Dr Arun Harish

Arun is an experienced deep-tech innovation leader and strategist with diverse experience in technology commercialisation, accessing finance, strategy development and innovation. Arun joined CPI in 2008 and as the Chief Strategy Officer at CPI (part of High Value Manufacturing Catapult Network), he leads all aspects of CPI’s strategy development and implementation planning activities.

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 acted as 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 sits on the CBI’s Technology and Innovation Council and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s Innovation Board.

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.