Julie Meyer is one of the leading champions for entrepreneurship in Europe and the UK and is seen as a force for growth and inclusiveness. She believes that Individual Capitalism enables the use of people's ingenuity to solve the world's problems at the macro and micro levels and to accelerate the future.

Julie went to Paris, France in 1988 as soon as she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities and English Literature from Valparaiso University, near Chicago, US, having spent her junior year in Cambridge, UK in 1986.

She then moved to London and was part of the early team at NewMedia Investors in 1998, which became early stage investment firm Spark Ventures in October 1999. At NewMedia Investors, she managed deals in key technology companies including ArcCores, lastminute.com and WGSN. Also, in 1998, she founded First Tuesday, the network of entrepreneurs, which many credit for igniting the Internet generation in Europe. It was sold in July 2000 for $50 million in cash and shares.

Julie founded Ariadne Capital in August 2000 to create a new model for the financing of entrepreneurship in Europe and the UK, that of "Entrepreneurs Backing Entrepreneurs". She created the founding Investor Partnership of 60 leading entrepreneurs and business builders who are Ariadne's core shareholders and she is the Managing Partner of the Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund. At Ariadne Capital, she has led investments and/or transactions with Quill, Clickslide, Taggstar, BeatThatQuote, Espotting, Global Dawn, Monitise, SpinVox, and Zopa.

In 2009 and 2010, Julie was also one of the BBC's Online Dragons in the award-winning Dragon's Den Online, and is also currently setting up a "Dads and Daughters" foundation to support and extend her thesis that women's identities are shaped - for good or bad - by the messages they receive from their fathers as children and young adults.

She has been widely recognized for her work and has won many awards. These include being named one of INSEAD's Top 50 Alumni, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow, TIME Magazine Digital 50, one of WIRED's 100, one of London's 1000 Most Influential People 2010 & 2011 (Evening Standard) and one of the Top 30 Most Influential Women in Europe by the Wall Street Journal Europe.

She is on the Board of Directors of Vestergaard Frandsen, a for profit humanitarian development firm, and INSEAD, her former business school, as well as Medikidz, a business which educates children about health problems through child-friendly media.

In 2011, she was asked to be on the Secretary of State's Entrepreneurs Panel and the Secretary of Health's Innovation Panel. In 2012, Julie was honoured to receive an honorary MBE, for her 'services to entrepreneurship'. Julie's first book 'Welcome to Entrepreneur Country' was published in June 2012.

Awards and Honours:
...INSEAD - 50 Alumni who changed the world

...E&Y – Entrepreneur of the Year (October 2000)
...Wall Street Journal - 30 Most Influential Women in Europe World

...Economic Forum – Global Leader of Tomorrow

...Selected to be a member of Vince Cable’s Entrepreneurs’ Forum as part of Global Entrepreneurs’ Week 2010

...Voted one of London’s top 1000 Most Influential Londoners by the London Evening Standard – 2010

...Announced as Board member at Vestergaard Frandsen in 2011

...Announced as non-Executive Director of Jellybook, a company for retail investors in social media, in May 2011

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