Darran Milne
Summary
CEO with high scientific and technical aptitude. Led a deep tech start-up from founding and initial technology concept to an established 50 person company with >$1m in annual revenue from major consumer tech OEMs and automotive Tier 1's. Proven investment track record - raised $23m from VCs, family offices and angels. Strong connections with UK, US, EU and Japan investor ecosystems.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
9
9
years of post-secondary education
Work history
CEO
VividQ
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
2017.02 - Current
- Cofounded a university spin out and part of the original technical team that developed holographic display.
- Took the company from a 5 man academic team to a 50 person company that has invented a new class of digital display and generated 50 patents. Implemented Agile work practices across the whole business.
- Oversaw budgetary and financial activities and implemented strategies to grow business and profits. Raised $23M in venture funding over 3 investment rounds.
- Spearheaded expansion strategies in US and APAC to increase business market share, drive growth and increase customer base.
- Devised promotional strategies to boost customer sales. Led sales efforts and negotiations leading to >$1M in sales with major consumer tech OEMs and automotive Tier 1s.
- Built productive and profitable relationships with global industry partners within AR/VR, automotive, display industries to meet strategic business objectives. Developed key contacts with major ODMs and optical design houses in Taiwan and mainland China.
CTO
Penteract28
London
2015.08 - 2017.02
- Designed, built and deployed a proprietary toolkit for 3D data.
- Developed and implemented the business's technology roadmap.
- Defined and implemented Agile processes and standards to ensure efficient, sustainable delivery of high-quality products.
- Recruited, trained and mentored at team of 5 software engineers.
Quantitative Analyst
Sungard Data Systems
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
2012.09 - 2015.07
- Researched and developed Market and Credit risk models based on Monte Carlo methods.
- Technical lead for sales calls, covering both buy and sell side customers
- Conducted training classes, held personal meetings and led special workshops to improve employee performance.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy - Theoretical Physics
University of St Andrews
St. Andrews 2008.09 - 2012.06
Master of Science - Mathematics With Theoretical Physics
University of St Andrews
St Andrews 2003.09 - 2008.07
Public Engagements
London Tech Week: "Untangling north east Asia" (2023)
Frontier Deep Tech Conference (2022)
SPIE AR/VR/MR, Invited Talks (2019, 2020, 2021)
Augmenting World Expo, Invited Talks (2019, 2020)
Tech Tour EPVF: Contest Winner (2019)
Papers and Patents
A Novel Real-Time Full-Colour 3D Holographic Video Capture, Processing, and Transmission Pipeline, SID (2022)
Cimmino Simultaneously Iterative Holographic Projection, Optics Continuum (2022)
Real-Time Holographic Solution for True 3D-Display, Embedded World (2018)
An intrinsically eye safe approach to high apparent brightness augmented reality displays using computer-generated holography, SID (2021)
Composite Cluster States and Alternative Architectures for One-Way Quantum Computation, Phys Rev A, 85 (2012)
Universal Quantum Computation with Continuous-Variable Abelian Anyons, Phys Rev A, 85 (2012)
HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAY SYSTEM AND METHOD, PCT/GB2021/051696
ILLUMINATION POWER CONTROL FOR A COMPUTER-GENERATED
HOLOGRAM DISPLAY, PCT/GB2021/052566
IT Skills
- MS Office Applications
- Visual Studio
- Fluent in C/C++/C#
- Jira/Bitbucket
- Hubspot
Affiliations
GBx: Great British Technology
R42 AI Fellowship: Mentor
Timeline
CEO
VividQ
2017.02 - Current
CTO
Penteract28
2015.08 - 2017.02
Quantitative Analyst
Sungard Data Systems
2012.09 - 2015.07
Doctor of Philosophy - Theoretical Physics
University of St Andrews
2008.09 - 2012.06
Master of Science - Mathematics With Theoretical Physics
University of St Andrews
2003.09 - 2008.07