Chair • NED • Board Advisor
Tim Harper
Entrepreneur, director and communicator helping science-based companies raise capital, professionalise governance and convert research into revenue. Former founder/CEO, hydrogen infrastructure pioneer, and author of the forthcoming Born to Disrupt.
£6.5M+
Capital raised (founder/CEO & advisor)
$1.5Bn
M&A oversight exposure in intelligent sensing
25+ yrs
Founding, scaling & communicating deep-tech
What I bring to a board
- Funding & investor narrative: story aligned to the model, data room discipline, diligence Q&A to shorten time-to-yes.
- Governance that scales: useful operating rhythm, decision rights, KPIs, audit/risk without slowing execution.
- Deep-tech commercialisation: ICP, pilots, pricing and the first £1–5m revenue path.
- High-stakes communications: spokesperson/PR/IR and crisis/change comms that support raises and hiring.
Selected highlights
Element 2 — Hydrogen infrastructure
Founder/CEO: took H₂ refuelling from idea toward national footprint. Recruited SLT, raised £6.5m+, delivered multi-million annual sales, and built investor & customer pipelines.
- Network strategy, partners & sites
- Investor narrative, model + data room
- Spokesperson for media & stakeholders
Evove (G2O) — Graphene filtration
CEO: commercialised US-developed graphene filtration. Secured public + VC funding, delivered pilots & early traction, introduced pricing & unit-economics discipline.
- Spin-out → market programmes
- Pilot pipeline & customer references
- Investor materials & diligence readiness
Intelligent sensing — Transactions
Oversight exposure on a $1.5bn acquisition programme, aligning board, investors and management on strategy, diligence and integration planning.
- Strategy & sequencing of deals
- Board materials & stakeholder comms
- M&A/IPO hygiene & integration prep
Influences & snapshots
Now
Open to 2–3 portfolio roles (Chair, NED, Advisor) across UK/EU. Best fit in hydrogen & cleantech, advanced materials/graphene, and sensors/instrumentation; university spin-outs and science-led scaleups from Seed → Series B.
Press & speaking
I act as spokesperson and communications lead (IR/PR, crisis/change). I speak on hydrogen infrastructure, deep-tech commercialisation, investor narrative and board governance.
- Talks & panels: hydrogen transition; turning lab work into revenue; governance without bureaucracy
- For: boards, investor days, universities, accelerators
Recent & notable:
- Founder/CEO quoted on UK hydrogen infrastructure plans
- Panel: commercialising advanced materials into water & energy
- Keynote: investor narratives that survive diligence