Rob Dobson

The experienced team at Infersens are solving a huge problem in the water industry relating to flow monitoring including the detection of flow for prevention of legionnaires disease. Their Cortense is simply attached to few centimetres of exposed water pipe close to an outlet and records and communicates flow and temperature information for over 3 years without any further access requirement. The company has deployed 1000s of units and is quickly scaling towards a huge market opportunity.

I've been working with Robotical's fantastic team since 2017 and the business now has revenues approaching $1m and is close to profitability despite the huge shifts in educational spending that occurred during the Covid-affected years Almost 10,000 of Robotical's educational robots have now been sold and they have been used by over 100,000 students to help learn how computers process data and make decisions that can influence the real world. Marty, a lively walking and dancing robot, adds a fun twist to learning, engaging even the most technology-averse students with his creative costumes and funky dance moves. Marty is a Robot. A real-world walking and dancing robot. For teachers, there are plenty of resources like lesson plans and curriculum maps. After-school clubs can benefit from a vibrant community full of ideas. Parents can access guides and suggestions for activities, while kids have the chance to make Marty their own by programming his movements in Scratch and Python – whether it's dancing, acting out stories, navigating mazes, or simply exploring the world around him. Don't miss Marty's wiggle-dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtTVw8hmY

Wootzano has created a flexible, touch-sensitive skin which has pressure-sensing resolution on a par with human fingers. Right now robots are hopelessly bad at real-world activities humans find easy, like picking up a cup of coffee or turning on a tap. Wootzano changes the game by giving robots the same kind of touch sensitivity humans enjoy. Investor

Wootzano is a world-leader in fruit-packing robotics. Chairman at Wootzano

The single biggest reason that startups fail is poor cash management (I either dreamt this or read it on the internet - either way it is true - to quote David O'Doherty). Float aims to solve this problem! Float is a cashflow forecasting web application designed to help small business owners understand their cashflow better. It directly integrates with bank and tax information and helps businesses predict what their exact balance will be at the end of the month and a projection going forward over 12 months. Currently available with direct download integration with Xero, QuickBooks and Free Agent.

Adimo takes ad clicks straight into the customer's shopping cart on their preferred retailer. By making internet ads shop-able they level the playing field for major brands who are being squeezed by retails wanting to promote own-brands.

Access to hand-selected loans from approved peer-to-peer investment platforms

Research Space is redefining the scientist's Lab Notebook as a cloud based, secure, robust, multiple access service. Building on the success of it's desktop eCats product which is used worldwide it has avoided the innovators dilemma by completely reinventing itself and its products.

QikServe - the waiter in your pocket. A simple way to order and pay at table.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is all about scalability, and DevicePilot was founded by Pilgrim Beart (the inventor of Hive, now part of British Gas) with the goal of standardizing the management of IoT devices. The aim was to ensure these devices always perform as expected while handling tasks like battery replacement, device settings, and communication. However, the business struggled to gain enough commercial traction, largely because the IoT is not a single, standardized entity like the Internet. Instead, it consists of a vast array of devices and communication channels, with little to no commonality in design or implementation.

Singletrack announced a major investment from AKKR in July 2022 and is now embarking on another exciting chapter in their growth. Singletrack is the leading provider of cloud based CRM software for financial capital markets. With offices in London and New York, Singletrack's team of industry experts help investment banks, funds and research providers monitor, manage and plan all aspects of revenue generation. Leveraging AI technology is also helping to prioritise activity and demonstrate best-in-class performance management.

Variously described as "The high-street in your pocket"​ and "Tinder for Fashion"​. Founder Cally Russell famously turned down Peter Jones on an episode of Dragons' Den. One to watch!

Appsumer was acquired in 2021 having built a highly successful app analytics business.

Alpha-I leverages machine learning to solve real-world problems like airliner safety testing and wind-turbine failure prediction. They are an alumnus of Entrepreneur First.

At miituu we think engaging with staff, suppliers and clients should be simpler. We want everyone to have access to a means for their voice to be heard, their ideas to be listened to and their pitches presented in the best light. miituu provides the secure video platform to enable all these things - and more. http://www.miituu.com

Acquired by Vodafone in October 2016, RadioOpt is the leading provider of smartphone apps for mobile customer experience. Founded by Johannes Huebner and spun out from Prof. Gerhard Fettweis's Vodafone Chair in Dresden University. I am a founding investor and advisor.

Southbank Sinfonia is an orchestra like no other. Each year SbS enables 33 musicians of outstanding ability to develop their skills as members of an amazing organisation. SbS was founded in 2002 by Simon Over, Michael Berman and Katharine Verney. Patrons include Vladimir Ashkenazy and Edward Gardner. http://southbanksinfonia.co.uk/

Actix is an industry leading supplier of wireless network management and optimization software for mobile phone networks. I founded the company in 1991 and was CEO until 2005 when I became a non-executive director. Actix was sold to Amdocs for $120m in 2013. Non-Executive Director, Founder

I founded Actix in 1990 and grew the business as CEO to over $50m in revenue and around 200 people with offices in 8 locations around the world. During this period Actix was placed in the top 10 fastest growing companies in the UK and top 50 in Europe. In 2005 I sold a majority stake in the company to Summit Partners at a valuation of just over $100m. Founder and CEO

Metrico, now part of Spirent, is a leading international provider of user-experience performance measurement solutions to the wireless industry. The company was founded by Dimitrios Topaltzas and Jeff Horner in Frederick, Maryland. I invested in the company in 2010 and advised the business during a period of continued 40%+ p.a. growth. In September 2012 the business was sold to Spirent for a little over $50m benefiting the founders, investors and senior managers and many employees.

I founded getitmade.com with Nick Ager in early 2010. We aimed to change the way crowdfunding for products works. Instead of using a donation based approach where no contractual commitment exists between the innovator and customers we sought to create a three way contract between innovator, customer and manufacturer/fulfilment. We decided to shelve the business in September 2011 because the financial regulatory environment in the UK (where we were based) was so inflexible that it was impossible for us to take any payments without going off-shore. However, we learned a lot - principally that the environment for Crowdfunded companies in the UK wasn't great at the time - although I feel it has improved somewhat since then.

The Prince's Trust is a charity which helps people start businesses by providing financial and other support.

BSc - Electronic Engineering

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