Tech entrepreneur and business leader Tom Adeyoola will step into the role of executive chair of Innovate UK.
The Metail, Extend Ventures and Capital Angel Network founder will lead the government’s innovation agency as it ‘looks to unlock the potential of British business and turbocharge growth’.
In a post on LinkedIn, Adeyoola said he is “thrilled, excited, honoured and rightly anxious to do justice to the opportunity and responsibility”.
“For the last five years, since exiting Metail in 2019, I’ve followed my interests and built a portfolio career, often acting like a one-man-ninja trying to improve the UK innovation ecosystem,” he said.
“Whilst I have enjoyed moving the needle with a portfolio of projects, I have missed solving a big challenge with a great team of people.
“Unexpectedly, last April, I got a request out of the blue to apply to run Innovate UK, something I hadn’t considered. Today, some 11 months later, I have been selected as the preferred new executive chair.
“I may be a startup guy and this an arms length government bureaucracy, but It’s a role I couldn’t possibly turn down, as it represents the biggest lever opportunity there is to turbocharge the UK innovation ecosystem.”
His appointment follows a competitive recruitment process and is subject to a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee, which is expected to take place on 8 April.
Once confirmed, Adeyoola will be stepping down from all existing responsibilities besides his roles on the board of Channel 4 and as a school governor.
Innovate UK’s £100 million Innovation Accelerator programme is already creating high-skilled jobs and new opportunities in Glasgow, Manchester, and the West Midlands, helping these regions become global hubs for research, from advanced manufacturing to life sciences.
Over 450,000 innovators across the country were supported by the agency in 2023/2024, including support for successful scale-ups such as Pragmatic, a world leader in semiconductor innovation that has grown from a dozen to 330 employees in a decade; and Oxford Nanopore Technologies, whose handheld DNA sequencing technology is now used worldwide, resulting in the company now being a unicorn with a value of £1.49bn.
As co-founder of Extend Ventures, Adeyoola has prior experience working with Innovate UK to improve diversity in grant funding and support underrepresented entrepreneurs.
He also serves on the steering board of The Startup Coalition, advocating for high-growth tech businesses across the UK.
Executive director of healthy living and agriculture, Stella Peace, will now return to that role after serving as interim executive chair since October, when previous executive chair Indro Mukerjee stepped down.
Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “Innovation is central to this government’s Plan for Change, helping to unlock new opportunities, boost productivity, and create high-value jobs across the UK.
“With his experience in technology, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation Tom Adeyoola is the right person to ensure Innovate UK delivers real impact – backing pioneering businesses, scaling up breakthrough innovations and ensuring the UK leads in the industries of the future.
“I thank Indro Mukerjee, and Stella Peace for all of their contributions up to this point and I look forward to working with Tom as we continue to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow an innovative business.”
UKRI chief executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, added: “Tom Adeyoola’s appointment is excellent news for Innovate UK and the whole of UKRI. His experience and insight as a technology entrepreneur and business leader will bring enormous benefits and expertise to the organisation at this critical time.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Stella Peace for her superb leadership as interim executive chair. Stella will continue to play a major role for UKRI as Innovate UK’s executive director of healthy living and agriculture.”