Arun Harish
Chief Strategy Officer, CPI
Arun is an experienced deep-tech innovation leader and strategist with over 22 years of diverse experience in technology commercialisation, accessing finance, strategy development and innovation. Arun joined CPI in 2008 and as the Chief Strategy Officer at CPI, he leads all aspects of CPI’s strategy development and implementation planning activities including strategic marketing, strategic partnerships, strategic opportunities, engagement, advocacy and marketing communications.
Prior to CPI, Arun worked with venture capital funded start-ups in the UK and India, where he has held business development and R&D roles. He has extensive experience working with deep tech SMEs helping them with their innovation strategies, access to finance and market demonstration activities.
Arun is an expert on investment readiness of high growth potential SMEs looking to raise seed and early-stage venture capital. He has was also Co-Chair of The European Commission’s expert steering group on investment readiness. With his extensive networks across the UK, Europe and India, Arun has convened large groups of industrial, academic and other public sector organisations to shape and lead major R&D and innovation programmes to address industrial and societal challenges.
Arun serves as an Advisor to Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Innovation Board as well as other key innovation and investment initiatives across the Northeast of England. He also sits on the CBI’s Technology and Innovation Council. Arun holds a PhD in Biomedical Nanotechnologies from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University and an MBA from Warwick Business School, where he specialised in entrepreneurial finance and venture capital.
