Eric Collins on black entrepreneurship, big thinking, working with venture capitals and the importance of grinding your way to success

You Unleashed with Femi Akinyemi

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London-based Eric is a technology executive who has spent a career building the value of digital companies through innovative strategies.

He has done this at public and private companies including AOL, TimeWarner, Tegic/Nuance Communications, MobilePosse, SwiftKey/Microsoft and most recently, Touch Surgery, where he was COO.

In 2018, Eric was part of a prominent group of Black European and US serial entrepreneurs, institutional investors, investment bankers, corporate leaders and entertainers to found Impact X Capital.

The company is a double bottom-line venture capital firm that invests in under-represented innovators in Europe, focusing on growth stage companies in three distinct sectors: digital and technology, health, education and lifestyle; and media and entertainment.

Eric is also a sought-after board member and advisor in the technology space. In September 2020 he was appointed to the board of Tech Nation, the body that represents UK startups. He sits on the board of companies in San Francisco and London and acts as an advisor to companies in the US, India and the UK.

He supports civic activities. In London, he serves on the board of Autograph ABP and Southwark Cathedral’s Council and, in the US, he has been a board member of Washington Performing Arts.

He also donates time and resources to many other contemporary causes, including the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of African-American History and Culture; The National Museum of African Art; Toronto’s Power Plant Gallery; and Philomena’s Chorus (a programme that helps under-represented voices, especially young, black British women, produce films).

President Obama appointed Eric to the Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities and as an evaluator for White House Fellow applicants.

Eric holds degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

In November 2018, The Financial Times named him among the UK’s top 100 BAME leaders in technology. In 2019 and 2020 he was voted one of the most influential black people in Britain on The Powerlist.

This episode is sponsored by MyCareerLabs

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