Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CEO’ operating in the Semiconductor space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Atif Syed
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Wootzano
I am the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Wootzano Ltd where we are making robots feel and sense like humans do by using our unique electronic skin and robotic systems which can save an average fruit and vegetable packaging facility around £2.5 million at minimum a year. Ask me how we do it! Along with a PhD in Electronics and Nanotechnology Engineering from University of Edinburgh, I have extensive experience in Robotics and AI. I am also a Member of the Executive Committee for Robotics and Mechatronics at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). I am also an Enterprise Fellow at the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng). Since early age, I have had a crazy obsession with electronics and was fascinated by software development as it required not much need for any sophisticated lab. When I am not working on the business, you can find me working with machine learning algorithms, advocating why computer programming should be taught at schools from an early age and travelling.
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About Wootzano: Wootzano manufactures robots which can sense and feel like humans do using a unique electronic skin, machine learning, and electronics.
David Mills
Chief Executive Officer, Ricoh Europe of Ricoh Company
David Mills is Chief Executive Officer, Ricoh Europe. David is responsible for the strategic direction of the company as well as the operations of Ricoh’s 20 operating companies across EMEA, marketing operations and the supply chain. He joined the Ricoh Group in 2008, having already held several senior roles in our industry including President of European operations at IKON. He then became the Managing Director of Ricoh UK, before joining the Ricoh Europe Board as Executive Vice President, and then COO. He became CEO of Ricoh Europe in April 2014.
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About Ricoh Company: Ricoh is a global technology company provide office imaging equipment, document management systems and IT services.
Nigel Toon
Co-founder & CEO of Graphcore
Graphcore (graphcore.ai) is a new silicon and systems company based in Bristol, UK and Palo Alto, USA that has developed a new type of processor, the Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU), to accelerate machine learning and AI applications. Since its founding in 2016, Nigel has secured over $300m in funding and support for the company from some of the world’s leading venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, Foundation Capital and Atomico, from major corporations including BMW, Bosch, Dell, Microsoft and Samsung and from eminent Artificial Intelligence innovators. Nigel has a background as a technology business leader, entrepreneur and engineer having been CEO at two successful VC-backed processor companies XMOS and Picochip (sold to Nasdaq:MSPD, now Intel), a founder at Icera (sold to Nasdaq: NVDA) and VP/GM at Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR, sold to Intel for $17Bn) where he spent over 13 years and was responsible for establishing and building the European business unit that he grew to over $400m in annual revenues. Nigel was a non-executive director at Imagination Technologies PLC until itsacquisition in 2017 and is the author on 3 patents.
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About Graphcore: Graphcore develops a microprocessor designed for AI and machine learning applications.
Mark Lippett
CEO of XMOS
Mark Lippett is responsible for all aspects of product development and operations at XMOS. Prior to joining the company, Mark was founder and CTO of Ignios. He has 15 years of experience in the electronics industry, with involvement in both blue-chip companies and entrepreneurial ventures. Mark has expertise in multiprocessor IC design, where he holds several patents, as well as architectural exploration and embedded software techniques. Mark holds a MEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Surrey and an MBA from Henley Management College.
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About XMOS: A deep tech company at the leading edge of the AIoT, putting intelligence, connectivity & enhanced computation at the core of smart products
Jalal Bagherli
CEO of Dialog Semiconductor
Jalal joined Dialog as CEO and an Executive Board Director in September 2005. He was previously Vice President & General Manager of the Mobile Multimedia business unit for Broadcom Corporation. Prior to that Jalal was the CEO of Alphamosaic, a venture-funded silicon start-up company in Cambridge, focusing on video processing chips for mobile applications. He has extensive experience of the semiconductor industry, through his previous professional and executive positions at Sony Semiconductor and Texas Instruments, managing semiconductor product businesses and working with customers in the Far East, Europe and North America. Jalal is a non-executive Director of Lime Microsystems Ltd since 2005 and was the Chairman of Global Semiconductor Association Europe from 2011 to 2013. He has a BSc (Hons) in Electronics Engineering from Essex University, and holds a PhD in Electronics from Kent University, UK.
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About Dialog Semiconductor: Dialog Semiconductor makes energy-efficient, highly-integrated, and mixed signal ICs for mobile, IoT, and solid state lighting applications.
Simon Thomas
Chief Executive Officer of Paragraf
Simon’s diverse background in physics, engineering and materials science combined with many years’ experience in the fields of semiconductors, functional materials, solid state devices and capital equipment manufacture, have equipped him with the knowledge to truly understand two-dimensional materials production. With expertise in materials deposition techniques he has developed numerous new materials and structure generation processes whilst progressing the general community understanding of the science of materials growth. As a global high-tech materials and engineering consultant, Simon has multidisciplinary skill sets in the development of equipment, deposition processes and surface science across a range of fields. The resulting technology advancements have achieved new performance levels in existing semiconductor device structures and have facilitated the capability to produce new and novel materials and devices.
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About Paragraf: Paragraf develop and deliver game-changing, commercial-quality, graphene-based electronic devices using contamination-free technology.
James Regan
CEO of EFFECT Photonics
James has more than 33 years of experience in the business of optical communications components: in product development, marketing, sales and general management; building successful businesses within large companies such as Nortel and JDSU, as well as multiple start-ups.
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About EFFECT Photonics, Isca Photonics: EFFECT Photonics delivers highly integrated optical communications products based on its Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM).
Alan Jones
CEO of Blu Wireless
Alan Jones is the CEO of Blu Wireless.
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About Blu Wireless: Blu Wireless Technology is a silicon IP company developing wireless technology with a faster transmission rate.
Andrew Nelson
President & CEO of IQE
Andrew Nelson has over 30 years experience in the semiconductor industry in a variety of research and managerial positions. Following a PhD in Semiconductor Physics, he joined BT Research Laboratories in 1981, leading the group responsible for the development of advanced optoelectronic devices for optical fibre communications. He subsequently managed the technology transfer from BT to Agilent for mass production. He co-founded EPI in 1988 (which became IQE in 1999) and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of IQE Plc in April 1999. Andrew has held several Non-Executive Directorship appointments, and served on several Government and Industry bodies. He received an OBE in 2001 for services to the Electronics Industry. He is currently a member of the High Level Group appointed by the EC to oversee the implementation of Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) throughout Europe.
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About IQE: IQE is the global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced semiconductor wafer products.
Scott White
CEO of PragmatIC Semiconductor
Scott is an experienced serial entrepreneur, now leading his sixth technology venture as CEO of PragmatIC. He is also a board director at mobile visual search company Cortexica Vision Systems. Past successes include Azea Networks, which he grew from concept to eight figure sales levels before the business was acquired. He has lived and worked across the globe including Australia, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, the US and the UK.
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About PragmatIC Semiconductor: PragmatIC is a ultra-low-cost flexible electronics enabling novel solutions not practical with conventional electronics
Jamie Potter
CEO & Co Founder of Flexciton
Jamie has led several projects with industrial clients across industrial sectors for clients including National Grid and RWE. Jamie graduated top of his year in Mathematics and Statistics from University of Oxford. Recently, Jamie was added to the 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 list.
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About Flexciton: Flexciton is an optimisation technology company solving complex scheduling problems in semiconductor wafer fabrication
Huw Davies
CEO, Founder, Director of Trameto
Huw Davies is a technology business leader with general management, founder roles, product marketing, business development and sales. He has worked in both start-ups and multi-national corporate organisations. His experience spans global business development, operational and financial management, licensing technology transfer, and collaborative research/commercial partnering. Huw’s background is in semiconductors and consumer electronics and he has extensive experience of working in Silicon Valley. He holds a BSc and PhD from Cardiff University and an Executive MBA from the University of Bath.
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About Trameto: Trameto is developing energy management devices for micro energy harvesting technologies enabling the elimination of batteries in the IoT.
Bruno Johnson
CEO of Cascoda
Bruno Johnson is CEO at Cascoda Ltd.
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About Cascoda: Cascoda is a fabless semiconductor company that supplies low-power semiconductor radio devices for the internet of things.
Christopher Leburn
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chromacity
Dr. Christopher Leburn leads the growth of Chromacity. He is a former Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellow and holds a Ph.D. from the University of St Andrews in ultrafast solid-state lasers. He has previously held research and technical management roles at both Heriot-Watt University and the University of St Andrews, where he was Assistant Director of a £12M EPSRC ultrafast photonics consortium. Christopher submitted his business idea towards the 2012 Converge Challenge, a business competition designed to tease technology out of the research base and into the commercial sector. Having secured 3rd place in this competition, Christopher, along with his co-founders, incorporated Chromacity in early 2013. As the company formed Christopher undertook a Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship to enhance his commercial capabilities. Christopher developed a range of skills that has allowed him to successfully secure investment and build a team that can design, manufacture and deliver highly reliable, compact, cost effective ultrafast laser sources for a range of different customers.
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About Chromacity, Chromacity: Chromacity Lasers is a spin-out from Heriot-Watt University, one of the UK’s leading technical universities with a focus on photonics.
Dave Hutton
CEO of CISSOID
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About CISSOID: CISSOID is a semiconductor company, developing integrated circuits designed for the highest reliability in the widest range of temperatures.
Ranganath S. Kempanahally
Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of ElitePLUS Semiconductor Technologies
R K is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of elitePLUS, responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, Business, Strategy, Quality and Engineering services of the company. R K has over 17 years of experience in the semiconductor industry as a Technical Lead, Verification consultant, Business Development Manager and has held several engineering and mid-management positions in both product and service companies. A hands on verification engineer, deployed advanced verification solutions for complex verification projects for several global companies in USA, Europe and in India. Prior to founding elitePLUS, R K held Consulting and technical Lead roles at various start-ups to multi-national companies. In his last role, he was a Director of Engineering at EnSilica, an IP and Design Service company in the UK, was responsible for Leading Verification Engineering and Services and has helped them to set-up an overseas design centre in India. R K has a Master’s Degree in Electronics from Mangalore University, India and an Executive MBA from Cranfield School of Management in the UK.
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About ElitePLUS Semiconductor Technologies: ElitePLUS Semiconductor Technologies is an IP and Design services company.
Don Arnone
Founder & CEO of TeraView
Don became CEO when TeraView was founded in 2001. He has over 16 years’ experience in the field of terahertz technology, first at the Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics) at the University of Cambridge and then for nine years at the Toshiba Research Europe Laboratory in Cambridge UK where he was head of the Terahertz Technology Programme. He was responsible for liaison with Toshiba, Japan on commercialization of the technology, as well as customer relations and marketing of the technology within Toshiba. He was also responsible for all aspects of business development of Terahertz technology outside Japan, which involved liaising with potential customers in the US and EU. He brought funding into the business from the European Commission, DTI and DARPA in the US as well as various companies. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds.
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About TeraView, University of Leeds: TeraView develops terahertz instruments which can generate, detect and manipulate radiation to characterize a wide range of materials.
