# Luke Alvarez

> Luke Alvarez is the founder and managing general partner of Hiro Capital and the co-founder and former chief executive of Inspired, the operating business behind Inspired Entertainment. A Cambridge philosophy graduate and Fulbright scholar, he built a career across software, digital media, gaming and venture investment.

- **Role:** Founder & Managing General Partner at Hiro Capital
- **Organizations:** Hiro Capital, Inspired Entertainment (former), Inspired Gaming Group (former), The Cloud (co-founding director), Boston Consulting Group (former), boo.com (former), Emap Digital (former), King’s College, Cambridge Entrepreneurship E-Lab, Cambridge SPARK
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** BA, Philosophy, first-class honours, King’s College, University of Cambridge, MPhil, Philosophy, University of Cambridge, Postgraduate study in Philosophy; Fulbright Scholar, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Built Inspired from a mobile payments startup into an international gaming technology business., Led Inspired’s AIM and Nasdaq listings in 2006 and 2016., Co-founded Hiro Capital with Cherry Freeman and Ian Livingstone.

## Career timeline

- **1986** — Matriculated at King’s College, Cambridge, to read philosophy.
- **Before 2002** — Worked in software product management, at BCG, as VP of business development at boo.com and as COO of Emap Digital.
- **2002** — Co-founded Inspired, initially a mobile payments business.
- **2006** — Led Inspired onto AIM.
- **2016** — Led Inspired through its Nasdaq listing following the Hydra transaction.
- **2018** — Resigned from Inspired on May 16; originated the concept for Hiro.
- **2019** — Hiro publicly launched its first fund at €100 million with Alvarez, Cherry Freeman and Ian Livingstone as founders.
- **2022** — Hiro announced its €300 million second fund.
- **2026** — Hiro co-led AMI financing; Alvarez continued as founder and managing general partner.

## Achievements

- Built Inspired from a mobile payments startup into an international gaming technology business.
- Led Inspired’s AIM and Nasdaq listings in 2006 and 2016.
- Co-founded Hiro Capital with Cherry Freeman and Ian Livingstone.
- Served as a co-founding director of The Cloud.
- First-class honours in philosophy at Cambridge and a Fulbright scholarship at Berkeley.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Discussed Hiro’s co-leading AMI investment and its broader spatial AI and robotics investment strategy.
- **2026-06** — Listed as a speaker for the SXSW London session “Can Europe Compete?” on June 3.

## Links

- Website: https://hiro.capital/
- LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/luke-alvarez

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/luke-alvarez
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25