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Eric Collins (businessman)

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


Eric D. Collins is an American businessman, serial entrepreneur, technology expert, former President Obama appointee. He is the  CEO and co-founder of Impact X Capital Partners, a double bottom-line venture capital firm started in 2018 to invest £100m in companies led by people from underrepresented communities with a particular focus on people of color and women.[1][2]

In 2021 Collins was announced as the host of Channel 4 business reality show The Money Maker, (formerly The Profit) which is the UK television version of CNBC’s The Profit.[3] It has been described as a combination of Dragon’s Den meets The Apprentice.[4]

Collins was named one of the UK’s top 100 BAME leaders in technology by The Financial Times.[5] He was voted one of the most influential Black people in Britain on Powerlist 2020.[6]

Collins was appointed to the board of Tech Nation, a UK Government-backed technology industry body which helps nurture British tech companies, in 2020.

He has served on President Obama’s Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities.[7]

Early life and education[edit]

Eric Collins is originally from Alabama[8]. His late father was a university professor and then a Swiss chemical company executive, and his mother, a music educator and guidance counsellor.[9] He comes from a high-achieving political family. His older brother became a transplant surgeon and his younger sister, a broadcaster[10]

Collins has degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School which he attended alongside Obama.[11]

Career[edit]

Business Career[edit]

After graduating from Princeton University, Collins worked as a strategy consultant specializing in deal making and mergers before spinning out another consultancy firm as managing partner.  Eric founded a consumer complaint tracking platform which he wound down just as the dotcom bubble burst in 2001.[12]

Eric entered the tech industry in 2002 and since then has spent most of his career working in digital companies. He held roles at Tegic, an AOL subsidiary, Nuance Communications / MSFT, COO at Mobile Posse / Digital Turbine (2010-2013); and Chief Revenue and Distribution Officer at SwiftKey / MSFT (2014-2016), a predictive text firm. This role brought him to London and was then followed by a role at Touch Surgery / Medtronic as its Chief Operating Officer (2016-2018)[13][14]

In 2018, Collins was part of a group of influential Black European and US serial entrepreneurs, institutional investors, investment bankers, corporate leaders and entertainers which led to the founding of Impact X Capital Partners. It has attracted high-profile investors from across the UK, US and France, including the broadcaster and comedian Lenny Henry, and Ursula Burns, the first black woman to run a Fortune 500 company when she served as the head of Xerox[15][16]

The Money Maker[edit]

Collins made his debut as host of The Money Maker on May 4th 2021, described by the Guardian as a “one-man Dragon’s Den”.[3] It was positively received by the critics[17] Across Season 1 he offered both his expertise and capital investment to British businesses. The format is based on US business show The Profit on CNBC[18]

Book[edit]

Collins’ first book We Don't Need Permission: Unlocking Black Empowerment for Good is due to be published in April 2022 and has been called “a catalyst for change”[19]

References[edit]

  1. Williams, Tommy. "Black-Owned Venture Capital Fund Impact X Capital Wants To Invest £100 Million In Underrepresented Entrepreneurs". Forbes.
  2. "'We want to find gems': the black venture capitalists invested in change". the Guardian. 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "The Money Maker review – Obama guru leads a one-man Dragons' Den". the Guardian. 4 May 2021.
  4. "Who Eric Collins is - and what time his new series, Money Maker, starts on Channel 4 tonight". i (newspaper). 2021-05-04.
  5. "The UK's top 100 black and minority ethnic leaders in technology". Ft.com. 2018-11-14.
  6. Lavender, Jane (17 November 2020). "Lewis Hamilton ends incredible year top of influential Black Powerlist 2021". The Mirror.
  7. "Seasoned investor and former Barack Obama adviser Eric Collins is The Money Maker". Voice Online. 2021-05-03.
  8. "The Money Maker: Meet Eric Collins here". HELLO!. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  9. Williams, Tommy. "Black-Owned Venture Capital Fund Impact X Capital Wants To Invest £100 Million In Underrepresented Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  10. Sanghera, Sathnam. "Business guru Eric Collins on systemic racism and new TV show The Profit". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  11. McGrath, Nick. "Eric Collins: 'Has Obama ever asked me for financial advice? No. He is very prudent'". The Times.
  12. Chandler, Mark. "Transworld signs 'catalyst for change' by entrepreneur Eric Collin". The Bookseller.
  13. "Eric Collins on black entrepreneurship, big thinking, working with venture capitals and the importance of grinding your way to success". Unleashed Academy. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  14. Williams, Tommy. "Black-Owned Venture Capital Fund Impact X Capital Wants To Invest £100 Million In Underrepresented Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  15. "'We want to find gems': the black venture capitalists invested in change". the Guardian. 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  16. "Black-owned businesses struggle to find investors". Financial Times.
  17. Singh, Anita (2021-05-04). "The Money Maker, review: When Dragons' Den met The Apprentice via Obama". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235.
  18. Kanter, Jake; Kanter, Jake (2021-02-09). "CNBC Business Reality Show 'The Profit' To Be Adapted By Channel 4 In The UK". Deadline.
  19. Chandler, Mark. "Transworld signs 'catalyst for change' by entrepreneur Eric Collins". The Bookseller.


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