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 Partner operating in the Energy space. If you think a Partner 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.
Jeremy Oppenheim
Founder & Managing Partner of SYSTEMIQ
Jeremy was a senior partner at McKinsey until April 2016, where he worked for 24 years serving some of the world’s leading companies in the finance, consumer goods, technology, healthcare and energy sectors. He worked extensively with multilateral development banks, the United Nations and governments in both developed and developing countries. In 2007, he set up McKinsey’s Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice, supporting ambitious public, philanthropic and private sector clients to put in place low-carbon, resource-efficient strategies. Prior to this, Jeremy worked at the World Bank from 1988-1993, specialising in economic transformation programmes for middle-income countries. In 2013-2014, Jeremy was programme director of the New Climate Economy project. He sits on a number of non-profit boards, including Global Action Plan (as Chair), the Woods Hole Research Center and Rare (UK). Together with Martin Stuchtey, he is a founder and managing partner of SYSTEMIQ.
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About SYSTEMIQ: SYSTEMIQ supports disruptive early-stage digital/technology ventures with the potential to transform systems in the circular economy, energy
Nigel Aitchison
Partner, Head of Infrastructure of Foresight Group
Nigel Aitchison joined Foresight Group in 2009 and is a Partner and Head of Infrastructure based in the London office. A member of the firm’s Executive Committee, he has over 30 years of experience covering specific areas such as waste management, project finance and fund management. Prior to joining Foresight, Nigel was a Director at Shanks Group where he was responsible for strategy and managing relationships with key stakeholders. Nigel is a Chartered Environmentalist and a member of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management. He also holds a Diploma with Distinction in Environmental Science from Crewe and Alsager College.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Peter English
Founding Partner of Foresight Group
Peter English co-founded Foresight Group in in 1984 to raise a new fund for investment in unquoted technology companies based in the UK, the US and France. He has over 50 years of experience and, though partly retired, maintains a keen interest in the firm, acting as a mentor to the Private Equity team. Prior to joining Foresight Peter worked at 3i Ventures as an Investment Manager, where he was recruited to make early stage technology investments in Europe and North America. Peter holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manchester.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Federico Giannandrea
Partner, Head of Foresight Italy of Foresight Group
Federico Giannandrea joined Foresight Group in 2010 and currently works as a Partner in the London, Rome and Madrid offices. He has over 17 years of experience and leads Foresight’s infrastructure investments in continental Europe. Prior to joining Foresight he worked at Deutsche Bank as a Vice President in the Global Principal Finance team in London, where he focused on renewable energy investments across Europe. He also worked as an M&A lawyer at Allen & Overy where he focused on a wide variety of transactions, including acquisitions, securitisations and financings. Federico holds an MA cum laude in Law from La Sapienza University of Rome.
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About Foresight Group, Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
David Hughes
Partner, Chief Investment Officer of Foresight Group
David Hughes joined Foresight Group in 2004 and is the Chief Investment Officer, working in the London office. He has over 45 years of experience and is responsible for the overall management of the Foresight UK investment portfolio, through the complete investment cycle from initial investment to ultimate realisation. Prior to joining Foresight David worked at Advent Venture Partners as a Principal in the VCT Unit, where he was responsible for managing Advent’s two listed Venture Capital Trusts, comprising a portfolio of over thirty unquoted investments, mainly in technology companies. He has also spent almost 20 years working at 3i, where he offered advice to public and private companies on corporate strategy, acquisitions, disposals, mergers and capital raising. David is a Fellow of Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and holds a First Class BSc in Chemistry from the University of Bristol.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
James Livingston
Partner of Foresight Group
James Livingston joined Foresight Group in 2007 and currently works as a Partner in the London office. He has over 14 years of experience. James is responsible for originating, negotiating and managing growth, buyout and turnaround investments in a variety of sectors. Prior to joining Foresight James worked at Deloitte as a Strategy Consultant where he advised businesses in the healthcare and technology sectors. He has also been a professional athlete, rowing for Great Britain and winning a silver medal at the 2003 Rowing World Championships. James holds an MA in Natural Sciences and Management Studies from Cambridge University as well as the CIMA Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Dan Wells
Partner of Foresight Group
Dan Wells joined Foresight Group in 2012 and currently works as a Partner in the London office. He has over 17 years of experience. Dan is responsible for leading on Foresight’s existing retail solar funds as well as deploying Foresight’s energy infrastructure strategy more widely. Prior to joining Foresight Dan worked at Sindicatum as a Managing Director in the Corporate Finance Division where he led the in-house corporate finance team who structured and executed investments, as well as raised capital and performed an investor relations function. He has also worked at EY. Dan holds an MSc with Distinction in Sustainable Business Leadership from the University of Middlesex as well as a BA in History from the University of Bristol. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has as Investment Management Certificate.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Carly Magee
Partner, Infrastructure Team of Foresight Group
Carly Magee joined Foresight Group in 2014 and is a Partner based in the London office. She has over 11 years of experience. Carly is responsible for raising and deploying capital in the energy infrastructure sector and led the establishment of Foresight’s Australian solar investment programme and fundraising activities in South Korea. Prior to joining Foresight Carly worked at Ingenious Group as an Investment Manager in their Clean Energy team where she focused on renewable energy investments in the UK. She has also worked as a Manager at EY, focusing on the renewable energy sector in their Lead Advisory team. Carly is a Chartered Accountant, IMC qualified and holds a BA in Pharmacology from the University of Bristol.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Russell Healey
Partner, Head of Private Equity of Foresight Group
Russell Healey joined Foresight Group in 2007 and is a Partner and Head of Private Equity based in the London office. A member of the firm’s Executive Committee, he has some 25 years of experience. Prior to joining Foresight, Russell worked at merchant bank Parkmead Group, where he was involved in a number of corporate and principal finance projects. Before that, he spent ten years in technology and marketing management positions, including four years with Thomson Financial, following its acquisition of a financial information company of which he was CTO. Russell holds an MBA with Distinction from London Business School, and a BA in Classics from the University of Exeter.
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About Datapath, Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Richard Thompson
Partner of Foresight Group
Richard Thompson joined Foresight Group in 2012 and is Partner, based in the London office. He has over 13 years of experience. Richard is responsible for raising and deploying capital in the renewable energy infrastructure sector. Prior to joining Foresight Richard worked at Carillion as a Senior Manager where he was responsible for structuring more than £800m of bank and bond project financing across a wide range of infrastructure projects across the UK and North America. Richard holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Liverpool and is a CFA Charterholder.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Ricardo Piñeiro
Partner of Foresight Group
Ricardo joined Foresight from Espirito Santo Investment, where he spent three years in the project finance division as manager with a special focus on transport, energy, oil and gas. He has strong experience of structuring, financial modelling and due diligence analysis of transactions as well as credit and debt facilities management. Ricardo came to the UK from Portugal in January 2007 to join Espirito Santo Investment as part of a training program under the Portuguese Trade & Tourism Office. Prior to this he worked as a business analyst in the corporate finance division of a Portuguese investment bank in Lisbon. Ricardo is primarily focused on leading new infrastructure transactions across UK and Europe.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Nick Morgan
Partner, Sales & Marketing of Foresight Group
Nick Morgan joined Foresight Group in 2012 and currently works as a Partner in the London office. He has over 10 years of experience. Nick is responsible for leading the marketing and sale of Foresight’s family of VCTs, EISs and the Foresight Inheritance Tax Solution. Prior to joining Foresight Nick worked at Octopus Investments as a Senior Business Development Manager where he was responsible for distribution of Octopus’ full product set in the London region. He has also worked at Trailfinders as a Senior Tailormade Sales Consultant. Nick holds a BSc in Economics and Economic History from the University of Bristol.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Matt Smith
Partner of Foresight Group
Matt Smith joined Foresight Group in 2010 and currently works as a Partner in the London office. He has over 14 years of experience. Matt is responsible for originating, negotiating and managing growth, buyout and turnaround investments in a variety of sectors. Prior to joining Foresight Matt worked at NM Rothschild & Sons as an Assistant Director where he provided corporate finance advice and execution across a range of sectors, as well as valuation and strategic advice for both listed and non-listed companies. Matt holds an MA (Distinction) in Sports Physiology from St Anne’s College, Oxford University, as well as a BSc in Biological Sciences from St Catherine’s College, Oxford University.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Jamie Richards
Partner, Head of Infrastructure of Foresight Group
Jamie is a chartered accountant and has 20 years’ experience spanning fund management, Jamie joined Foresight in 2000 and is a Partner and the Global Head of Infrastructure. Jamie is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Jamie has overseen the acquisition of more than 40 infrastructure assets comprising Foresight’s current £960 million Infrastructure portfolio.
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About Citibank, Foresight Group, PwC: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Mike Currie
Partner of Foresight Group
Mike Currie joined Foresight Group in 2006 and is a Partner and the Head of Retail Sales in the London office. Mike is responsible for leading the marketing and sale of Foresight’s family of VCTs, EISs, Inheritance Tax Solutions and Foresight Smart Bonds Fund and since his arrival the Group has broadened its focus to become a leading independent Infrastructure and Private Equity investment manager while Assets Under Management have grown from £90 million to £2.8 billion. Earlier in his career Mike spent seven years at Matrix Group, where in 1997 his responsibilities included the original fundraise for Foresight VCT, or Foresight Technology VCT as it was then known, which since launch has become the all-time best performing VCT.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Mike Currie
Partner of Foresight Group
Mike Currie joined Foresight Group in 2006 and is a Partner and the Head of Retail Sales in the London office. Mike is responsible for leading the marketing and sale of Foresight’s family of VCTs, EISs, Inheritance Tax Solutions and Foresight Smart Bonds Fund and since his arrival the Group has broadened its focus to become a leading independent Infrastructure and Private Equity investment manager while Assets Under Management have grown from £90 million to £2.8 billion. Earlier in his career Mike spent seven years at Matrix Group, where in 1997 his responsibilities included the original fundraise for Foresight VCT, or Foresight Technology VCT as it was then known, which since launch has become the all-time best performing VCT.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
Patrick Sheehan
Founder and Managing Partner of ETF Partners
Patrick is a founder and Partner of the Environmental Technologies Fund. Patrick has worked in venture capital since 1985. He was instrumental in founding 3i’s venture capital practice, and later became the founding Managing Director of its Silicon Valley operation. Before this, he was a research engineer for GEC and Marconi Space Systems. He was a member of the Executive Committee and Board of EVCA from 2007 to 2010, during which time he also chaired the Venture Capital Committee. Patrick has a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from UCL, London.
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About ETF Partners: ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience.
Peter Horsburgh
Venture Partner and Founder of ETF Partners
Founder and Chairman at ETF Partners (Environmental Technologies Fund).
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About ETF Partners: ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience.
Fabrice Bienfait
Partner of ETF Partners
Fabrice Bienfait serves as a Partner of Environmental Technologies Fund LP since 2008. Fabrice Bienfait served as a Principal and Investment Director at the Environmental Technologies Fund LP. Fabrice Bienfait focuses on new investments and portfolio management with a particular emphasis on French speaking Europe. He joined Environmental Technologies Fund LP in 2008 from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, where he worked for two years as an Associate in the mergers and acquisitions advisory group as part of the industrials and natural resources team. At the firm, he gained experience on a number of public and private transactions and knowledge of the environmental services sector. Before this, Fabrice Bienfait worked for four years as a Strategy Consultant in transportation and aerospace advising a number of start-up companies like Simat and Helliesen & Eichner and conducting projects across Europe, Africa and Asia. He is Director of Vulog SA (formerly Vu Log SAS). He is a Partner at ETF Partners investing growth capital in innovative companies across Europe. He has been primarily investing at the convergence of information technology and sustainability, and he represents the firm on the board of portfolio companies. He has experience in engineering, strategy consulting and investment banking. He serves as a Director of Elstat Electronics Ltd., Vu Log SAS and QOS ENERGY. He served as a Director at MWR Infosecurity and MWR InfoSecurity Limited. Fabrice Bienfait did his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School between 2004 to 2006, an M.Sc. in Air Transportation from Cranfield University between 1998 to 1999 and an M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure D’Ingénieurs De Constructions Aéronautiques between 1995 to 1998.
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About ETF Partners: ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience.
Robert Genieser
Managing Partner of ETF Partners
Robert Genieser is Managing Partner at Vertex Venture Capital. In 1996, Robert Genieser joined Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q), in San Francisco and rose to Managing Director for the firm’s wireless, optical and communications software practices. In this capacity, he sponsored H&Q’s investments in Chromatis (acquired by Lucent), Paragon Software (acquired by Openwave) and Wavtrace (acquired by Harris). In addition, Robert Genieser executed the IPOs of Portal Software, ONI Systems, Corvis, Openwave and INET, among others. In the M&A field, he assisted VisionTech on its sale to Broadcom, I-compression on its sale to Globespan, Herrmann Technology on its sale to Lucent, Terayon on its acquisition of Telegate and MoreCom on its sale to Liberate. Shortly after Hambrecht & Quist’s merger with JP Morgan at the end of 2000, Robert Genieser moved to London, England to run the company’s emerging technology practice for Europe and Israel. Earlier in his career, Robert Genieser worked as a consultant for Bain & Company in San Francisco, where he focused on the telecommunications industry. Prior to receiving his MBA, he worked for Morgan Stanley in both New York and Hong Kong, as a member of the corporate restructuring group. Robert Genieser received an AB (cum laude) and an MBA from Harvard University.
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About ETF Partners: ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience.
Jean-Marc Bonnefous
Managing Partner of Tellurian
Jean-Marc Bonnefous is a Managing Partner at Tellurian Capital Management LLP. He is a former CCO and Board Observer at Clearmatics.
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About Colony Lab, Tellurian: Tellurian is a builder of natural gas business.
John Butt
General Partner of Conduit Ventures
John Butt founded Conduit Ventures Limited in 2001. Prior to CVL, he worked at Citigroup, Price Waterhouse International Privatization Group, and Bank of England, based in the UK, North America, EU, Central and Eastern Europe. John has a degree in biochemistry from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and an MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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About Conduit Ventures: Conduit Ventures is an independent fund manager that invests capital in high growth companies worldwide.
John Lewis
VP Product Management, Marketing and Partners, and CSO of Telensa
Jon has over 20 years’ experience in leadership and innovation roles at global technology companies including NEC, Toshiba and Motorola. These roles have covered fundamental research, product development and sales. Jon joined Telensa to broaden the company’s application portfolio and open new market segments. He holds a number of patents and has a PhD in engineering.
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About Telensa: Telensa makes wireless smart city control systems, including the worlds most deployed smart streetlight solution.
Ben Strutt
Partner, Head of Design and Front End Innovation of Cambridge Design Partnership
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About Cambridge Design Partnership: Cambridge Design Partnership is a successful research and development consultancy.
Mark Bisset
Partner of Clyde & Co
Mark’s experience includes loan and lease financing, operating leases and tax-based leases, export credit finance, and aircraft purchase and trading, in a wide variety of jurisdictions. He also has wide experience of regulatory matters in aviation. Mark has been very active over the last 10+ years in the business jet market, acting for financiers, owners and operators. In 2017, Mark was ranked as a Band 1 individual in Private Aircraft (Global-wide) in Chambers High Net Worth, and Clyde & Co was similarly first-ranked. Spear’s Magazine describes Mark as an “eminence grise” of business aviation. Who’s Who Legal Aviation has commented that Mark is an “exceptional finance lawyer with extensive knowledge of both the commercial airline and business jet market.” Mark is contributing editor of the annual publication “Getting the Deal Through – Aviation Finance and Leasing” and co-editor of “Getting the Deal Through – Air Transport”. Mark is a Guest Lecturer at the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University.
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About Clyde & Co: Clyde a law firm with pioneering heritage & resolute focus on core sectors of aviation, energy, infrastructure, insurance, marine, & trade.
Gregory Story
Partner of Solar Energy Partners
Gregory Story is Partner at Solar Energy Partners.
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About Solar Energy Partners: Solar Energy Partners is a developer of and investor in solar rooftop installations and solar parks.
