Innovation Birmingham appoints new Entrepreneurs in Residence to mentor start-ups

TWO new Entrepreneurs in Residence have been appointed to mentor start-up companies taking part in the Entrepreneurs for the Future programme at Innovation Birmingham.

John Cooke and Alistair Fox, experienced sales and marketing professionals within the tech industry, have been awarded 18-month contracts to spend at least one day a week working with the 20-25 tech start-ups that are incubated within the e4f annually.

Cooke spent the first 18 years of his career working in a business development capacity for Microsoft and IBM. On leaving Microsoft, he became an entrepreneur and has established two successful businesses.

Fox has held Marketing Director positions for large firms in the utilities and tech sectors, including global telecommunications giant Marconi Communications. He left Marconi to join Microsoft, and has since worked with a number of tech companies as a marketing and sales consultant.   

Clive Bawden, founder of Look After Business, who was previously business development director of Catalyst Corporate Finance, was recruited by Innovation Birmingham as an EIR 12 months ago and has had his contract renewed.

Since November 2009, over 95 new innovative technology businesses have been born in the campus’ e4f centre. To date, over 160 new employee and director positions have been created by the start-ups.

Dr David Hardman, CEO of Innovation Birmingham said: “A great concept won’t become a commercially viable business without an energetic and targeted approach to promoting and selling it. Our three Entrepreneurs in Residence are highly experienced at working with tech start-ups to research new markets, identify target customers and develop value propositions. They also have a range of excellent contacts to secure initial investment for new businesses and will work with them to achieve investment readiness.”