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Interview with Andy Ayim

In his own words, Andy Ayim MBE is a product leader and business builder who has travelled the world building relationships and experiences along the way. He moves in the world of venture capital, tech start-ups and product development. In 2010 Andy, along with his brother, Kwabz and a few friends set up Mixtape Madness, a passion project to create a central location online for people to listen to UK hip-hop and grime music.

He is currently Managing Director of the London Accelerator at Backstage Capital, that looks for investment opportunities with companies founded by those from under-represented groups, including women, people of colour, and the LGBT community.

Prior to Backstage, Andy worked in a range of product roles in companies such as WorldFirst, acquired by Ant Financial for $700m.

  • 2009 – first career role with Ernst & Young as a management consultant in the new markets and then new ventures teams
  • 2010 – while at Ernst and Young he launches Mixtape Madness, now the 3rd biggest media outlet platform in the UK
  • 2014 – moves into product management first with Elixirr and then with World First
  • 2018 – becomes Managing Director of Backstage Capital, helps launch a global accelerator programme that invested $2.5m into 25 startups led by underrepresented founders and is Financial Times top ten most influential black and minority ethnic tech leaders in the UK
  • 2020 – just six months after this interview, Andy received an MBE in recognition of his contribution to diversity and technology in the UK and set up Angel Investing School, empowering a new generation of angel investors

Interview by Ian Symonds on 17 July 2019 at WCIT Hall.

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