Eric Van Der Kleij

How does the head of our Technology Investment Programme secure vast amounts of venture capital to support the growth of GEP investors?

With over 25 years experience in technology, finance, and global entrepreneurship in the private sector, I was hired by UK Trade & Investment in January 2003 to help establish the GEP Programme.

I am delighted to have been directly involved in much of the programme's success to date and am now one of the principal architects of the GEP’s global strategy. As well as raising major global investment for our dealflow, I am actively involved in attracting companies with technologies of exceptional potential to establish the hub of their global operations in the UK.

Specialisms and successes

Uniquely, the GEP recruits dealmakers from industry who are active and accomplished executives possessing considerable experience and success in their own fields.

As a GEP dealmaker, I specialise in high-technology, energy and renewables, as an innovative technologist with considerable hands-on experience in senior management and establishing successful global businesses.

I combine this experience with a sound understanding of securing and exploiting intellectual property internationally.

Generating capital, lowering risk

Following a highly successful initial four years as Dealmaker with the GEP, I created and now head our pioneering Technology Investment Programme (TIP). My key objective is to raise global investment in the ‘hundreds of millions’ into existing UK-based venture capital funds, as well as facilitating the creation of entirely new generation of specialised UK-based VC funds.

To do this I operate at senior family office, corporate and Governmental level, where my role is to attract investment while supporting the creation of major international businesses that flourish both in the UK and often in the country of origin too.

By mobilising the resources and global reach of the UK Government, we can significantly improve the normally high-risk profile of early-stage venturing to create the next generation of outstanding venture-backed global businesses.

Individuality and aptitude

My broad multicultural upbringing and global business acumen helps the GEP successfully engage with many countries and cultures. I have built a number of my own companies from scratch, including raising US$40m for Adeptra, a leading international success story that pioneered the automation of credit card fraud detection and collections.

Leveraging my own networks

Like all our team members I continue to be a director and investor in my own portfolio of technology businesses, separate from my work at UK Trade & Investment. This unique approach ensures that I can maintain and deliver the influence of my own networks, while retaining a sound commercial approach to projects I develop on behalf of the programme.

My colleagues and I believe strongly in one of the most compelling and underlying objectives of the programme, which is designed to establish strong bonds of trust and prosperity between the UK and investing partners on a global basis. This is being achieved while also delivering significant value to investors and stakeholders in the programme.