Philip Hammond named chair of Ventura Capital advisory board – UKTN

Former UK chancellor Lord Philip Hammond has been named chair of the advisory board at investment group Ventura Capital.

Hammond, who led the Treasury for three years under the premiership of Theresa May, has held a number of positions in the tech industry since leaving politics in 2019, including board chair positions at fintech group Railsr and crypto firm Copper.

He is also an independent board member of Tekever, a portfolio company of Ventura Capital.

“It’s a natural step to deepen my engagement across the Ventura portfolio where I already sit on the boards of two very successful companies,” said Hammond.

“Ventura brings real growth support as well as equity finance to its portfolio companies and I am pleased to be able to support innovation across the Ventura portfolio as chair of the advisory board.”

The former chancellor, who also served as foreign secretary, defence secretary and transport secretary, has taken on the new role at the London-based tech investor following the departure of Rick Haythornthwaite, a former Mastercard chair who stepped down from Ventura prior to his recent appointment to the board of NatWest.

“It is rare to find the distillation of broad cross-sector knowledge, real understanding of diverse new technology sub-sectors, global macro awareness and the policy expertise which governs them in one individual,” commented Mo El Husseiny, managing partner of Ventura Capital.

“Lord Hammond has been a source of great insight and inspiration not only to our portfolio companies over the years but to the Ventura team ourselves.

“We welcome the opportunity to strengthen this activity via our advisory board.”

Ventura Capital’s advisory board also previously included Peter Mandelson, a key figure in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who stepped down after returning to politics this year to serve as the British ambassador to the US.

Already have an account? Log in