Christian Nellemann
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Founder & Executive Chairman
London, GB
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
Christian Nellemann is a successful entrepreneur, angel investor, mentor and advisor. He has twice been awarded EY’s coveted Entrepreneur of the Year award, and in 2014 was inducted into EY’s prestigious Global Hall of Fame.
Christian is the Founder and former Executive Chairman of XLN, the telecoms and payment services company he founded in 2002 and took through four private equity-backed deals. XLN supplied over 110,000 small companies and employed nearly 500 people in London and Sheffield before its sale in March 2022 to Daisy Group.
A serial entrepreneur, Christian started his career in London's Mile End in 1989 when he founded a perfume company. He is passionate about UK High Streets and ensuring that they thrive, evolve and remain diverse as part of our communities.
Christian is an investor in many start-ups and early-stage UK and European companies. He is currently an Investor and Board Advisor to Airlich ApS, a Danish tech and engineering company that provides air recirculation cleaning systems.
He has won numerous awards and holds the BCVA CEO of the Year award, and the CX Silver Award for Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, among many others.
In 2022 Christian published his first book, Raw Business, in which he gives his view of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
The Record
Background
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2002 — 2022
Founder & Executive Chairman
XLN
XLN, founded in 2002 as XLN Telecom, was the UK’s largest independent provider of telecom services to small businesses in Britain with over 130,000 customers across the country. In March 2022 the company was sold to Daisy Group.
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1999 — 2005
Co-Founder & COO
Euroffice Ltd
Euroffice is the UK's top online supplier of office products and services for the SME market, operating exclusively through an internet-based business model. Christian started the company in 1999, having previously been involved in building OfficePoint & OfficeStar. He sold his stake in the company to Darwin Private Equity in 2010.
Formative Years
Education
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Handelshoejskole Syd
Bachelor of Science (BSc)
1986 — 1989
Areas Of Focus