Charles Osborne
Charles’ career began in digital marketing almost twenty years ago, running search engine, content and social media campaigns for big brands like Bank of America, Barclays, Electronic Arts and Porsche.
This was followed with several years working for the UK Foreign Office based out of the British Embassy in Copenhagen, working as a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) adviser across the tech and renewable energy sectors.
From helping build out the offshore wind supply chain to connecting pension funds to infrastructure opportunities the experience and exposure were invaluable. Hosting trade missions, briefing Ministers and Ambassadors, speaking at events large and small, public and private and interacting at C-level were better than any business school syllabus.
Projects to connect Nordic and Baltic tech startups to UK based venture capital investors were what really captured Charles’ imagination however, and set him on his own entrepreneurial journey.
From getting the UK government involved in commissioning iOS apps to selling a side hustle website to a coworking space operator, it was building things from scratch that would drive the next decade of his career. Subsequent work as a venture scout involved sourcing startups for investors, followed by a stint assisting with operations and expansion of a global FinTech accelerator programme.
Work with a UK family office saw him setup an ambitious aviation venture that mixed vintage warbirds with helicopters in the skies over the south of England, where he met Blackdown co-founder Rhianne.
Charles’ own endeavours include a hyperlocal news service, an online marketplace for used cars, a low sugar tonic water venture, a knowledge graph platform and product prototyping studio.
Most recently he’s been focused on projects including the development of data centres to support artificial intelligence in collaboration with NVIDIA and SuperMicro, scoping electric propulsion opportunities for Rolls-Royce and monitoring developments in drone and other defence technologies for private clients.