awarded the best possible grade, “summa cum laude.” I then worked as a historian at the Free University of Berlin for a few years before switching to the world of book publishing.
Before setting up DiVA, I enjoyed a career in the film and TV industries supporting new talent to develop their first feature projects. I am also a writer working on my first feature film screenplay. I was born and raised in the Newcastle; a Geordie girl through and through who loves to laugh a lot!
Hi Nadine, I’m Ivo Gueorguiev, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of fintech payments provider Paynetics. I’ve been in the finance industry for decades - key highlights of my career include helping to establish a new financial era in post-Cold War Central & Eastern Europe, and co-founded а pioneering retail banking group in the region too. In total I have built and exited over 20 businesses.
I really wanted to make the hair and beauty industry a luxury experience which is accessible to everyone – that led me to set up the Silver Fern Group which includes Cecily Spa, Alchemy and Koha. My end goal is growing the businesses to be profitable, looking after my staff and expanding in as many cities at possible.
I’m Akin Onal and I am the CEO and founder of MORI. We’re a London based D2C retailer and create products that help to welcome a baby into the world and beyond, with a gentle touch from sustainable materials.
I decided to launch Cinapsis after realising that the referrals system within the NHS is completely broken. Patients must wait weeks for appointments, waiting times are ever-growing (even more so as we recover from Covid) and primary care clinicians such as GPs aren’t being given the proper tools.
