# Robin Van Aeken

> Robin Van Aeken is the London-based CEO and co-founder of Magentic, which builds AI digital workers for industrial procurement and supply-chain teams. An Oxford Economics and Management graduate and former McKinsey consultant, he co-founded the company with Odhran O’Donoghue. Magentic launched publicly in July 2025 and announced an $18 million Series A in September 2026.

- **Role:** CEO and co-founder at Magentic
- **Organizations:** Magentic, McKinsey & Company, Oxford Strategy Group
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** BA in Economics and Management, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Member of the Light My Way team awarded the £5,000 undergraduate prize at Oxford All-Innovate in 2019., Reported regional and national first-place finishes in the European Space Agency Act In Space challenge in 2018., Co-founded Magentic, whose two publicly announced funding rounds total $23.5 million.

## Career timeline

- **2018** — Led an Oxford Strategy Group B2B fintech market-share project; reported regional and national Act In Space challenge wins.
- **2019** — Light My Way team won the Oxford All-Innovate undergraduate prize.
- **Before Magentic** — Worked at McKinsey advising manufacturers and supply-chain leaders; exact employment dates not independently confirmed.
- **2024** — Reconnected with Odhran O’Donoghue and participated in Sequoia Arc; Sequoia records its partnership as beginning in 2024.
- **2025-07** — Magentic launched publicly with a $5.5 million seed round led by Sequoia.
- **2026-09** — Magentic announced an $18 million Series A led by Felicis.

## Achievements

- Member of the Light My Way team awarded the £5,000 undergraduate prize at Oxford All-Innovate in 2019.
- Reported regional and national first-place finishes in the European Space Agency Act In Space challenge in 2018.
- Co-founded Magentic, whose two publicly announced funding rounds total $23.5 million.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Magentic announced its $18 million Series A on 17 September.
- **2026-09** — Appeared on Riding Unicorns in an episode released on 23 September about AI workers and manufacturing.
- **2026-04** — Published an introduction to AI digital workers in procurement on 23 April.
- **2026-03** — Published a procurement AI ROI framework on 13 March.

## Links

- Website: https://www.magentic.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-van-aeken/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/robin-van-aeken
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26