Deep-Tech to Market
Turning Science into Scale
Founder, Board Advisor, Chair & hydrogen pioneer. I build real companies — from graphene filtration and hydrogen refuelling to university spin-outs — and write about what it actually takes to ship under pressure.
From lab to market to scale
Selected build-and-scale outcomes
Element 2 — Hydrogen infrastructure
Founded the UK’s first hydrogen refuelling network; raised £6.5m equity + £3m debt; delivered mobile → permanent stations and national partnerships.
Hydrogen · Infrastructure · Fundraising · Partnerships
Evove — Graphene water filtration
Scaled a Manchester spin-out; secured £4m Innovate UK & VC; pilots in desalination, aquaculture and wastewater.
Advanced materials · Water tech · Pilots → Revenue
Cientifica — Commercialising emerging tech
Built Europe’s first nanotech commercialisation platform; authored the Nanotechnology Opportunity Report (cited by NASA).
Spin-outs · Policy · Investor narrative
Boards · Governance · Narrative
Board & advisory focus
- Hydrogen, advanced materials, instrumentation and mobility.
- Series A/B scale-ups: fundraising narrative, governance cadence, strategy → execution.
- Bridging university labs with markets (Cambridge, Manchester, MIT; WEF councils).
Field Notes
Latest notes
Business? — It’s Just Rock and Roll
From Born to Disrupt: rhythm, risk and why bands fail like startups.
Field Notes archive
Short riffs on building deep-tech companies under pressure.
Boards & advisory
Governance cadence, investor narrative, and scaling discipline.
Author
Born to Disrupt
Part field notes, part road diary — a practical book about turning ideas into outcomes, keeping your edge in rooms full of suits, and shipping under pressure. Rock-and-roll energy with boardroom discipline.
Let’s talk
timharper23@mac.com · +44 7894 708989