Christian Tooley

Christian Tooley is an innovation & venture leader in EMEA driving the growth of the Venture Ecosystem.

Christian is an entrepreneur, innovation strategist, and business builder, helping companies innovate, grow, and rapidly scale while building sustained competitive advantage. Across EMEA, he is evolving the Venture Ecosystem's network of corporates, innovators, founders, and VCs, in the startup and venture capital world. Christian leads projects across various offerings, including Ecosystem Retainer, VCaaS, Innovation Strategy, and Next^SM.

Prior to Bain, he worked in London, Hong Kong and across APAC in innovation, design, & venture roles, consulting for Fortune 500 companies, scale-ups, and startups. He has applied his expertise across sectors, from Financial Services, Consumer Products, Energy & Utilities, to players in Big Tech and Retail.

Christian is passionate about unpacking the power of Systems Thinking in his innovation work, with his thought leadership published by the World Economic Forum. He enjoys utilizing his skillset to help nurture the wider ecosystem. Christian has advisory, teaching and board experience with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and academics, including TechStars, the London School of Economics, UCL Innovation & Enterprise, as well as early to late stage startups and venture funds.

As an activist, Christian is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights and intersectionality. He is the Founder of i³ investing, nurturing community, connection, and capital for queer founders. Christian has worked with many organizations and boards on social impact, and is listed as a Top LGBTQ+ Future Leader by Yahoo Finance.

Christian holds a BA from the London School of Economics (LSE) and MSc from University College London (UCL), as well as many design and technology accreditations from various reputable institutions.