Eric van der Kleij

Eric van der Kleij is a British entrepreneur who led the Level39 Fintech Accelerator programme for Canary Wharf Group plc from March 2013 to January 2016.

Early life and career Van der Kleij was born and raised in South Africa, and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 15. His interest in technology was sparked when his brother bought him a Sinclair ZX81 as a teenager. Adeptra expanded into the United States in 2000, which required van der Kleij to raise £30 million in funding. After leaving the company in 2006, van der Kleij was approached by the British Government to assist in the set-up of its Global Entrepreneur Programme—an initiative to help UK-based technology companies expand and globalise their business.

Tech City In 2011 British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a plan to make the United Kingdom a global leader in number of technology startups, with the creation of Tech City, designed to compete with Silicon Valley. Eric van der Kleij was appointed to take charge of the enterprise.