Hermann Hauser

Cambridge, England, from 1978. Hauser and Chris Curry founded Acorn when Cambridge had a university but little technology industry, drawing on engineers such as Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber from the university. Winning the BBC Micro contract gave Acorn a national market through schools, and its ARM spin-off in 1990 stayed in Cambridge. He later backed many local start-ups through Amadeus Capital, helping create what became known as Silicon Fen.