Seedrs has just appointed a remarkable Advisory-Board.
James Alexander
Co-Founder of Zopa
Partner at The Foundation
James has been one of the main revolutionaries of
British financial services over the past decade.He radically transformed the notion of financial
intermediation as co-founder and UK CEO of Zopa, the world's first
peer-to-peer lending platform. Prior to that, he was Strategy Director of Egg,
the groundbreaking online bank, where he launched the company's digital TV and
mobile services and the UK's first and most successful account aggregation
service.
James is currently a Partner of The Foundation, a
leading growth and innovation consultancy, where he has worked with clients
including M&S, O2, Just Giving, Barclaycard, Tesco, Eurostar, The Guardian,
Save the Children, A&n Media, Friends Life, Old Mutual and HSBC. He is also
a Trustee for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), a Trustee
and former CEO of Green Thing and a Chair of GEN Community, an industrial
provident society that delivers low carbon investments as well as social
impact.
Mike Butcher
European Editor of TechCrunch
Mike Butcher has been the strongest and most effective
advocate for tech entrepreneurship in Britain and Europe in recent years.As European Editor of TechCrunch since 2007, Mike
has covered and championed the startup scene on this side of the Atlantic from
its relative infancy through the rapid growth it is experiencing today. Alongside
his work with TechCrunch, he has played a critical role in organising and
hosting some of the most important tech conferences in Europe, including London Web Summit (and its
predecessor GeeknRolla) and The Europas. He is also the co-founder of TechHub, a
vibrant co-working space and community for startups in London, and of The Coalition for a Digital Economy
(Coadec), a non-profit advocacy group for digital startups and
SMEs. More than anyone else, he has been a true believer in Europe's potential
to produce the greatest startups in the world, and he has worked tirelessly to
help make it happen.
Mike has spent his entire career as a journalist,
having served as editor of New Media Age and of the European edition of The
Industry Standard prior to joining TechCrunch. He has written for, and is
regularly featured in, UK national newspapers and magazines include The
Financial Times, The Guardian, The Time, The Daily Telegraph and The New
Statesman, and he is a regular commentator on technology business for news
outlets including BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 and Bloomberg.
Note: Mike will fully retain his editorial
independence in his main role as a journalist. His advisory role with Seedrs
has been cleared by TechCrunch and is published on his CrunchBase profile and
all social media profiles.
Ralph, Lord Lucas
Member of the House of Lords
Chief Editor of The Good Schools Guide
The Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall is among the
most outspoken proponents of innovation and entrepreneurship on the political
scene today. He is an active member of the House of Lords, sitting
on the Government back benches and speaking frequently on issues of digital
policy, education and financial services reform, among many other subjects. He
represents the independence of thought, depth of knowledge and wealth of
experience that characterise the House of Lords at its very best.
In addition to his political activity, Lord Lucas has
had a long and successful career in business. He trained as a chartered
accountant and spent over a decade working at S.G. Warburg, and he is currently
owner and chief editor of The Good Schools Guide.
Dale Murray
Investor and Entrepreneur
British Angel Investor of the Year (2011)
Dale Murray is one of the prime examples of British
entrepreneurial greatness, having built and sold a hugely successful business
before becoming an award-winning angel investor.
She is currently an active investor in startup and
early-stage businesses and a devoted board member and mentor for her investee
companies. In 2011, she was named British Angel Investor of the Year by the
British Business Angels Association (now known as the UK Business Angels Association). She is
also a Non-Executive Director of UK Government's Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and of UK Trade and
Investment (UKTI).
Dale’s initial success came as co-founder of British
mobile pioneer Omega Logic in 1999, which launched pre-pay mobile
"top-ups". She built top-ups to £88m (generating annual revenue of
£7m) within three years of founding the business, and then sold to a privately
held company, Eposs Ltd. She then became Eposs’s CEO, sold the group to First
Data Corporation, and built top-ups to £450m (generating annual revenue of
£25m) within another three years.
