John Darling
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Co-Founder and CEO
London, GB
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
John Darling is a serial founder in the marketing, consumer, and finance sectors. He has launched, scaled, and exited multiple consumer apps and played a key role in establishing the UK’s first nationwide credit union. He also spent time at Meta working with small and medium-sized businesses across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, helping them adopt digital advertising tools and capitalise on emerging market opportunities.
As CEO and founder of Creative Capital Ventures, John leads an investment group that backs and supports the transformation of creative businesses. The firm focuses on building a connected ecosystem of cultural assets, intellectual property and immersive experiences, as well as the tools needed to bring them to market. Its work reflects the shift taking place across the creative economy as technology, culture, and new forms of media continue to evolve.
Over his career, John has founded six companies across consumer technology, marketing, creative services, and finance. His work includes launching two venture studios and completing two successful exits. He founded Impact Counsel, a venture builder based in Lisbon that supported early-stage companies with product development, operations, and investor engagement. He also created We Are Traction, a remote digital marketing group, and served as COO of Mae’s Home Cooked Food, a community-focused food initiative. His roles have included partnerships with creative entrepreneurs, entertainment projects, and rights-based businesses working with music IP and immersive experiences.
Earlier in his career, John held leadership roles in community finance as COO of My Community Finance and worked as Chief Growth Officer at Powered Now, a software company serving trade professionals.
Through Creative Capital Ventures, John continues to support founders and cultural organisations, building businesses at the intersection of creativity, technology, and digital experiences.
The Record
Background
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2025 — Present
Co-Founder and CEO
Creative Capital Ventures
Creative Capital Ventures backs businesses, creatives and platforms that are redefining culture. As AI reshapes the digital landscape, CCV focuses on the human side of innovation: experience, creativity and community. The firm partners with founders and cultural institutions, providing capital, operational support and access to an ecosystem spanning immersive experiences, entertainment, music IP and rights-based assets.
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2023 — Present
Partner
Seed Real Estate
Seed is an award-winning real estate company offering personalised support for clients buying and selling property in Portugal. It provides property search, negotiation guidance, legal and financial coordination, and high-quality marketing for listings.
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2022 — 2025
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Impact Counsel
Impact Counsel specialises in helping post-MVP (minimum viable product) startups scale by providing strategy, technology and operations support in exchange for equity. As founder and CEO, John Darling shaped the firm’s philosophy, working closely with founders on product development, tech build-out, operational foundations and go-to-market execution to accelerate early-stage growth.
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2019 — 2025
Founder and Chairman
Traction
Traction is a fully remote digital agency supporting companies with brand development, web and app design, and strategic creative work.
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2021 — 2022
Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Mae's Home Cooked Food
Mae’s Home Cooked Food connected customers with local cooks offering authentic, homemade meals, with a focus on culturally rooted dishes prepared in home kitchens. John co-founded the platform and guided its brand development, technology build-out and day-to-day operations, helping create new earning opportunities and greater independence for immigrant women through small-scale food entrepreneurship.
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2017 — 2019
Chief Growth Officer
Powered Now
Powered Now is a job-management platform that helps UK trades - such as electricians, plumbers, builders and pest-control firms - manage quoting, invoicing, scheduling, staff management, CRM, certificates and payments from a web or mobile app. John oversaw commercial expansion at the company and was responsible for marketing, team building, CRM development and overall go-to-market planning.
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2016 — 2018
Chief Operating Officer
My Community Finance
My Community Finance is a leading UK credit union, offering accessible lending and savings products. As its first employee and senior leader, John helped grow the organisation from launch to more than 100 staff, built an £800M loan book, and oversaw technology, marketing and fundraising initiatives.
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2014 — 2016
EMEA Team Manager, Marketing
Facebook
Facebook (now part of Meta Platforms Inc.) is a global technology company that operates social platforms and digital advertising tools used by businesses worldwide. John led a team of 120 staff across eight markets and, in just one year, helped grow regional ad revenue from $80M to $550M.
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2012 — 2014
Commercial Director
DCC Energi A/S
DCC Energi is a major energy distributor, supplying a wide range of energy products and services to households, businesses and industrial clients. As Commercial Director at DCC Energi in Northern Ireland, John managed commercial sales operations and led a team securing major B2B energy contracts.
In The News
Newsfeed
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7 October 2025 · Funds Global Asia
Creative Capital Ventures hires chairman, Asia Pacific
Read more -
6 June 2025 · Marketers Media
CCV Group Invests in Rezonate to Redefine the Future of Music Royalties for Producers and Creators
Read more -
29 October 2024 · VCwire.tech
Creative Capital Ventures Holds First €18M Close of Maiden Fund
Read more -
17 September 2024 · Yahoo! Finance
Meet Creative Capital Ventures: A New Breed in the Venture Capital Industry
Read more
Formative Years
Education
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Northern Regional College
Higher National Diploma, Information Technology