Proposition Lead, VenturePath

Ian Merricks founded, scaled and exited a digital media group before moving into early stage investment. He co-founded White Horse Capital and The Accelerator Network -- which supported 1,000+ startups, to accelerate growth from Seed to Series A, with £660m of funding. Ian was named a Top Global tech accelerator leaders and won the “Entrepreneurs’ Champion” award at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. 

In 2023 he launched VenturePath –The Scaleup Investment Platform, connecting £13bn of Series A-B VCs with fast growing businesses. This approach has helped 80+ high growth tech-enabled companies secure over £730m of growth capital. 

Most recently he established the UK Scaleup Investment Mission, an industry-supported initiative to drive private / public sector collaboration to create more venture-backed scaleup successes.

Why do you support the work of The Entrepreneurs Network?

Philip and the team work tirelessly to take the pulse of UK entrepreneurs. Their close trusted relationship with government means that their views and suggestions get listened to, and more often than not, acted upon. Its a pleasure to be associated with their excellent work (since 2012!).

Why is the UK an attractive place to grow a business?

Having worked in numerous countries, the UK over the last decade, has  become absolutely one of the best countries for entrepreneurs to build successful, scalable businesses, with a supportive culture and government, a highly connected nationwide network, and resilient capital at all stages of a business journey.