Fuelled by a scientific background in signal processing and pattern recognition, Michael Lynch’s entrepreneurship has allowed him to successfully make the leap from academia to business. Notably, Michael co-founded Autonomy in Cambridge in 1996 — the UK’s largest software company until acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.

Autonomy was built on technology that uses Bayesian methods to help organisations search and sort through unstructured information, including emails and phone records, by looking for patterns where there appear to be none. Michael led the company for 15 years, during which he was awarded an OBE for services to enterprise.

Most recently, Michael raised $1 billion through Invoke Capital, a technology investment and advisory company. In addition to providing funding, he offers inspiration and mentoring to inventors in the fields of engineering and technology. Additionally, as a member of the Council for Science and Technology, he is an adviser to the UK government.