Entrepreneurship School

Edward Keelan is a Partner at Octopus Ventures, one of the most active Venture Capital firms in Europe, based in London, UK. With the mission to invest in the people and ideas that will change the world. He started his career at Rolls-Royce before becoming part of the founding team at KorteQ, a start-up focused on knowledge management. In 2008, he joined Octopus and has since led investments into various sectors from renewables to venture capital. His role encompasses oversight of deal origination and execution, a seat on the investment committee and contributing to his fund’s overall strategy. He also represented Octopus as a non-executive director on several boards with experience in fast-growing companies and exiting to FTSE 250 companies. He has a diversified background and has worked internationally with time in San Francisco. Edward holds an EMBA with distinction from Saïd Business School, and several sector-specific professional qualifications. He has a passion for ensuring equality of opportunity and is a seasoned mentor within education, and in 2020 was named the mentor of the year for the South at the Career Ready awards.