Hamit Soyel
To mark Global Entrepreneurship Week, we’re looking at different approaches founders take to growing their business – because we think entrepreneurship should be for everyone.
Dr Hamit Soyel co-founded Dragonfly AI as a post-doc along with the late Professor Peter W McOwan.
Hamit, why did you start Dragonfly AI?
We wanted to meet the growing demand for enhanced insights into visual attention. Visual communication is supremely important in many industries, and we saw a significant gap in the market.”
Dragonfly uses a biologically inspired algorithm developed here at Queen Mary. It empowers teams across a business to test and optimise creative content for any channel, market and audience before it reaches the consumer.
We’ve made significant contributions to global consumer brands such as Mars, GSK, Nestle, Danone, SCJohnson, and Coca-Cola – and we recently raised $6m in Series-A funding.
What’s your advice for other academic entrepreneurs?
As your company grows, you need to differentiate between ambitions for the business and your own personal career aspirations.
I’m the Chief Scientist and Inventor, not the CEO. Having a professional leadership team lets me focus on scientific advancements to drive product innovation and align with business goals – whilst the CEO looks after running the company.
A robust leadership team - including Marketing, Sales, Product, Technology, Operations, and Customer Success - is essential for holistic growth. Investors can be confident that each member brings unique expertise to drive various aspects of the business.
Scientific founders and IP holders often excel in vision and creativity, but we may lack operational expertise. That’s ok. By delegating operations to a professional leadership team, you can concentrate on areas you truly enjoy that fuel your passion and creativity, ultimately enhancing your fulfilment and contribution to your company and driving collective success.