User:Loosetraffic/Christian Lane (entrepreneur)

Christian Lane
Christian Henry Raymond Lane (born 27 June 1987), is a British entrepreneur and inventor of the Foldio range of curved portfolios. He is known for his appearance on the UK television programme Dragons Den, where he was the youngest entrepreneur able to secure funding in the den.

Early Life and Career
Born and raised in Surrey, London, Christian is the son of Raymond Lane, Vice President of HOK Architects. Christian attended and was educated at the Beacon School in Banstead. He is the elder of two, Andreas being the younger. Christian started his first business in 2005 importing and distributing MP4 players and LCD flat screen TV's. He used profits from these projects to invest in his first invention, the Foldio.

The Foldio
In 2007 Christian pitched his Foldio product on Dragon's Den and sold 35% of the business to Theo Paphitis for £80,000. Since then the range has been sold through Ryman stores, Staples UK, Hobby Craft, and many other high street retailers. In 2009 the product range was launched into Europe, Japan and the Middle East. In 2008 Christian spent time in Hong Kong to further develop the company and restructure its growth in profit margins. In 2010 he entered into negotiations and declined an offer from Avery Dennison for a $12 million distribution deal to take the business worldwide. He continues to expand the product and company by constantly innovating, and in 2011 has finalised negotiations to buy out his shareholders.

Currently Christian is working on his new product line, the Venture Lane Group. He has a new book Taming the Dragon, set to be released in 2012 and will be hosting a series of documentaries on young entrepreneurs.

Awards
Christian picked up an award within the Office Product Industry highlighting achievements and innovation created through the Foldio products.