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 Chairman operating in the Internet space. If you think a Chairman 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.
Jonathan Robinson
Executive Chairman of Afilias
Jonathan Robinson has extensive executive and non-executive experience in the Domain Name industry over many years. He was a co-founder of NetBenefit in 1995, a supplier of Domain Name management and associated services, which was admitted to AIM in June 1999. Jonathan served as a main board director at NetBenefit from 1999 to 2009, which was subsequently renamed Group NBT plc in 2004, and then renamed NetNames in 2011 following its acquisition by HgCapital. He previously served two terms as a non-executive director on the board of Nominet. Jonathan is currently Chair of the ICANN GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization) Council. He has served as a director of Afilias since 2001 and was appointed Executive Chairman in 2014. Jonathan is 48 years old.
Follow Jonathan Robinson:
About : Afilias provides back end domain name registry services, DNS, idn and RFID services.
Elliot Richardson
Chairman of Dugout
Elliot Richardson has 30 years’ experience in the financial sector and holds strong contacts in the football, sport, music and the business world. He has been an advisor on risk to the International Olympic Committee, Formula One teams and to leading football clubs. Further, he has managed businesses with a global footprint inclusive of his prior role as Chief Executive Officer of Aon Broking. Elliot has a strong track record for building start-up businesses, scaling them globally attracting talent to lead them. Elliot is Chairman of RK Harrison, part of the Hyperion group of companies, and has also served on British Airways Global Advisory Board.
Follow Elliot Richardson:
About Dugout: Dugout is an innovative new digital football platform.
José Neves
Founder, Co-Chairman & CEO of Farfetch
In 2008 José Neves launched Farfetch, bringing together his interests in fashion and technology, as well as his experience in design, wholesale and retail, to create a business that would celebrate and support the diversity of the global fashion industry. The seasoned entrepreneur had experienced first-hand the challenges facing bricks-and-mortar retailers wanting to expand online. His vision was to create a single portal, offering independent boutiques the opportunity to compete with the leaders of fashion e-commerce. Farfetch now comprises more than 300 boutiques, offering over 100,000 pieces from 1,000 brands. With customers in almost 190 countries, the site receives an average of 10 million monthly hits. José has been involved in the fashion start-up world since the mid-1990s when he launched footwear business SWEAR. José later founded SIX London, a fashion licensing and wholesale company selling to 600 retailers worldwide. In 2001 José opened the renowned bstore, which won the British Fashion Award for Retailer of the Year in 2006. José has received numerous accolades as an entrepreneur and for his business ventures, including The Business of Fashion’s 500 People Shaping the Fashion Industry in 2013, Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year and Vogue’s DirectorsOf.COM Top Entrepreneur in 2011.
Follow José Neves:
About Farfetch, Farfetch China, PlatformE, SIX London: Farfetch is an online luxury fashion retail platform.
Ian Campbell
Executive Chairman of Airfi Networks
See https://www.linkedin.com/in/iancmpbll/
Follow Ian Campbell:
About Airfi Networks: We help Original Equipment Manufacturers launch and monetize cellular connected products worldwide through our Catalyst IoT Platform
Nick Land
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Vodafone Foundation of Vodafone
Follow Nick Land:
About : Vodafone is a mobile telecommunications company that offers voice, messaging, and data services.
Richard Burston
Vice Chairman of KORE Wireless
Richard Burston, a successful entrepreneur and private equity investor, founded Regency Capital International Limited, a London-based merchant bank in 1991. From 2002 to 2004, He was the CEO of Bostream AB, following Regency Capital’s purchase of a majority interest in the company. He built Bostream into Sweden’s leading independent broadband ISP, prior to selling the company in late 2004. Before founding Regency Capital in 1991, he was employed by Morgan Stanley. Mr Burston, a Canadian citizen, has a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Follow Richard Burston:
About KORE Wireless: KORE Wireless is a trusted advisor delivering mission-critical IoT solutions and services.
Mike Parton
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arqiva
Mike brings a wealth of relevant experience from the telecoms and technology industry to Arqiva. Mike started his career as a Chartered Management Accountant, working for a number of UK technology companies including ICL, GEC, STC and Marconi. He moved into General Management in 1995 at Marconi, and became CEO in 2001. Between 2001 and 2006 Mike was CEO of Marconi before overseeing a sale of the company to Ericsson. In 2007, Mike became Chairman of Damovo and joined the Board of Tele2, becoming Chairman there in 2010. Mike stepped down from the Board of Damovo in 2015 following a sale of the company.
Follow Mike Parton:
About : Arqiva is a communications infrastructure and media services company.
Demetrios Zoppos
Co-founder & Exec Chairman of Klevio
Zoppos is a London-based Cypriot entrepreneur and early stage tech business leader. Before founding onefinestay in 2009,he was founding CEO of GradFutures, a web community site and co-founder of GF-X, the leading airfreight trading platform, which raised £50m and was acquired by Descartes. Previously, Zoppos was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. where he specialised in e-commerce, and was an associate at the World Bank. He earned his MA with First Class Honours in Economics from Robinson College, Cambridge, and his MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Zoppos is currently launching Klevio, a start-up in the “Internet of Things” area and will walk us through the path of turning an idea into a business.
Follow Demetrios Zoppos:
About Klevio: Klevio lets users open doors and share their virtual keys using a smartphone.
Jeremy Wilson
Non-Executive Chairman of QPQ
Jeremy Wilson is currently the Chairman at QPQ.
Follow Jeremy Wilson:
About QPQ: QPQ is a network infrastructure to enable a digital universe.
Jeremy Wilson
Non-Executive Chairman of QPQ
Jeremy Wilson is currently the Chairman at QPQ.
Follow Jeremy Wilson:
About QPQ: QPQ is a network infrastructure to enable a digital universe.
Karl Knoflach
Chairman, Co-Founder, Head of Marketing and Product of C88 Financial Technologies
Follow Karl Knoflach:
About C88 Financial Technologies: C88 connects banks and insurers in Asia to consumers buying financial products online.
Peter Williams
Chairman of Mister Spex
Follow Peter Williams:
About : Mister Spex is an online store that sells various brands of glasses and contact lenses.
Laurence Marlor
Chairman of TickX
Follow Laurence Marlor:
About TickX: TickX is the simple, hassle-free way to search for the best tickets.
Peter Opperman
Chairman of Decision Tech
Follow Peter Opperman:
About : Decision Tech mission is to create destination websites and apps that help people to find the very best communications and entertainment.
Rob Dobson
Chairman and Co-Founder of DevicePilot
Rob founded Actix (actix.com) in 1991 and as CEO (1991-2005) grew it to over $50m revenue by 2005. More than 90% of the world’s mobile phone customers have their networks optimized by Actix software and Rob has worked with many of the world’s leading mobile operators and infrastructure vendors. In 2005 he sold a majority stake in the company to PE firm Summit Partners at a $100+m valuation. He has invested in a further 30+ startups and has had five very successful exits (he’s not counting failures as they come with the territory). Rob is chairman of Robotical (robotical.io) and DevicePilot.com. He’s also the founding chairman of Singletrack.com and a supporter of the unique orchestra SouthbankSinfonia.co.uk. As an inveterate tinkerer in software and hardware, he’s fascinated by IoT, 3D printing and the maker movement (as you can probably see from his personal website (robdobson.com). Rob is a Fellow of the IET and has a 1st class honours degree in Electronic Engineering.
Follow Rob Dobson:
About 1248, Float: DevicePilot provides Service Monitoring for connected devices
Charles Cooper-Driver
Chairman, Investor & Director of Limitless
Follow Charles Cooper-Driver:
About : The Limitless GigCX platform enables businesses to connect customers with qualified experts to solve customer service enquiries on-demand.
Stewart Easterbrook
Chairman and Strategic Adviser of MiQ
Stewart is an advisor to the boards of several companies operating in the fields of media communications, data analytics, technology and mobile communications. He is Chairman of Media iQ, the leading global analytics technology and programmatic media specialist. He holds advisory roles with the video and animation production marketplace, Wooshii, mobile brand advertising experts, Widespace, and the world’s leading social music business, Instrumental.
Follow Stewart Easterbrook:
About MediaLab Group, MiQ: MiQ is an independent marketing intelligence company with the people and technology that help businesses win.
Rune Sovndahl
Chairman of Starfish Enterprise
Summary – Rune Sovndahl (Born 13 February, 1975) is a Danish-born entrepreneur with over fifteen years’ experience in the the IT, dot-com and telecommunications industries. He is the founder of Briing.com, Polish portal Gadatka.com and Victor Connect Ltd. He is currently the co-owner and CEO of international SEO agency [First Online Solutions](http://www.1stonlinesolutions.com/). Early Life- Sovndahl grew up in Copenhagen attending both [Ingrid Jespersens Gymnasie skole](http://ijg.dk/) and [Oestre Borgerdyd](http://www.gefion-gym.dk/om-gefion/historie/oestre-borgerdyds-historie.aspx). He became interested in programming and business technology at an early age, primarily through the influence of his father who was a programmer for IBM, writing his first program for stock management at age 10. Rune attended the [Copenhagen Business School](http://eng.brock.dk/) from 1997 – 1999 with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. As a graduate student, he worked with [British Telecom](http://www.bt.com/) as a systems architect. His early technological influences include the inspiration of William Gibson’s novel, Virtual Light. Following his service in the Royal Danish Navy, Rune developed a passion for the culinary arts which lead to him to working in the kitchens of multiple Michelin Star restaurants in Copenhagen and Søllerød under the tutelage of Franz Stockhammer. Rune was fascinated by El Bulli and the school of culinary technology and organization, but he left the industry due to a severe shellfish allergy. He keeps the passion of his culinary days alive in the day to day work of his companies. Career- Rune’s interest in technology and human interaction led him to the fields of Search Engine Marketing, Paid Search, Natural Search, Brand Discovery, and Protection & Visibility. His early days in technology involved the development of location-based systems and the early development of a [3G platform](http://www.btagilemedia.com/) for locating restaurants and shops, as well as one of the first televised SMS campaigns in the UK. In 2003 Rune launched a mid-sized SEO and affiliate web design company, [Victor Connect Ltd.](http://www.victorconnect.com/) before he became Head of Search at Lastminute.com where he managed an extensive multi-million dollar SEM strategy in the travel market. He co-founded First Online Solutions in 2009, which owns and operates a number of popular consumer telecom brands: – [Fantastic cleaners](www.fantasticcleaners.com) – [Rubbish Please](www.rubbishplease.com) – [Tick Tick Check](www.ticktickcheck.com) – [Aussie Handyman](www.aussiehandyman.com) – [Aussie Clean Team](www.aussiecleanteam.com) – [TimeVouchers](www.timevouchers.com) – [Mini Wardrobe](www.miniwardrobe.com) – [Now Roam](www.nowroam.com) – [Briing.com](www.bring.com) Personal Life – Sovndahl currently resides in London’s Bloomsbury. He remains passionate about travel, culinary arts and designing sustainable business models for technology that optimize marketing and usability across the full value chain of the consumer. Philanthropy – Rune is the co-founder of Stepnote, a charity music school in Denmark. The [site](stepnote.dk) is a personal matching service that aims to find the ideal music teacher based on a student’s individual needs.
Follow Rune Sovndahl:
About 1st Online Solutions, Fantastic Services, Local Fame: Starfish Enterprise is a company, founded by Rune Sovndahl, that offers search engine optimization, web design, customer service and more.
Paul Drayson
Chairman and CEO of Drayson Technologies Group
Follow Paul Drayson:
About Drayson Technologies Group, Sensyne Health: Drayson Technologies is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform that uses wireless charging technology and machine learning software.
Richard Constant
Executive Chairman of Living PlanIT SA
Follow Richard Constant:
About Living PlanIT SA, Planit Ventures: Living PlanIT SA is a software development and data analysis company that developed the first Urban Operating System.
Olinga Taeed
Chairman and Founder of Seratio
Olinga is Director of the Centre for Citizenship, Enterprise and Governance and attributed with the creation of the Social Earnings Ratio (S/E). He is Council Member (one of 7) and Expert Advisor to the Government Ministry of Commerce China ECommerce Blockchain Committee. He is Visiting Professor in Blockchain at Birmingham City University, and Editor-in-Chief of 3 journals – Frontiers in Blockchain with 367 editors, Social Value & Intangibles Review and Efficiency Exchange.
Follow Olinga Taeed:
About Frontiers, Rothbadi & Co, Seratio: Measurement of Intangible Non-Financial Value, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
Alex Dyce
Chairman of Unifi.id
Follow Alex Dyce:
About Unifi.id: Unifi.id is digital engagement through our Smart card long-range card detection, data interrogation and communication protocols.
Israel Mazin
Chairman & Co-founder of Shadow Technologies Ltd.
Mr. Mazin was a co-founder of Memco Software and served as Memco’s CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1990 until the company was acquired by Computer Associates in 1999. Prior to his position at Memco, Mr. Mazin served as a business development consultant to several Israeli companies in the high-tech industry. Mr. Mazin began his career at the Israel Defense Forces Computer Center where he served in infrastructure systems management.
Follow Israel Mazin:
About Shadow Technologies Ltd.: Shadow.com summarizes user reviews under topics such as products, services, and people.
Joe Saumarez Smith
Chairman of Bede Gaming
Joe Saumarez Smith has worked in the online gambling industry for 18 years. He is currently chairman of Bede Gaming, the leading online gambling platform. He is also a non executive director of the British Horseracing Authority. Joe is an investor in numerous online gaming businesses, including IPS which was recently sold to Leo Vegas for £65m.
Follow Joe Saumarez Smith:
About Bede Gaming: Bede Gaming is the first choice supplier of software to the online gambling and social gaming industries.
Andrew Barron
Chairman of the Board of Director of Com Hem
Andrew Barron was COO of Virgin Media and MTG, CEO of Chellomedia, Executive Vice-President Walt Disney Europe and management consultant at McKinsey & Co.
Follow Andrew Barron:
About : Com Hem is a communications company on a mission: to transform our business entirely around what customers want and need.
Matthew Riley
Chairman of Daisy Corporate Services
Since founding Daisy in 2001, Matthew has driven the rapid growth of the company to create one of the UK’s leading business technology and communications service provider. He floated the company on the Alternative Investment Market in the midst of the 2009 recession, grew the business to revenues of £350m and, in January 2015, took it back into private ownership in a £494m deal. An award-winning entrepreneur and highly successful business leader, Matthew was born in and still lives in Burnley, Lancashire. A fervent advocate of UK enterprise, regional growth, and entrepreneurship, he is passionate about providing practical career guidance for young adults. As well as Daisy, he is chairman of three start-up businesses, each with training and career development at their core.
Follow Matthew Riley:
About Daisy Corporate Services, PROfounders Capital: Daisy Corporate Services | #1 independent provider of IT, communications and cloud
David Chater-Lea
Vice Chairman of 3GPP
David is a senior technologist working for Motorola Solutions in the area of advanced system architecture and design, and a specialist in wireless communication system security. He is active in the standardisation of mission critical communications systems, and holds a number of positions of responsibility in that field, acting as vice chairman of ETSI TC TCCE, chairman of TC TCCE WG4, responsible for advanced air interfaces, vice chairman of TC TCCE WG6, responsible for security, and vice chairman of 3GPP SA6, responsible for mission critical application design.David holds a BSc in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, England; and is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the IET. He holds a number of patents in the field of radio communications systems.
Follow David Chater-Lea:
About 3GPP, 3GPP: The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) unites [Seven] telecommunications standard development organizations.
Gideon Harbour
Chairman of Optial
Before founding Optial, Gideon Harbour ran the London operations of a private investment trust focusing on technology and real estate. Prior to 1995 he was with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co working in the Sydney and Atlanta offices. At McKinsey he worked with clients in finance, insurance and the steel industry, specializing in change management. Gideon holds an MA from Oxford in PPE (Economics).
Follow Gideon Harbour:
About Optial: Optial is a successful global supplier of Enterprise-wide EHS, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC).
Alexandros C. Argyriou
Chairman of Scientia Consulting Group
Follow Alexandros C. Argyriou:
About Scientia Consulting Group: Scientia Consulting Group offers business development methodologies for web startups and financial institutions with e-business units.
Kevin Gaskell
Chairman of Traderoot Technologies
Follow Kevin Gaskell:
About Traderoot Technologies: Traderoot Technologies enable the routing of secure, authenticated commerce transactions for physical and virtual communities.
Richard Wolman
Founder and Chairman of WISTLA
Follow Richard Wolman:
About WISTLA: The world’s first sociable network. We’re igniting the power in every crowd.
David Priestley
Executive Chairman of Cuelogic Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
A career entrepreneur in technology for the Finance and Commodities sectors. Founder of 6 successful start ups over a 30 year career. Finalist in the 2001 Entrepreneur of the year and winner of the AIM Fastest Rising Share in 2003. Responsible for the creation of several hundred technology jobs in the sector and with an excess of over £100 million in exports achieved over the years Priestley remains committed to deploying the very latest technology using the very best software engineering talent. David was part of Gissing Software’s management team that sold the business to Reuters in 2008. David co-founded MDX Technology in 2010.
Follow David Priestley:
About Cuelogic Technologies Pvt. Ltd., MDX Technology: Outsourced Product Development for leading edge startups and Fortune 500 enterprises looking to compete with unicorns.
Paul Swaddle
Chairman & Co-Founder of Pocket App Limited
Follow Paul Swaddle:
About Pocket App Limited, The Supper Club, Westminster City Council, Westminster City Council: Pocket App is the UK’s Leading Mobile Development Agency, based in the heart of London.
Roberto Rivero
Chairman of Vable
Follow Roberto Rivero:
About Vable: Vable is a software that helps companies manage all their sources of information in one place to deliver the best content to your audience.
Richard Segal
Chairman of hostelworld.com
Richard is chairman at Hostelworld, a booking website that enables its users to make online reservations and payments.
Follow Richard Segal:
About hostelworld.com: Hostelworld is a booking website that enables its users to make online reservations and payments.
Ken Blakeslee
Chairman of WebMobility Ventures
Ken’s involvement over the past few years has been specifically in the area of private equity investing in the mobile sector, and his previous experience in developing telecoms, IT and web commerce business strategies spans 25+ years. His focus has been on the emerging new media content, applications and commerce methodologies, and the merging of these with the ubiquitous, personal access of mobile. Recent emphasis has been placed on Wearable Technologies, Fitness/Wellness, mHealth, Augmented Reality, Mobile TV, Virtual Reality Devices, 3D360º content and other personal viewing scenarios for rich media and innovations in technologies enabling multiscreen convergence. Alternate energy, energy harvesting and additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies and applications are also a recent focus. Ken’s Company, WebMobility Ventures, focuses on private investing and advising companies on bringing innovations in multimedia mobility to market. He has also been an Investment Advisor to Ascension Ventures who manage early stage EIS and SEIS funds. Prior to that he was Chairman of WirelessWorks with The Vesta Group, managing the investments of one of Europe’s top networked venture capital funds, Frontiers Capital. In addition to being a venture partner, he established and was Chairman of their Board of Advisors. He has also served on the board of directors and advisory board of several companies, all innovatively active in various sectors of mobile investment, product definition and service delivery. Previously, he was VP of Business Strategy for Wireless Internet at Nortel Networks. Ken has held numerous industry positions including chairman of the Mobile Data Association, vice chair of the UMTS Forum Market Aspects Group, and in 2001 was named to the GSM Association ‘roll of honour’ for “longstanding commitment to the GSM industry”. In 2004 Ken launched and produced “Cool and Connected” a ‘Wearable Technology Fashion Show’ and in 2006 the “Innovation Showcase” of emerging key technologies at 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona and also at the International Broadcasters Conference in Amsterdam. Ken was born, raised and educated in New England, USA (NH and Maine mostly) and has settled in the UK “for the time being” (30 years so far!).
Follow Ken Blakeslee:
About : WebMobility Ventures, focuses on advising companies on bringing innovations in multimedia mobility to market.
Syd Nadim
Founder and Executive Chairman of Clock
Syd has nurtured Clock from a Prince’s Trust start-up in 1997 to one of the top 100 digital agencies in the UK. His passion for digital, and his devotion to the Prince’s Trust, have seen him get involved with a few other promising start-ups as well, including SwipeStation, WUWO magazine, Browser and Hijack Media. An outstanding motivational speaker, Syd regularly attends schools and industry events to share his inspirational story, and in 2013 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of his outstanding work in the development of business and entrepreneurial education.
Follow Syd Nadim:
About Clock: Clock is a digital agency specialized in the design and management of digital platforms.
Roger Adcock
Chairman of Reactec
Follow Roger Adcock:
About Reactec: Reactec is the market leader in monitoring and management support solutions for hand and arm vibration syndrome
David Simpson
Chairman of Locale
Follow David Simpson:
About Locale: Locale is the leading platform for property management in the UK.
David Simpson
Chairman of Locale
Follow David Simpson:
About Locale: Locale is the leading platform for property management in the UK.
David Sykes
Chairman of SmartSurvey
Chairman at SOMNIUM® Technologies.
Follow David Sykes:
About SmartSurvey: The UK’s leading online survey software.
Gary Pollak
Chairman of Communications Software
Gary started working in computers in 1965 when he joined the Automobile Association as a trainee programmer, before joining the supermarket giant J Sainsbury in their embryonic IT department. Whilst at J Sainsbury, Gary met Dick Rawcliffe and together they formed Commsoft. Their philosophy was to create quality software and to care for their customers in long-term mutually beneficial relationships. In the mid-1970’s, Commsoft was contracted by Laker Airways to write all of their applications, including reservations, flight costing, flight planning, revenue accounting, inventory and maintenance planning. From these beginnings, Gary and his co-directors have developed a specialist aircraft maintenance systems company with a global customer base.
Follow Gary Pollak:
About Communications Software: Commsoft supports aircraft maintenance organisations through OASES.
