Conor Dowds
London,UK
Summary
Accomplished professional with expertise in partner retention strategies and a consultative approach to client relationship management. Demonstrates mastery of CRM systems and excels in price analysis and deep dive problem solving. Committed to enhancing client satisfaction and fostering long-term partnerships, with a focus on leveraging skills to drive business growth.
Seasoned professional with focus on building strategic partnerships and driving collaborative initiatives. Deliver growth by identifying key opportunities and fostering strong relationships with stakeholders. Skilled in negotiation, communication, and project management to ensure successful partnership outcomes.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Venture & Fundraising Associate
Liithos / Firelight Entertainment
London
2025.10 - 2026.01
- Worked directly with CEO and President to support the raising of a seed financing round.
- Supported fundraising process with a lead investor term sheet in hand, including analysis of incoming term sheets.
- Created and iterated investment decks, and refined the investment thesis and narrative in collaboration with founders.
- Built and maintained a target list of venture capital funds and strategic investors aligned by stage and sector focus.
- Managed investor outreach and engagement tracking across the fundraising process, in line with deadlines.
- Set up a new outbound email domain and supporting tooling to facilitate investor communications.
- Built a custom data scraper to accelerate market mapping and investor research, improving speed and efficiency.
- This was a short term contract.
Partnership Manager
Runa
London
2024.01 - 2025.06
- Managed a portfolio of UK & Ireland partner accounts, developing long-term strategies for growth and commercial performance.
- Successfully renegotiated a major supplier contract, turning a loss-making account into over £1M in annual revenue.
- Onboarded new merchants and managed ongoing commercial, technical, and operational relationships.
- Led strategic relationships with Google and Euronet / Epay.
- Managed 4 of the 5 largest aggregator relationships at Runa.
- Increased sales for managed accounts by 25%.
- Owned pipeline tracking, forecasting, and partner activity management using Salesforce.
M&A & Partnerships Associate
Maze
London
2021.01 - 2023.11
- Secured acquisition and strategic partnership deals between technology, media, and gaming companies and industry investors.
- Drove global business development across buy-side and sell-side mandates, successfully contributing to transactions valued up to £1bn.
- Led strategic partnership between 3 companies: Liithos, Hedera, and CoinZoom, resulting in 150,000 new customers in five weeks and a multi-million USD investment.
- Built financial models, projections, and commercial analyses for clients and potential targets.
- Worked closely with founders and executives to define company strategy, investment positioning, and transaction execution.
Business Development Associate
Cambridge Global Payments
London
2020.01 - 2021.01
- Generated and qualified sales opportunities from corporate prospects transacting £2m+ annually in FX markets.
- Made 100 calls per day, expected to book 12 meetings per month.
- Managed lead qualification, pipeline activity, and reporting through Salesforce CRM.
- Worked closely with senior business development managers to support deal execution and sales strategy.
- Ensured all activity complied with MiFID regulations.
Education
BA (Hons) - Politics
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne 2016.01 - 2019.01
Skills
- Partner retention strategies
- Consultative approach
- Price analysis
- CRM systems mastery
- Client Relationship Management
- Deep dive problem solving
Timeline
Venture & Fundraising Associate
Liithos / Firelight Entertainment
2025.10 - 2026.01
Partnership Manager
Runa
2024.01 - 2025.06
M&A & Partnerships Associate
Maze
2021.01 - 2023.11
Business Development Associate
Cambridge Global Payments
2020.01 - 2021.01
BA (Hons) - Politics
Newcastle University
2016.01 - 2019.01