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February 12, 2026

Meet the 25-year-old wunderkind behind Britain’s newest unicorn

James Dacombe dropped out of school at 16 and now heads up two of the UK's buzziest tech companies


Freya Pratty and Tom Nugent

5 min read

CoMind's Founder and CEO, James Dacombe

Nothing founder Carl Pei says he’s the most “amazing early-stage founder” on his radar. Wise cofounder Taavet Hinrikus calls him “relentless”. LocalGlobe’s Julia Hawkins describes him as “a generational founder”.

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Freya Pratty

Freya Pratty is Sifted's associate editor. She covers UK tech and leads Sifted's investigations. Follow her on X , LinkedIn and Bluesky

Tom Nugent

Tom Nugent is Sifted’s managing editor. He covers robotics, chips and university spinouts. Follow him on X and LinkedIn

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