Peter Cowley (30 September 1955 – 16 November 2024) was a British tech businessman,

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...

and speaker based in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England. He was co-founder of VC Martlet Capital, President of the European Business Angels Network (EBAN). and was chair of the Cambridge Angels. Cowley suffered from late stage cancer from late 2021, and helped other sufferers and their caregivers. His book about his experience of personal tragedy, terminal illness and business successes: Public Success Private Grief was published in April 2024. It was featured in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

in January 2024.

Education

Cowley attended Hymers College, Hull and then gained an MA in Engineering and Computer Science from

Fitzwilliam College Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Cowley gained qualifications from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

and

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (CCA). Founded in 1904, It is now the fourth-largest professional accounting body ...

. In July 2023, Cowley was awarded an honorary doctorate in business administration from

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...

Career

Among the technology and property development businesses he has founded are Camdata, and Ept Computing, which was acquired by Redgate Software in 2009. Cowley invested in over 75 technology startups. He was President Emeritus of the European Business Angels Network

EBAN Eban may refer to: *Eban (name) Eban () is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Abba Eban (1915–2002), Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. *Eli Eban, Isr ...

and was a board member of the Global Business Angels Network (GBAN), part of ''Global Entrepreneurs Network''. A member of the Investment Committee of the Angel CoFund, a £100 million UK Government-backed fund for supporting and growing British SMEs and was on the board of the UK Business Angels Association, where he was awarded UK Angel of the Year in 2014. A Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the

Cambridge Judge Business School Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is a department of the u ...

, Cowley was also a council member of the

Cambridge Computer Lab Ring The Cambridge Computer Lab Ring is a members' association for staff and graduates of the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory. It was formed in 2002 by Stephen Allott as a non-profit, independent and voluntary members’ association, but was ...

, and chair of supporters and a member of the Steering Committee of ideaSpace, the

incubator. In 2016, he co-founded CAMentrepreneurs, which supports business and social entrepreneurship among Cambridge University students, alumni and others worldwide, and served as its Chair.

Publications

In 2018, Cowley authored a book on

angel investment An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible debt ...

titled ''The Invested Investor'' and in 2019, a second titled ''Founder to Founder''. He tells the story of his Cancer journey via Project Cancer and its associate
Youtube Channel
His third book, co-authored with Liesbeth Blom was published in April 2024. Public Success, Private Grief detailed his life, his successes and how he coped with and grew from the loss of two younger siblings, the death of his first wife, the suicide of two of his sons, his alcoholism (until 2000) and his advanced cancer.

Death

On 18 November 2024, it was announced that Cowley had died from cancer at the age of 69.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Peter 1955 births 2024 deaths Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Angel investors British businesspeople British venture capitalists Private equity and venture capital investors People educated at Hymers College Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull