UP VENTURES GROUP - Key Persons
Andrea has been 'chief plate spinner and master of getting things done' with UP since helping co-ordinate our GM Future of Health Programme back in 2019. With experience in project and community management, Andrea helps our clients and cohorts get the most out of the work they do with UP. She thrives on seeing the success of companies, brands, events and people she supports. Andrea is bilingual (English / Croatian) and works across a dynamic portfolio of projects and events in a mix of settings, from startups and private companies to government agencies.
Caleb is Programme Director for UP and specialises in guiding our Smart City Project. Based in Manchester, Caleb is responsible for ensuring our corporate partners and startup community get the most out of collaborating together. As a start-up founder himself who also has a background in Business Development, an MBA, and four years in the military, Caleb is able to offer his own unique blend of experience.
Danny is an exited entrepreneur and angel investor. He is the founder and CEO of UP Ventures as well as Founder and Chairman of a number of software and technology companies.
Danny has an extensive, high value international investor and C-suite network and a long track record of helping digital businesses across software and technology in media, finance, health and telecoms to create shareholder value.
He has run corporate and government-backed high growth company programmes throughout the UK as well as across Europe, USA, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia and retains strong connections across the high growth ecosystem.
Because of that experience, Danny has become an expert in accelerating the growth of venture-backed start-ups or new ventures within "market-making" corporations.
Nicola is a part of the team that founded UP and has driven a wide range of operational developments as the business has grown. She has an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management which is of particular relevance for her role in UP where a key success factor is in building high-performance teams.
Job Titles:
- Senior Media & Entertainment Executive
Paul Gillooly is a senior Media & Entertainment Executive with experience of working in the UK, European and MENA markets. He began his career at BT becoming their first Head of Consumer Content before moving to BBC Worldwide as Director of Marketing and Business, Music and Entertainment. After completing an MBA at Cass Business School he joined Sky as Commercial Development Director for Emerging Products where he helped develop Now TV. He left Sky to support Danny to create UP before taking on roles at Ooredoo and Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT). In his capacity as Strategic Content Director at NENT he managed the development of Viaplay's content supply chain and led on corporate development. He is currently providing strategic consultancy support to entertainment companies across Europe and the MENA region.
Steven was previously Managing Partner of UP Ventures and is now a Senior Adviser. He has over two decades of experience as a commercial and digital innovation leader across multiple sectors.
His work in industry has led to a range of award-winning digital products including the creation of the UK's fastest-growing and most trusted digital news brand inews.co.uk. Working with a host of tech partners from across the world, he has successfully launched and scaled a network of 150+ digital products with 45m+ monthly users. In 2020 his team became the UK AOP Digital Product Team of the Year.
In his work with UP, Steven has designed and directed several groundbreaking programmes helping 80+ founders and intrapreneurs adapt and grow their business and technology. His programmes have focused on solving challenges in Smart Cities, The Future of Health, Data and Citizen Tech with partners like Novartis, Health Innovation Manchester, MediaCityUK, Google and GCHQ.