Tony Raven

Visiting Fellow, Big Innovation Centre

Tony Raven graduated with first-class honours in Physics from Manchester University and obtained his MSc and DPhil from Oxford University. He worked at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and Osaka University before joining PA Consulting in 1983. Tony has 20 years' experience of start-up company management and financing as well as extensive international commercial and regulatory experience, particularly in North America and Japan.

In 1985 he was the inventor behind the formation of Summit Technology, the Boston, MA-based market leader in laser refractive surgery, which was acquired by Nestle Alcon in 2000 for $893m. 

In 1987 he was a co-founder of Sagentia Group plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed technical and management consultancy based in Cambridge, UK. 

In 1991 he founded Diomed Inc, the pioneer and world leader in therapeutic medical diode lasers, which, after six years as a listed US company, was acquired by Angiodynamics Inc in April 2008. 

In 2011 Tony stepped down after ten years as Director of Research and Innovation Services at the University of Southampton, during which time he established Southampton’s reputation as a leading entrepreneurial university internationally, creating a portfolio of 11 spin-out companies of which four listed on the London Stock Exchange. 

In his spare time Tony is a keen on- and off-road cyclist, skier and scuba diver. 

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a member of the Institute of Directors.

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