Team
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James Gardner has extensive experience in Business Angel Funding, Business Incubation, Technology Transfer, Corporate spin-outs and Public Funded business support initiatives.
enquiries@connectlondon.org
James is well known in the high growth start-up and business angel sectors through his work with early stage ventures, angel investor syndicates, universities, innovation centres and professional service firms.
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He started his first business venture many years ago and has experienced the highs and lows of risking his own money in informal equity deals by investing in start-ups and mentoring high-growth businesses. He has also been involved in setting up corporate venturing deals, which he describes as “a long and tortuous process” !
James also set up two business incubators from scratch and believes the key ingredients of business start-up success still remain: vision, management ability, market, business model and money! |
He is the author of:
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Business Angels Digest (Croner ICAEW publications 2003)
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Mitigating Risk in Start-Up Investing (Croner ICAEW publications 2003)
- Raising Business Angel Finance ( ICAEW CFF Technical Guide 2004)
And has been an active board member of several well-known Business Angel Networks:
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Advantage Business Angels Ltd
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National Business Angels Network Ltd
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Business Angel Network Association Ltd
- University of Surrey Ventures Advisory Board & Seed Fund
James is also a member of The UK Research & Development Society (motto ‘from ideas to wealth’), whose role is to help make the UK the best environment for R&D in the World. |
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Christopher Fogg FCA, BSc, MBA - Director of UKBI and BBAA christopherfogg@connectlondon.org
Christopher Fogg has been involved in supporting entrepreneurs in starting and growing their businesses for over 30 years. He is a Chartered Accountant, Physicist and took a “Late in Life” MBA in 2000.
He opened his first formal incubator in 1998 and has now started a total of 4 business incubators. He has tried a number of models – for Profit; Hybrid- part For Profit, Part Not for Profit; and fully funded by the LDA – London Innovation Centre. |
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Recently Christopher has opened Connect London based on the Best Practice model identified by Lord Sainsbury - Connect San Diego. Christopher regards Connect as an “Incubator without Walls” as it provides everything a Best Practice Incubator should supply- with the exception of physical space. Christopher believes that Business Angels should be an important component of incubators for their “Knowledge” not only their cash. Connect offers a number of consultancy services including consultancy to Business Angel Network and Incubators.
Christopher is a director of UKBI and British Business Angels Association (BBAA). He has prepared a preliminary research document on the sustainability of Business Incubation. Christopher is the Visiting Entrepreneur to the seven West Focus universities in London.
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The team is being expanded from members of Connect London Champions. |
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