Ascension Training

Corporate Partnerships Director

Techstars

Mentor at Techstars London. Paying it forward to the next generation of amazing startups.

Mentor

XPRENEURS Incubator

Ventures Together

Ventures Together is a community of angel investors consisting of 100+ of Europe’s leading tech entrepreneurs and operators responsible for building some of the biggest startups like Revolut, Wise, Citymapper, Beamery, Onfido, Huma, Monzo and Deliveroo.

Angel Investor

LaundryRepublic

London's most trusted laundry and dry cleaning service. Super sustainable, easy set-up and hassle-free, thousands of 5 star reviews. No more nasty chemicals. Our sustainable, state-of-the-art cleaning methods save on water, energy, and ensure garments last up to 3x longer.

🫧 Providing impeccable cleaning to: Aesop, Soulcycle, Wasps FC, Savills, Rendall & Rittner & more

🗞️ Featured in: The Times, FT.com, The Telegraph, Evening Standard, BBC News, Radio 5 Live

🥇 Award-winning: Accelerate 250, LCN Awards, South London Business Awards, Santander Breakthrough, Smarta 100

As co-founder I grew LR from concept to €4.5m+ ARR, profitability, and 60+ team. I’ve hired 150+ people from front line to C-suite. We bootstrapped then took angel investment, and soon became the leader in London. Now my amazing co-founder David Lambert leads the business. I have stepped back and remain on the Board.

Co-Founder

Swordbreaker

Bringing innovative counter-ransomware to market for Scotland's most exciting new cybersecurity startup. Wrote the GTM plan, built the financial model, and sourced then interviewed many cybersecurity founders and potential pilot customers.

Commercial Director

OC&C Strategy Consultants

Experienced associate at top tier strategy consulting firm. Covered broad range of sectors including Services, Retail and Technology. Projects included commercial, buyer, and vendor due diligence as well as corporate strategy. Significant exposure to global B2B services firms, technology and retail. Pro bono work for mental health charity.

Responsibilities included: client, competitor, and market analysis; detailed financial modelling and market forecasting; investigative interview-based research of competitors and market trends; identification and analysis of strategic acquisition targets.

Associate Consultant

General Capital Group

- Investment analysis and execution at German focused activist hedge fund during an exciting growth period
- GCG was backed by large US and UK based funds to pursue activist value creation investments in DAX 30 companies of multiple EUR billions e.g. Siemens, BASF, Infineon
- Responsibility across deal flow: target identification, valuation and project analysis (e.g. LBO modelling), project development, presentation, and execution of investment projects in both public and private equity.
- Working with CEOs, CFOs, and former executives in Senior Advisor roles to develop and execute investment strategies
- Led German side of renewable wind energy investment in Maharashtra, India including extensive travel to the region

Investment Manager

Dresdner Kleinwort

- Analyst in Financial Institutions Group (FIG) team, at the time 2nd only to Goldman Sachs in deal flow and success. 
- M&A advisory projects for large Italian insurance companies
- Extensive financial modelling, research and presentation responsibilities
- Worked with client top management (in Italian) at client offices in Rome and Milan

Summer Analyst

Pixology

Major Project:
- Planned, researched, and executed North American marketing strategy for Pixology
- Cold calling and selling to senior merchandisers of major U.S. home electronics retailers
- Resulted in software sales of >£300K 

Other experience:
- Software testing
- Direct sales of digital camera products

Product Marketing Manager

Founder | CEO/COO/MD | GTM | Cybersecurity | EdTech | Angel

Currently: 
GTM and scaling UK for  Ascension / Blended Teaching, Europe's #1 real estate finance educator. Founded by RE PE professionals; delivering super engaging, practical content; Ascension is redefining online education, starting with real estate finance.
https://www.ascension-training.com/

Recently: 
0-1 GTM for Scotland's most exciting cybersecurity startup, Swordbreaker. Wrote the GTM, built the financial model, then sourced and interviewed cybersecurity founders and potential pilot customers. Supported the founder through a prestigious accelerator (CivTech).

Previously:
Experienced founder and former top-tier strategy consultant. I built a multimillion Euro, profitable company from zero. Then I moved to Munich with my family, and stepped back. I love meeting founders and entrepreneurs. 

Detailed highlights below.

🚀 Entrepreneurial Leader
Founder CEO of a London-based service scaleup until July 2023. I grew it from concept to €4.5m ARR, profitability, 60+ team. Customers love us (4.6 Google/TP). I’ve hired 150+ people from front line to C-suite. I know how to build teams and get things done: efficient, lean, and profitable.

📈 Strategic Growth
I thrive on building and scaling. I lead on B2B sales, GTM, account management, and strategy. After Covid, we built a €2m ARR revenue line from near-zero. I also ran customer service, people, and (jointly) operations. 

🎤 Excellent Communicator
…in all situations: from 121s to public speaking; from hard conversations to motivational talks. Confident with all audiences, from enterprise clients to investors to frontline teams. Many years of Toastmasters plus stand-up comedy training. 

📈 Analytical & Curious
After studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, and International Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS, I worked at top-tier strategy consultancy OC&C.

🌱 Growth Mindset
I’m motivated by: problem solving, relationship building, closing deals, continuous learning, and seeing my team succeed. I love turning great ideas into reality and profit. I’m never afraid to roll up my sleeves.

🦾 Resilience & Grit
I thrive in difficult situations, and step up under pressure and crisis. I crash-stopped and restructured my company during Covid, then rebuilt it afterward. I also sailed across the Atlantic and learned to fly aerobatics with the RNR.

🌍 International Network
Strong UK & DE network of founders and investors. Angel in 15+ startups. I have lived, studied, and worked in Germany, US, Italy, and India. I have DE residency and right to work. 

Want to chat and learn more?
ian.walker@cantab.net

Ian Walker

Rachel Carrell

Koru Kids

Koru Kids is on a mission to profoundly improve the wellbeing of a million families in the next 5 years. We're doing this by building new childcare infrastructure for the world, underpinned by our software, data and content. We provide innovative services like 'nanny share', in which a single nanny looks after children from 2 families at once. Each family pays less, the nanny gets paid more, and the children get a friend to play with. Brilliant!

Innovation in childcare is desperately needed. Did you know that most families with children spend as much on childcare as they do on their mortgage? Or that the average cost of a full time nanny in Central London is £37,000? (Remember, that comes out of your post-tax income). Did you know that nurseries aren't much cheaper than that, if you have two children? Did you know that many nurseries shut for summer holidays, or only do half days, and that if your child is sick they can't go for the next 48 hours?  

If you're a parent, you probably knew all of that, plus much more about the pain of sorting out your childcare.

Koru Kids was founded to solve these problems. The mission brings together several things I care deeply about: the critical importance of positive early childhood experiences; the need for real choices for women in the workplace; and the potential of great tech to solve market failures. 

We help thousands of families every day in London and we're backed by some of the best investors in Europe. We've won a bunch of awards.  And we are JUST GETTING STARTED.

World Economic Forum Young Global Leader

In 2014 I was elected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. The WEF says... "The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique, multistakeholder community of exceptional young leaders who share a commitment to shaping the global future. Young Global Leaders represent the future of leadership." The  YGL community includes people like Joe Gebbia, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page,  Jimmy Wales, Marissa Mayer, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jacinda Ardern.

Young Global Leader

Various

Proud supporter and angel investor in some of the UK's most exciting, mission-driven, high-growth startups: EF,  EF Singapore, AllPlants, Beryl (formerly known as Blaze), Optimal, Bababoom, and two supercool ones I can't talk about yet.

ARGC

The ARGC is famous in fertility as one of the top performing IVF clinics in the world.  As MD l was brought in by the private equity backers to lead a programme of digital and operational development to expand access to its innovative methods. I also launched a new partnership with Champneys spa & resort.

Managing Director of ARGC

DrThom

For three years I ran the world's largest online doctor service, providing healthcare services over the internet, phone and post and in partnership with community pharmacies in the UK, Ireland and Australia. I grew the service to over 1.3m paying patients, simultaneously taking it from break-even to substantial recurrent profit. I rebranded DrThom as 'Lloydspharmacy Online Doctor' after an acquisition by their parent company Celesio UK. The main site is now www.lloydspharmacy.com/doctor

CEO of DrThom

McKinsey and Company

I worked in a broad range of sectors including healthcare, oil and gas, mining, retail and banking, across geographies including the UK, Australia, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand and the United States. Functions covered included lean process optimisation, big data analysis, financial strategy, organisational redesign, and performance transformation.

Strategy consultant

NHS London

NHS London was responsible for 8 million patients and an annual budget of over £16 billion.

I headed up the Strategy team and was also (simultaneously) Head of Innovation. My responsibilities included implementing some of of the largest ever NHS reforms in London (as the CEO of the NHS famously said, 'So big you can see them from space'.)

Strategy and Innovation

International Institute for Sustainable Development

While at university, I worked part time as a travelling writer and editor at United Nations and other conferences. This role involved writing and editing daily reports from the field, in Iran, Japan, Argentina, and Costa Rica.

Writer/Editor

Oxford Analytica

While writing my doctoral thesis, I was also Oxford Analytica's expert analyst for Ecuadorian politics and economy. My analyses formed part of Oxford Analytica's 'Daily Briefing', used by leaders in business and politics to inform their daily decisions.

Political and economic analyst

University of Oxford

Tutored small classes of 10-20 students across four subjects -- politics, political philosophy, communications and international development -- at the University of Oxford and the University of Otago.

Tutor

CEO of Koru Kids | Follow for daily posts on parenting and work life | 🎤 Keynote speaker | ex-McKinsey, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford DPhil | 👶 3x Mum

I am the CEO of Koru Kids.  Koru Kids helps parents have some 'easy days' in their week, by getting help from a nanny who can pick children up from school/nursery, look after them at home while you work, give them snacks and meals, and play great games. 

Our fantastic nannies are available throughout the UK, and can work part time, or full time, or after school hours.  It's super easy to get your nanny via Koru Kids, as we help you every step of the way.  Parents describe the experience as 'easy', 'seamless', and 'life-changing'.  

We're multi-award-winning, and have so far provided over 3.5 million hours of childcare to over 11,000 families. 

Previously I was CEO of DrThom, a healthcare company which I grew to 1.3 million paying users in 3 countries.  Before that I spent six years at McKinsey.   I have a DPhil from Oxford, where I was a Rhodes Scholar, am a WEF Young Global Leader, and have been awarded 'Best Business Woman in Technology' and 'Inspirational Mother' awards.  I have three lovely children and live in North London.

Wow - PHENOMENALLY effective ad.
Will send chills down your spine if you have young children. 
And a brilliant message about being careful what you post online about your kids. 
Great work Irish Data Protection agency.

🔄 Repost to share with your network, and follow Rachel Carrell for more like this. You can also find my all-time most-shared parenting posts at https://lnkd.in/eDfkiPc6

CEO of Koru Kids | Follow for daily posts on parenting and work life | Ex-McKinsey, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford DPhil | 👶 3x Mum

You’ve NEVER read testimonials like these.


❤️ “She doesn’t know she’s a hero, but she’s definitely ours”

❤️ “My 6 year old calls her ‘his bestie’”

❤️ “She’s helped me as white mum learn to care for my Black son’s hair”

❤️ “She’s been a lifesaver during an incredibly challenging time.. She embodies the very best qualities of childcare”

❤️ “She takes pride in everything she does, and is instilling those values in our children”

❤️ “She makes our home feel calmer, warmer and happier”

Every year, Koru Kids runs the nanny Hero Awards, and we receive hundreds of incredible testimonials like this from families. 

It never ceases to blow my mind how incredible our nannies are and how much they help our families.
Some of my absolute favourite nominations are in the carousel below. 

Now it's time to make the incredibly difficult decision of who will win the top award.
One of the hardest but also the most enjoyable tasks of my year!

If you want to influence our decision, comment Jasmine, Bilge, Heidi, Wajihah, Kate, or Rusne below 😊  …

And if your family could benefit from help like this, check out Koru Kids.

🔄 Repost to share with your network, and follow Rachel Carrell for daily parenting posts. You can also find my all-time most-shared posts at https://lnkd.in/eDfkiPc6

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The Battle

Ian Walker

Rachel Carrell

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

Ian Walker

Rachel Carrell

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Rachel Carrell's LinkedIn Performance

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