Management Practice Associate Professor
Fellow of Wolfson College
MBA (London Business School), MSc, PhD (London School of Economics)
In addition to my Strategy and Entrepreneurship teaching responsibilities, I work on advancing startups (by mentoring, and by creating and running venture builders), on advancing business ecosystems (by consulting on ecosystem strategy, and through my Faster Climate Impact project), and on advancing innovation ecosystems (through the Innovation Ecosystems Network at Wolfson College). My work aims to protect liberal democracy by strengthening our innovation capacities.
My research interests include collaborative innovation, top management teams in ventures, venture builders, networks and innovation ecosystems. I’m a member of the Strategy and International Business subject group.
Professional experience
Chris was an entrepreneur as a young man in the 1990s, became an academic in entrepreneurship and strategy after exiting his business, and engages with the ‘practical’ side of entrepreneurship alongside his continuing work at Cambridge Judge Business School. He is a Fellow at Wolfson College, where he chairs the Entrepreneurship Hub, convenes an annual Symposium on Venture Builders and co-convenes the Innovation Ecosystems Network..
There are 3 threads to Chris’ professional work: advancing startups, advancing business ecosystems, and advancing innovation ecosystems.
Chris has taught and mentored on entrepreneurship inside academia (Cambridge Judge Business School, UCL, ESCP Europe, London Business School, University of St Andrews) and outside it (Cambridge Enterprise, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Goldman Sachs 10ksb, London Stock Exchange ELITE in London, Milan and Beirut, New Entrepreneurs Foundation, European Institute of Innovation and Technology, UK Business Growth Builder, ConceptionX, MiSK Foundation, UK-Lebanon Tech Hub and SCION, a nature-tech accelerator in SEE). He was formerly programme director of the MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship at UCL, and founded the Cambridge Judge Launchpad (now simply known as the Master of Studies in Entrepreneurship). He has been a board advisor to several startups.
In May 2019, Chris cofounded Carbon13, a Cambridge-based, talent-first accelerator developing startups to attack CO2e emissions. It has been supported by, among others, Barclays, EY, Volkswagen, the European Investment Bank, BP Ventures, DLA Piper, and ARM. Chris served as Carbon13’s CEO until July 2023. Having built and launched over 60 impactful startups during this period, he then handed Carbon13’s mission over to a new CEO.
He is currently developing 2 venture builders with partners, and convenes an annual Symposium on Venture Builders at Wolfson College.
Chris does this through his teaching (in degree programmes and with executives) around Ecosystem Strategy (which includes a simulation he has developed), through consulting, and through his Faster Climate Impact project, where his team seeks to acquire climate techs and build them through ecosystem/value chain logic.
Chris co-convenes the Innovation Ecosystems Network at Wolfson College, Cambridge. This network organises speaker events, workshops and other programmes on innovation ecosystems, and convenes experts with an eye to providing cities, regions and nations with world class innovation ecosystem solutions and support.
Teaching
In 2025/26 he will be teaching the following courses for the University of Cambridge:
- Strategy (core module, MBA)
- Concentration in Strategy (MBA)
- Entrepreneurship (quasi-core module, EMBA)
- Entrepreneurial Strategy (elective module, MBA and EMBA)
- Strategic Management (on 3 programmes, the MPhil in Management, the undergraduate Engineering degree, and the MPhil in Technology Policy)
Previous appointments
Prior to coming to Cambridge, Dr Coleridge was a Senior Teaching Fellow and Senior Research Associate at University College London. He was also Director of the MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship.
Awards and honours
- Best Lecturer, UCL School of Management, 2015
- Best Lecturer on the MSc Technology Entrepreneurship, UCL School of Management, 2013 and 2014
News and insight
AI and technology
Step into AI-driven business and leadership learning
If you’re thinking of engaging with a business school for learning or research, you’ll want to be sure it’s embracing the technologies of the future. Right now, that means AI. But where should AI show up in the classroom? How should it be used in research? And what should a truly forward-thinking vision for AI in business education look like?
Research centre news
Competition to identify Ukraine startups for VC investment
A competition and conference designed to promote post-war venture capital investment in Ukraine startups is organised by the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Programme news
Sustainability boost from Global PhD Course and alumni
Business Schools for Climate Leadership, a consortium that includes Cambridge Judge Business School, offers a new online Global PhD course open to doctoral students at business schools.