Cool Entrepreneurs
YOUR IDEAS,
OUR EXPERIENCE,
TOGETHER TAKING YOUR BUSINESS
FROM GOOD TO GREAT!
A bit about us and What we do
Investment
We firmly believe funding should not be a barrier for the very best ideas and start ups; we offer bespoke investment solutions, early stage seed capital and access to secondary funding sources to develop the business further.
Financial Management
Managing funding and cash flow can be extremely difficult for any business, especially new and start-up businesses. If you want, we can offer advice to help you properly manage your finances.
Strategic Direction
We help you develop your idea, business and product or service; offering clarity of what success looks like, what to do next and how to make it happen. Your business will succeed by having strategic focus in implementing your plan.
Identify Skills Gaps
Your team is critical to your success, so we help you develop the right team to make your plan a reality. This will include putting together a plan for training or recruitment to fill any identified skills or competency gaps.
Mentoring
Working with us is not just about investment and an initial business plan. We are always here to support and encourage you, including regular progress meetings and as much ad-hoc advice and help as you want.
Access to Experts
You will also have access to our extensive network of contacts and colleagues, including those at leading business schools, top incubators, and experts in finance, business law, HR, sales and marketing.
Meet THE Investment Team
Derek Sims
Partner
Derek Sims
Partner“My background is in the automotive industry, but I am looking for up and coming business that show a passion for their products and business.”
Derek Sims has over thirty years’ experience in both privately owned companies and as a director of plc groups. Derek has a proven record of accomplishment of turning around businesses that are under performing. Derek is a graduate of Cranfield University in Business Growth and Development.
Derek’s previous roles include Managing Director and owner of Sims Toyota – a business that over ten years was consistently ranked in the top five most profitable Toyota Dealers in the UK. In 2005, Sims Toyota won ‘Best Volume Dealer’ & ‘Best Recruitment Programme’ in the national awards from the Automotive Management Magazine.
Prior to that, Derek was a Managing Partner with MRI Worldwide working as an Executive Recruiter in the high tech arena working with T System, Ferrari F1 and Shell Global Solutions.
Jon Thornes
Founder
Jon Thornes
Founder“Although my background is in agriculture, I am also excited by new technology and media, and I am keen to invest in innovative digital and online projects.”
Jon Thornes started out his working life on the diary farm where he grew up. Jon has devoted his life to agriculture after studying at agricultural college. Jon is a graduate of Cranfield University and Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Since then, Jon has become a business marketing manager for the national company Associated Co-operative Creameries Ltd, owned the diary processing company UK Diary Sales Ltd, which supplies milk in the North East of England and founded Cool Milk, the UK’s largest school milk company which delivers milk to over one million school children each day.
In 2010, Jon received an MBE for services to the voluntary sector. Jon has also been a director of Lincolnshire Enterprise, an organisation for economic growth and development across Lincolnshire, and worked with the East Midlands Development Agency, as well as supporting a number of other local committees and good causes.
Jon is looking forward to working with start-up companies and assisting with mentoring entrepreneurs.
Look at some of Our Case Studies
Bibblio
Bibblio
In a world of too much information and choice, everyone needs a great librarian to help retrieve the right content, at the right time. Bibblio is a London based EdTech startup providing business to business software making digital learning resources easier to find by making more intelligent search and recommendations.
“Following the investment, Bibblio has been improving the enrichment, indexing and recommendation technology, scaled up its infrastructure and hired new team members.”
Mads Holmen, Bibblio Founder
Click here to download the full case study
Chew.tv
Chew.tv
Chew is a live streaming platform that connects a community of over 20,000 DJs, producers and personalities from over 130 countries around the world. Our community of content creators is joined by an audience of fellow creators and fans in over 190 countries.
“Jon Thornes and Cool Entrepreneurs have been an invaluable investor and mentor and we enjoy working with them!”
Wil Benton, Chew co-founder
Click here to download the full case study
TalkBe
TalkBe
Talkbe help media brands to engage with a young audience by distributing their content across different forms of messaging.
“The investment gave us the time to test and explore different markets. This led us to move away from the SMEs market to large media organisations.”
Ian Napier, TalkBe Founder
Click here to download the full case study
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Blog - Coming Soon!
Check back soon to read our blog, including business advice and opinion from our investment team and guest bloggers from across industry and specialisms.
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Blog - Coming Soon!
Check back soon to read our blog, including business advice and opinion from our investment team and guest bloggers from across industry and specialisms.
Read More