Chris Borrett

Building relationships

Having been a founder, I understand how difficult it is to build and scale a business. I therefore value highly effective operators who can inspire a team, and who can navigate the challenges of bringing a product to market.

I also look for founders who I feel are clear, transparent and receptive, attributes that I believe are critical in building a long-term founder-investor relationship.

Background

I grew up highly curious and wanting to understand the world. This led to academic interests in Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics and Geography. I went on to gain a Masters Degree in Physics & Astronomy from Durham University in the UK.

After starting my career in data science and engineering, I shifted into management consulting, first with Accenture and then with Boston Consulting Group ("BCG"). This saw me travel the world and lead strategy and digital innovation projects with multi-national businesses in Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

I was fortunate to get involved in the venture and business building arm of BCG where I led the launch of several businesses across Australia and South East Asia (based in Sydney - where I spent 8 years). These included a digital bank, a landlord management platform, a travel business and a consumer Insurtech business (Flip Insurance) which I ultimately left BCG to run.

In 2022, I (alongside my wife and first child) made the difficult decision to move back to Yorkshire in the UK, to bring our children up near family.

Having spent my career across data engineering, strategy consulting and start-ups, and with an insatiable curiosity for the world, Venture Capital presented the next natural and exciting step, which led me to Mercia Ventures.

At Mercia Ventures, I focus on investing into and supporting businesses across Deep tech, Consumer and B2B SaaS. Yorkshire is my home base, but I travel throughout the UK and I am passionate about supporting a wave of northern business success stories.

Having been a founder, I understand how difficult it is to build and scale a business.