Adrian Black

BIO

Adrian joined his first internet startup as CTO back in 1996, enjoying the roller-coaster ride of the dot com bubble before becoming MD for new owners and securing a trade sale. After time out for an MBA at Oxford University, Adrian joined DMGT plc where he oversaw two software acquisitions to help form an automotive division. Whilst at DMGT,Adrian worked with the police and commercial partners to create, and then chair, an industry forum to combat fraud in automotive advertising, championing industry intelligence-sharing as a means of reducing online fraud. Designing an cross-industry pilot that both increased fraud detection rates and provided intelligence to law enforcement was the seed idea that led to Adrian founding Contego. Contego's commercial launch helped improve compliance and fraud detection in regulated sectors of the UK property market and enabled seed investment to be raised. Further commercial growth and the acquisition of Working Status led to Series A funding. The business now has an increasing focus on Financial Services and is starting international growth under the NorthRow brand.