At UKTN, we’re always keen to shine a light on those who make up the UK’s thriving technology community.
This week, we spoke with Ed Molyneux, co-founder of FreeAgent, a cloud-accounting software firm.
Molyneux talked about taking FreeAgent public, what other entrepreneurs can do to IPO successfully and how he’s learnt from past mistakes.
Tech vertical: Cloud-accounting software
Funding: £8m in angel investment, debt financing and crowdfunding (2007-2015) successful IPO raising a further £8m in November 2016
Staff count: 120
Location: Edinburgh
Founded: 2007
Q: What were you doing before FreeAgent and how did that experience help you when it came to co-founding your company?
I have an academic computer science background but when I left university I joined the RAF, eventually completing two tours of duty as a Harrier pilot. While it was an incredible experience it is not a particularly conducive environment for creativity or strategic control unless you’re at the top so I left the RAF in 2002 and with my background in IT moved into freelance consultancy work which was the stepping stone to founding FreeAgent....