Damian Bradfield

Damian Bradfield (born 29 March 1977, Canterbury, England) is a British entrepreneur, author, publisher and podcaster best known as a co-founder of WeTransfer. He was educated at Kent College, briefly attended Oxford Brookes University, and took a Geography degree at the London School of Economics. He began his career in fashion and luxury (Gucci Group / Stella McCartney) before moving into advertising at London agencies DLKW and AMV BBDO, then joining J. Walter Thompson in Amsterdam around 2005, where he worked with Moscow-based clients.

In 2010 Bradfield co-founded the design studio Present Plus with Dutch entrepreneur Nalden, and joined the fledgling WeTransfer (founded in Amsterdam in 2009) alongside Nalden, Bas Beerens and Rinke Visser. As Chief Creative Officer he turned the simple file-transfer utility into one of Europe's most culturally distinctive tech brands, championing design, editorial storytelling and its arts platform WePresent, and building the service to tens of millions of monthly users. He relocated to Los Angeles in 2016 to lead WeTransfer's US operations, later serving as President and CEO. WeTransfer was acquired by Italy's Bending Spoons in 2024, after which Bradfield departed.

Beyond WeTransfer, Bradfield developed the digital-wallpaper platform Kuvva (2012, now closed) through Present Plus. He is the author of *The Trust Manifesto: What You Need to Do to Create a Better Internet* (Penguin, 2019), *The Internet Years / Algorithmic Reality*, and the 2025 book *Not A Playbook* (co-authored with Andreas Tzortzis). Forbes described him as "one of the most influential voices in tech today."

He now runs FUPE, an independent publishing and entertainment venture focused on experimental storytelling and visual culture, hosts the *Influence* podcast and writes the *Any Given Sunday* newsletter. He chairs The Supporting Act Foundation, is a trustee of the Sarabande Foundation, and chairs the advisory board of the University of the Underground.

• Invests personally as an angel, typically at seed / early stage, rather than through a formal fund.
• Leans toward consumer and wellness brands, and design- and creativity-led technology and media businesses — reflecting his own operating background.
• Places a premium on trust, transparency, privacy and brand/design integrity; his book *The Trust Manifesto* argues companies must earn user trust and respect rather than exploit data — a useful signal of what he values in the companies he backs.
• Values founders who build culturally resonant, design-forward brands (as he did with WeTransfer/WePresent) over purely utilitarian products.