UKRI Board member
Nigel Toon is a member of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Board.
Nigel is the co-founder, Chair and CEO at Graphcore.
Graphcore is a young silicon and systems company that has developed a new type of processor to accelerate artificial intelligence. Since the company’s founding in 2016, Nigel has secured over $700 million in funding and support for the company from some of the world’s leading global venture capital (VC) and strategic investors.
Nigel has a background as a technology business leader, entrepreneur and engineer having been CEO at two successful VC-backed processor companies and at a major US based publicly listed semiconductor company.
He is often called upon to speak at major industry events. He has been recognised with numerous industry awards including:
- icon of the year at the Barclays Entrepreneurs Awards
- ranked number one on Business Insider’s 100 most influential people shaping British technology
- been recognised as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the UK by the Financial Times
Nigel has served as a Board Member and Chair at a number of technology businesses. Including as a non-executive director at Imagination Technologies PLC, as well as leading their technical advisory board, until its acquisition in 2017.
He is the author on three granted patents.
Last updated: 25 August 2023