Simon Acland (born 27 March 1958) is a British venture capitalist and author.

Education

Simon Hugh Verdon Acland was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, graduating in 1979 with an Honours Degree in Modern Languages (French and German).

Career

Venture capitalism

He spent most of his venture capital career at London-based Quester. He specialised in backing early-stage technology businesses. Two of these, Surfcontrol plc and Orchestream plc, became members of the FTSE 250. Quester was acquired in 2007 by Spark Ventures. Acland has been a director of some thirty companies, public and private. He was a Trustee and Vice-Chair of the wild flora conservation charity

Plantlife Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. , it manages 24 nature reserves around the United Kingdom. HM King Charles III is patron of the charity. History Plantlife was founded in 1989. Its first president was Professor David Bellamy ...

. In 2017 he co-founded Green Angel Ventures, now the reference early stage investor for UK climate innovation and currently acts as Chair. He sits on the Board of the Satellite Applications Catapult and of Smart Battery company Powervault.

Writing

In June 2010 Acland's first novel, ''The Waste Land'', was published by Charlwood Books. A sequel, ''The Flowers of Evil'', followed in July 2011. These are historical novels set in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

which draw for their material on some of the myths and legends about the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

, the

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. The origin of the term is the medieval Order of Assassins, a sect of Shia Islam 1090–1275 CE. Assassin, or variants, may also refer to: Fictional characters * Assassin, in the Japanese adult ...

, and the

Templars The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

. They were republished by Lume Books in 2021. In October 2010 Nicholas Brealey Publishing published Acland's ''Angels, Dragons and Vultures : How to tame your investors...and not lose your company'', a guide for entrepreneurs to raising finance and managing investors based on his experience of the venture capital world. In 2012 Elliot and Thompson published ''Elite - The Secret to Exceptional Leadership and Performance'', which he wrote jointly with ex-SAS officer Floyd Woodrow.

Political career

Acland was elected as a member of the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazi ...

in 1982 for Princes Ward in Kennington. He became Leader of the SDP/Liberal Alliance Group on Lambeth Council in 1984 and was re-elected to the Council for a second four-year term in 1986. In June 1987 he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the Vauxhall Constituency.

Personal life

Acland's father was Sir

Antony Acland Sir Antony Arthur Acland (12 March 1930 – 8 September 2021) was a British diplomat and a provost of Eton College. Early life Antony Acland was the second son of Bridget Susan (Barnett) and Brigadier Peter Acland. He was educated at Eton ...

KG, GCMG, GCVO, Head of the Diplomatic Service between 1982 and 1986, and then British Ambassador in Washington till 1991. Simon Acland is married to

Jo Valentine, Baroness Valentine Josephine Clare Valentine, Baroness Valentine (born 8 December 1958) is a Crossbench member of the British House of Lords. Career Baroness Valentine's career spans the City, industry, campaigning and regeneration. She now has a portfolio caree ...

, a cross-bench peer, and former Chief Executive of "

London First BusinessLDN (spoken as Business London) is a not for profit advocacy group with a membership composed of leaders of businesses in London, United Kingdom. , it represented around 175 London based businesses. Its stated aim is "to make London t ...

References

External links

*
plantlife.org.uk

elektron-technology.com

nicholasbrealey.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acland, Simon 1958 births Living people

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

People educated at Eton College British male writers British venture capitalists Spouses of life peers Liberal Party (UK) councillors