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 COO’ operating in the Impact Investing space. If you think a COO’ 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.
Chris Barnes
Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Atomico
Chris is Partner & Chief Operating Officer at Atomico. Based in London, he works across all aspects of Atomico’s operations. He oversees portfolio management, fund management, investor relations, resource allocation, finance, legal and HR. Chris joined the company after thirteen years at private equity company Terra Firma, where he was CFO and a member of the Investment and Management Committees. While at Terra Firma, Chris was involved in the structuring, funding and execution of all of the portfolio investments, as well as the management of the firm’s operations. Prior to Terra Firma, Chris worked in the Private Equity group at Arthur Andersen for 10 years. Chris is a Chartered Accountant and has a Double First in Economics and History from Cambridge University. He ran his first (and last) marathon at age 12, which may explain why he now has a titanium hip and the knees of a ninety year old. A talented footballer in his youth, Chris gave up the chance of a playing career in the top flight to follow his dream of becoming an accountant.
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About Atomico: Atomico is an international investment firm that focuses on helping disruptive technology companies scale globally.
Guy Willans
COO of PrimaDollar
Guy has extensive experience across all sizes & sectors of business, having worked with start-ups – £20bn T/O businesses, and having worked in organisations with 2 to 300,000+ employees. An experienced Financial Services professional he has lent > $1,000m to all size businesses including FTSE 100/250. He has led businesses & worked on boards in London & SE and has worked globally across EU, US, Asia, ME, and Australasia. Guy’s love of both technology and challenge saw him working in an AIM listed Dot-com in the noughties and now his second COO role in a growing FinTech in the twenty-tens.
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About PrimaDollar: PrimaDollar is an ESGTech and Fintech for international supply chains.(real-time ESG data and Trade Finance)
Robin Bailey
Chief Operating Officer of Pantheon Ventures
Robin is a Partner and Pantheon’s Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Pantheon, Robin worked in the Investment team of Ipex Capital and for the Corporate Finance Advisory practice of Deloitte. Robin qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen and holds a BSc in Economics from Warwick University.
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About Pantheon Ventures: Pantheon is a leading global private equity fund investor. We manage regional primary investments, global secondary and infrastructure
Francois Devillez
Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer of AlphaSwap
Francois is a Blockchain consultant and entrepreneur. He previously consulted at Espeo Software, Larvol and various multinationals. Francois has a Master in Law from Free University of Brussels, a Master in Tax Management from Solvay Business School and a Master in Business Management from Vlerick Business School.
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About AlphaSwap, Forbes, Forbes Business Council, LARVOL: AlphaSwap is an investment technology platform, bundling its analyst community’s best stock ideas into Data-as-a-Service
Mark Little
Co-Founder, COO & CMO of Pynk
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About Pynk: Pynk is where everyday people invest better together.
