Erkko Autio

Professor Erkko Autio holds the Chair in Technology Venturing and Entrepreneurship at Imperial College Business School, with affiliations at the Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering. His work spans digital entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, and entrepreneurial resilience, supported by over 60,000 Google Scholar citations. He leads the Wicked Acceleration Lab, a collaboration with the Royal College of Arts, focusing on accelerating breakthrough technologies.

Education & Professional History:

• Doctorate from Helsinki University of Technology (HUT)
• Professor and Director of HUT’s Institute of Strategy and International Business (1999)
• Visiting Professor at CERN (2001) and HEC Lausanne (2003)
• Joined Imperial College Business School in 2006

Research Interests:

• Digital entrepreneurship and ecosystems
• Entrepreneurial resilience and recovery
• Global innovation policy frameworks
• Wicked Acceleration and Moonshot Innovation

His work explores how digitalization transforms economies, the role of institutions in entrepreneurship, and ecosystem-driven innovation.

Awards & Recognition:

• 2024 USC Helena Yli-Renko Research Impact Award
• Fellow of the British Academy (2019) and Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (2024)
• Top 100 entrepreneurship professors globally (2015)
• American Marketing Association’s Gerry Hill Award (2010)

Advisory Roles & Impact:

• Advised European Commissioners on entrepreneurship policy
• Co-founded the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute
• Guided EU’s entrepreneurial ecosystems policy shift (2016)
• Students’ ventures created billions in market value, including four in Europe’s top 100 tech ventures

Key Initiatives:

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM): World’s largest social science research consortium
• EU Regional Entrepreneurship Index and Global Entrepreneurship Index
• Wicked Acceleration Lab: Moonshot innovation methodologies