RICHARD FARLEIGH BIOGRAPHY

There are not too many nice guys in the cut-throat world of big business. But Richard Farleigh was the undisputed 'Mr Nice' of hit BBC show Dragons' Den, as he became reportedly its most popular panellist ever, offering constructive advice and the many offers for investment. Not that it was hard to look nice among the panel of scary millionaire 'dragons' whose put-downs brake the hearts of wannabe tycoons each week in front of millions of viewers.

But as Britain's leading 'business angel', he was just as likely to make their fortune as shatter their dreams. Take Levi Roots, the West Indian guy with the spicy sauce who got his sums just a little bit wrong by a factor of 1,000. Just weeks after Richard stepped in to back him, thousands of bottles of 'Reggae Reggae Sauce' were on the shelves of 600 Sainsbury stores around Britain.

A self-confessed ''deal junkie,'' Richard backed more than 70 small start-up British companies over a 12 year period, which was more than any other private investor in Britain - He took 16 of them to the Stock Market, 27 remained ongoing businesses, 4 have been acquired and only a very few have failed.

Thats an amazing 'hit rate' which was way ahead of the average venture capitalist. And it's not bad for a man who grew up as one of 11 children of a violent, alcoholic Australian swagman, and went on to make his first million at the age of 30.

Whats his secret? ''I got into business thinking it's all about numbers and markets,'' he says. ''But over the years I've realised it's all about people.''

With a fresh focus on inventors with ideas that most investors would not touch, he backed a bunch of British scientific projects that could change the world. The range of his businesses is vast from software and semiconductors to games development and drug research to nanotechnology.

''I can't hope to understand the technology but I back the person,'' he explains. ''If the people involved are genuine, and committed to what they do, then I'll trust them. They can try to explain how stem cells work but I can't expect to understand all of the science. So long as they have the track record and are willing to put their time into it, I'll know if they've got something worth investing in.''

Richard put a team in place to help assess the potential viability of inventions and to assist with finance, patents, production and marketing.

''I am fascinated by inventions and this will help people who need expertise in bringing their product to market. It is my aim to establish a network of links with inventors' clubs to pursue this area of interest.''

Through his involvement with Dragons' Den, Richard had not only backed Reggae Reggae Sauce probably the fastest supermarket launch in history but also Bak-jak (back support for mechanics), First Light (''man overboard'' alarms for boats) and the refrigerated food trucking company Igloo Thermo-Logistics which became the first million-pound company to be launched on the programme.

Companies in Richard's growing and diverse portfolio included

Oxonica Plc An AIM-listed Oxford University spin-out that grew into one of Europe's leading nanotechnology company's creating a fuel additive, 'Envirox', that can reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by between five and ten per cent. ''This is one of the most exciting companies in Britain,'' says Richard who has invested 5 million in the company. The company has also created an additive to sun cream which reduces skin damage caused by ultra violet radiation.

Net-A-Porter Ltd The online fashion store for upmarket women's designer clothes has become a fixture on the internet. Now worth millions. Richard backed it from the start, investing a small amount to help a friend out but the percentage return has been unbelievable.

Capsant Ltd - Dedicated to finding better ways to conduct drug research, the company hoped to announce that it could 'grow' cells from human organs, a move that could effectively end the need for animal experimentation. ''It will revolutionise the health and pharmaceutical industries,'' predicted Richard.

Clearspeed Technology Plc developed the then world's fastest microchip the CSX600, which dramatically increased computing speed with little need for extra electrical power. The company was going broke until Richard saved it with a 500,000 investment in 2002. Staff halved their salaries for months to buy shares in the company, which was then valued at 1m Before their return to private ownership in 2009, Richard was their biggest shareholder.

Coe Group Makers of video surveillance systems, they were funded by Richard in 2006 and their share price went through the roof.

Cmed Group Limited Small drug research company started by one man in his bedroom, funded by Richard in 2005 They won a large software deal with a major pharmaceutical company in the US.

Blue Tongue TV a company formed to back business television ideas.

RICHARD'S BACKGROUND

''Rain, rain, go away we're going to get a house some day.'' Thats what Richard's older brothers would sing whenever it rained when he was a baby, growing up in the Australian Outback. ''My father was a violent alcoholic swagman with 11 children,'' he explains. ''We slept in a tent and lived in a truck as he moved around the country in search of work as a sheep shearer and opal miner anything he could get.''

One of Richard's sisters had already died, from drinking contaminated river water, by the time he was born in 1960. Two years later he was taken into care when his father, in a drunken rage, attacked his mother with an axe.

Growing up in a foster home with one of his brothers, Richard was diagnosed as ''backward'' and put in remedial class but quickly discovered a special talent for maths and went on to win an economics scholarship to university, as well as becoming a Chess Master. It was through chess that he discovered his apparently natural ability for making money, 'hustling' older players in a Sydney park ''My first venture into making money out of the market''. However, he believes backgammon teaches better business skills than chess, ''because it's dependent to some degree on the dice and life has an element of chance.''

After graduating with honours from the University of New South Wales, Richard turned down the chance to study at Princeton University to start work on the trading floor. He spent ten years as a highly successful derivatives trader in Sydney before leaving Australia for the first time in 1992, with his first wife and baby son, to run a private hedge fund for an Austrian billionaire in the tax haven of Bermuda.

Two years later he had earned enough money to retire ''more than I could possibly have imagined making'' and moved to Monaco where he began to invest in small companies, initially as a hobby. One of his first successes as a private investor was IndexIT, a scientific research company formed at Oxford University, later sold for 20 million.

Richard invested 2m to restore a large Georgian property in Portman Square, which had once been the French Embassy mansion and had previously been one of the 100 most endangered buildings in the world, into a private members club. Home House has since been sold at a healthy profit. And that's not to mention his ownership of possibly the worlds largest private sapphire collection the happy result of a rare deal that turned sour which currently resides in a US bank vault.

He has shared some of his investment secrets in a self-penned book, Taming The Lion 100 Secret Strategies For Investing. The book received over 50 favourable media reviews, and has been released in a number of languages worldwide.

Richard lives in London with his children Jasmine and Lucas.

Richard relaxes by playing tennis and chess he has represented both Bermuda and Monaco at the chess Olympics.

His personal fortune was estimated by The Sunday Times Rich List in 2006 at 66 million pounds.

Richard's keynote speech is a tail of rags to riches, the highs and lows of business and of sadness and hilarity.