Mark Freel

Mark Freel is a Full Professor at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, holding the RBC Financial Group Professorship in Entrepreneurship. He also serves as a professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at Lancaster University Management School (UK) and is a research fellow at the Lazaridis Institute, Wilfrid Laurier University. He previously held faculty positions at the Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Strathclyde, and Warwick. His research focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship, and regional value creation mechanisms.

• Education: M.A. (Glasgow), M.Sc. (Paisley), Ph.D. (Aberdeen)

His work explores how firms and regions develop competitive advantages through innovation strategies, with particular attention to institutional environments and ownership structures. He has advised governments in Canada, the UK, and the EU on entrepreneurship and innovation policy.

Recent research emphasizes the consequences of firm growth, equity crowdfunding geographies, and post-global financial crisis entrepreneurial finance. He has secured over $250,000 in grants for projects including immigrant entrepreneur financing and high-growth firm trajectories.

Freel has held editorial roles at top journals like Entrepreneurship and Regional Development and International Small Business Journal.