Claire Cockerton is a serial entrepreneur who has founded companies such as Plexal, ENTIQ, and Innovative Finance. She is based in London.^[1][2]

Education

Claire Cockerton attended the University of Toronto and studied fine art & architecture, Philosophy, and Literature. She briefly studied at The London School of Economics and later earned her MBA from the Imperial College.^[1]

Career

Claire Cockerton founded her first company, Aesthetic Earthworks, in 2000, and specialized in sustainable landscaping.  After nine years and earning her MBA, she became a Strategy Consultant for the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship and helped design a curriculum for a Business Innovator in Johannesburg.^[1]

She briefly worked an a Innovation and Change Advisor for The Guardian before founding ENTIQ (previously named Pivitol Innovations) in 2013, a business accelerator creation program.  Cockerton was Special Advisor for Europe’s largest accelerator space for finance, cyber security, retail and future cities technology companies, Level 39. In 2014, Cockerton was the Founding CEO of Innovative Finance and led the effort to accelerate the UK's leading position in the global financial services sector.^[3][4]

She founded the incubator Plexal at Here East on Queen Elizabeth Olympic park in 2014 and built a state-of-the art environment designed as a mini-city for companies both big and small to accelerate innovation, complete with a town-hall, cafes, makers lab, events stage, high street, central park and library. The center and program was designed by Cockerton's company ENTIQ.^[5]

Claire is an active member for Women in Tech, Tech London Advocates and is a member of the Mayor's London Tech Ambassador Group.^[2]