Lauren Currie
Investor at HERMESA
Lauren Currie
Investor at HERMESA
Stockholm, Stockholm County
Overview
Work Experience
Founder
2016 - Current
We're here to change confidence, visibility and power for 10 million women. The UPFRONT Bonds are the world's top choice for women and organisations that are interested in increasing their confidence. A bond is the collective noun for a group of women. Over 8000 women from representing 24 time zones have joined a Bond since we launched in August 2020. Bond 8, our next 6-week course, starts Sep 9th – October 21st 2024. https://www.weareupfront.com/
Angel Investor
2022
HERmesa is an angel investment syndicate investing in extraordinary women (co)founded tech and deep science start-ups at pre/seed stage. I'm here to fund businesses focused on gender equality, women rights and justice.
Chairperson
2016 - 2023
I am a Director of The Motherhood Plan (also known as Pregnant then Screwed) supporting the founder, Joeli Brearley, to tackle pregnancy discrimination. Pregnant Then Screwed protects, supports and promotes the rights of mothers who suffer the effects of systemic, cultural, and institutional discrimination through our various schemes and activities, including: A free legal advice service, a website where women post their stories of discrimination anonymously, lobbying the Government for legislative change, and a mentor scheme that supports women who are considering legal action against their employer.
Venture Scout
2019 - 2022
Backed is a €50m community-driven seed stage VC fund, based in London. We seek the resilient optimists bent on building a future we would like to share, and when we find them, we give them our all. We learn what they need, what they’re terrified of, what they’re capable of - and we shape our approach around them. From leadership coaching to talent resources and mental health, we’re testing the limits of what support looks like at seed stage. In the few years since launching we have backed over 30 rapidly scaling companies, either build- ing products truly loved by their users or solving deeply technical problems with world-changing impact. 95% of the companies we backed when we began have already secured follow-on funding at an average valuation markup of 3x, raising from the best investors in Europe such as Index Ventures and in the US such as Founders Fund. As a team, we’re united by an obsession with how disruptive technology companies can change the world for the better. Everything we do focuses on nurturing the potential in exceptional founding teams, supporting them every step of the way through the challenges of transforming their visions into legacy-defining businesses.
Board Trustee
2018 - 2021
Our mission is to champion the highest standard of design. As the UK Government’s advisor on design, we set the benchmark for promoting design nationwide. Our research and campaigns aim to show just how much intelligent, creative design can achieve. The Design Council are governed by an unpaid board of trustees. They set out our strategic direction, monitor the delivery of our objectives, and uphold our values and governance. They also guide, advise and support the Chief Executive, who leads the senior management team towards achieving our vision and purpose for Great Britain.
Co-Founder & CEO Stride
2020 - 2021
We are on a mission to democratise leadership development. https://stride.inc/
Managing Director
2018 - 2020
We help leaders make change. We train organisations to embrace new attitudes and adopt new behaviours, creating new market opportunities and cultural conditions. Founded in 2014, today we are a global change agency helping ambitious and compassionate leaders make needed internal changes in response to a faster, flatter, and more dynamic external environment. We challenge the traditional consulting model by embedding our teams directly on-site with our clients to provide active feedback and iterative organisational design. We are obsessed with helping organisations make the world a better place by making themselves a better place. https://nobl.io/
Director Of Service Design
2016 - 2018
A collaboration of 12 of the country's best-known charities agreed to work together to find and prototype new ways of raising money for good causes. Good Lab, made up of Macmillan, British Red Cross, Save the Children, RSPCA, Oxfam, Guide Dogs, Water Aid, NSPCC, Royal British Legion, BHF, RNIB and Unicef aims to find new products or services that will generate an extra £250m annually for the sector within 10 years. Good Lab is directly addressing the fact that giving to charity in the UK has remained stubbornly low and yet the issues, problems and challenges charities are trying to overcome have, in many instances, got progressively worse. Now charities face new challenges with stricter legislation on its way and supporters unhappy with some fundraising practices. The intention is for these new ideas to be prototyped and if successful made accessible to the entire charity sector. The Lab is a small team of innovators and entrepreneurs who have been brought together to disrupt the status quo. http://www.thegoodlab.co.uk/
Digital Experience Design MA Leader
2014 - 2016
Hyper Island, often referred to as the “digital Harvard”, designs learning experiences that challenges companies and individuals to grow and stay competitive in an increasingly digitised world. I designed, launched and led one of the first graduate programs of Digital Experience Design in the UK.
Co-Founder and Director
2008 - 2015
I founded Snook with Sarah Drummond and ran the company for 7 years. Snook is an award-winning global Service Design agency based in Glasgow and London.
Education
Masters of Design
2010 - 2011
Bachelor of Science
2004 - 2008
Latest Articles
How to reach unreachable people
Talks about Email, Networking Tips and Networking Advice