Tom Hulme
Managing Partner and head of Europe at GV
Tom Hulme is a managing partner at GV, where he heads the European team in London and co-leads its global tech investing team. Before GV he was a design director at IDEO and founded OpenIDEO, its open innovation platform. Earlier he ran British sports car maker Marcos and founded Magnom, a magnetic filter company. He was made an MBE in 2025 for services to the military.
- Venture capital
GV
IDEO
- Design thinking
- Defense innovation
- Now
- Managing Partner and head of Europe, GV1
- Based
- London, England, United Kingdom2
- Education
- MBA, Harvard Business School; BSc Physics, University of Bristol2
- Honour
- MBE, King's Birthday Honours 20255
Experience
- Managing Partner and head of Europenow
Leads GV's European team in London and co-leads its global tech investing team. His investments include Lemonade, Snyk, Stripe, GoCardless, Multiverse and Blockchain.com. Three of his investments were acquired: Carmera (by Toyota), Blue Vision Labs (by Lyft) and Currencycloud (by Visa).1
- General PartnerFrom Sep 2014
One of the general partners of Google Ventures' new London-based European team, which started with an initial $100 million fund.3
- Advisor2Jan 2024 – now
- Member, Defense Innovation Advisory Panel2018 – now
Helped found jHub, the innovation center for the UK's Strategic Command, and advises it; also sits on Strategic Command's innovation selection board.2
- Member, Advisory Board to the No10 Innovation Fellowship Programme22020 – 2022
- Design Director; founder and board director of OpenIDEO; later senior advisorMay 2007 – 2022
Founded OpenIDEO, IDEO's open innovation platform, and was managing director of the group running it. Helped lead IDEO's startup work globally, including launching and spinning out Omada Health.2
- Advisor2Aug 2012 – Aug 2014
- Angel investor and advisorJun 2006 – now
33 personal investments by his own count, including GoCardless, Lendable, Tray.io, Nested, Massive Health (sold to Jawbone) and MileIQ (sold to Microsoft).2
- Founder and CEOJan 2001 – Jun 2005
Founded the company to sell a patented magnetic filter, the Magnom, raising £2 million from private investors. Customers included Ferrari F1, Ducati, JCB and Caterpillar.2
- Managing DirectorJul 1997 – Aug 1999
Joined the British sports car maker as factory manager and was promoted to managing director. Took the company into racing cars and launched the Mantis GT road car.2
Education
Recognition
Award · King's Birthday Honours5
Award · World Economic Forum2
Award · WIRED UK3
Award · Evening Standard3
Award · Harvard Business School2
Milestones
- Joins Marcos Sportscars, later becoming managing director2
- Graduates from the University of Bristol with a first-class physics degree2
- Marcos's road car and race car divisions are sold to separate private groups2
- Founds Magnom Corporation to sell a patented magnetic filter2
- Finishes an MBA at Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar2
- Joins IDEO, where he later founds OpenIDEO2
- OpenIDEO wins a Webby Award in the Community category2
- Named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum2
- Named a general partner of Google Ventures' new European team in London, with an initial $100 million fund3
- Made an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to the military5
Skills
Volunteering
Hadley Trust2