David Holbrook

Background

About David Holbrook

I have devoted my entire business career to the translation of scientific ideas and intellectual property into commercial value and am a specialist in seed investing, particularly from the academic environment. As a qualified physician I have focused on the healthcare sector, firstly in business development and strategic roles at Glaxo, GlaxoWellcome and Roche, then within the university technology transfer sector for four years as CEO of Imperial College's spin-out incubator and manager of its £6m seed fund. For 13 years I led the healthcare investing activities at early stage venture capital fund manager MTI, raising and managing a £32 million fund with The University of Manchester. Subsequently I was a Director at Cambridge University Enterprise Seed Funds, helping manage the University's seed monies in the Life Sciences. I then became Head of Seed Funds at LifeArc, where I spent three years establishing a new fund, building a team, and investing in a cohort of 11 companies, two of which have already exited. I was also Senior Independent Director at leading FTSE 350 investment trust The Worldwide Healthcare Trust plc for 13 years. I am currently a senior advisor and Investment Committee member of digital health investor RYSE Asset Management, a non-executive director and audit chair of two AIM-listed companies - Oxford BioDynamics plc and Frontier IP plc, a mentor for Bruntwood Biospherics and the BIA Pulse Program and am Chairman of The Liver Group Charity based at the Royal Free Hospital. I firmly believe that the UK is a global leader in innovation, particularly its universities, and my goal is to ensure that innovation continues to be at the heart of the UK's economy.