Entrepreneurs

James Dacombe Built Two Billion-Dollar Tech Stories Before 26

The British founder behind CoMind and OLIX left school young, started building companies as a teenager, and reached billionaire status through private tech holdings.

Business Blog Media Editorial TeamSeptember 12, 2026

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James Dacombe British founder of CoMind and OLIX

Last Updated on September 12, 2026 by Business Blog Media Editorial Team

Introduction

James Dacombe took an unusual route.

He left formal education young. Then he worked in software. By 17, he was building a brain-monitoring company.

Table of Contents

Years later, another big bet followed.

His AI chip company, OLIX, reached a $3.3 billion valuation in August 2026 after raising $312 million. Forbes then estimated Dacombe’s personal fortune at about $1 billion.

He is still very young. Yet his work now covers brain monitoring, AI computing, and long-term company ownership.

Quick Facts About James Dacombe

Fact	Details
Full name	James Robert Dacombe
Birth	September 2000
Nationality	British
Grew up near	Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Profession	Technology entrepreneur
Known for	CoMind and OLIX
CoMind role	Founder and CEO
OLIX founded	2024
Bletchley Industries	Founder, CEO and Chairman
Education	Left sixth form young; no university degree
Fellowship	Thiel Fellow
Forbes recognition	Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe, Technology 2022
2024 recognition	Sunday Times Young Power List
Estimated net worth	Around $1 billion, Forbes estimate in August 2026
OLIX valuation	$3.3 billion in August 2026

Companies House records his full name as James Robert Dacombe and gives his birth month as September 2000. His exact birth date isn’t listed there.

Who Is James Dacombe?

James Dacombe is a British technology founder best known for CoMind and OLIX.

CoMind works on non-invasive brain monitoring. OLIX is working on specialised hardware for running large AI models.

That’s quite a jump.

But there is a link.

Both businesses deal with hard technical problems where computing and physical hardware meet.

Dacombe also founded Bletchley Industries, a holding company that lists CoMind and OLIX among its first businesses.

James Dacombe’s Early Life

Dacombe grew up near Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

His interest in computers appeared early.

The Sunday Times’ 2024 Young Power List profile said he started programming at 13, making apps and websites for fun. By his late teens, that interest had turned into full-time work.

His route wasn’t the normal school-to-university route.

Forbes reports that he left high school at 16, worked as a software engineer at a startup, then left that job to work on CoMind at 17.

Later reports say he spent only a very short period in sixth form before choosing company building instead.

He never went to university.

Why James Dacombe Left School

Dacombe had already started coding years before leaving school.

So his decision wasn’t a sudden jump into something he had never tried.

He already had technical experience.

Forbes says he first worked as a software engineer at another startup. He then switched his attention to his own idea.

That idea became CoMind.

The move came with obvious risk. He was still a teenager.

Yet it set up everything that followed.

Starting CoMind at 17

Dacombe began working on CoMind when he was around 17.

The legal company, CoMind Technologies Limited, was incorporated on 17 December 2018, according to Companies House. Dacombe has been listed as a director since that date.

Some reports use 2017 as CoMind’s starting year because that is when his work on the idea began.

Both dates can appear online.

The safest distinction is simple.

Dacombe began the project as a teenager, while the UK company was formally incorporated in December 2018.

What Does CoMind Do?

CoMind is working on a less invasive way to monitor the brain.

Its first product is called CoMind One.

The system is being built to give doctors continuous information about cerebral blood flow, cerebral autoregulation and intracranial pressure.

Traditional intracranial pressure monitoring can require invasive procedures.

CoMind wants to collect useful brain data without drilling into a patient’s skull.

The company says CoMind One uses light-based sensing to make these measurements available at the bedside.

Dacombe remains listed by CoMind as its Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

How Much Has CoMind Raised?

CoMind announced in October 2025 that it had secured $102.5 million in funding.

Its latest round was led by Plural.

Other participants named by CoMind included Angelini Ventures, LocalGlobe, Octopus Ventures, Crane, Backed VC and Entrepreneurs First.

The money is being used for clinical studies, regulatory work, manufacturing relationships and team growth.

The company is working toward wider clinical use of its brain-monitoring system.

James Dacombe and the Thiel Fellowship

Dacombe later became a Thiel Fellow.

The fellowship is linked with entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel and is aimed at young people who want to spend their time building ambitious projects rather than following a normal university route.

Forbes listed Dacombe as a Thiel Fellow when it named him to its 30 Under 30 Europe Technology list in 2022.

That recognition brought his work at CoMind to a much wider audience.

Forbes 30 Under 30

In 2022, Dacombe appeared on Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe in the Technology category.

At that point, CoMind had raised around $15 million.

Forbes focused on his early exit from school, his software work and his plan to build non-invasive brain-sensing hardware.

His companies became much larger after that listing.

Sunday Times Young Power List

Dacombe appeared in the Sunday Times Young Power List in 2024.

The profile said he had started programming at 13 and founded CoMind at 17.

At the time, the company had a team of around 60 people working on brain-monitoring technology for clinical settings.

Then another company started attracting attention.

OLIX.

James Dacombe Founded OLIX in 2024

James Dacombe founded OLIX in 2024.

Companies House records OLIX Computing Limited as an active UK business and shows Dacombe becoming a director on 22 March 2024.

The company is based around a different technical problem.

AI computing.

Large AI models require huge amounts of computing power. OLIX is working on specialised processors and optical connections aimed at running AI inference workloads faster and at lower cost.

The firm’s first announced system is called DX-1.

What Is OLIX Trying to Build?

OLIX wants to rethink how AI inference is handled.

Inference is what happens after an AI model has been trained and starts answering requests.

OLIX’s plan uses specialised chips rather than relying only on general-purpose processors.

The company also uses optical connections between computing systems.

Its goal is higher throughput while keeping power use and running costs under control.

These performance targets remain company claims until its hardware is widely tested outside the business.

OLIX says it plans to deliver its first racks to customers in the second half of 2027.

OLIX Reached a $3.3 Billion Valuation

The numbers moved quickly.

On 3 August 2026, OLIX announced a $312 million Series B funding round at a valuation of $3.3 billion.

The round included Fundomo, Arm and Hudson River Trading.

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings also invested.

Existing investors named by OLIX included Hummingbird Ventures, Crane, Plural, Creandum, Phoenix Court and Transition.

The new valuation was roughly three times OLIX’s level six months earlier, according to Forbes and the Financial Times.

That funding round changed Dacombe’s personal wealth estimate too.

James Dacombe Net Worth in 2026

Forbes estimated James Dacombe’s net worth at around $1 billion in August 2026.

That doesn’t mean he has $1 billion sitting in cash.

Most of the estimate comes from private-company ownership.

Forbes estimated that Dacombe owned about 30% of OLIX after its $3.3 billion funding round. It also estimated his CoMind holding at around 12%.

Private-company values can change.

So the $1 billion figure should always be described as an estimate, not a fixed personal cash balance.

Europe’s Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

Forbes called Dacombe Europe’s youngest self-made billionaire in August 2026.

He was 25 when that report was published.

Forbes also said he was one of only 11 self-made billionaires worldwide who had not yet turned 30 at that time.

Companies House gives September 2000 as his birth month but doesn’t publish the exact day.

For that reason, an exact age after the start of September 2026 shouldn’t be guessed.

What Is Bletchley Industries?

Dacombe has placed his business interests under Bletchley Industries.

The UK company was incorporated on 19 March 2025. Companies House lists Dacombe as a director.

Bletchley publicly introduced itself in March 2026.

Its website names Dacombe as Founder, CEO and Chairman.

The company says it plans to build, buy and invest in businesses across areas such as computing, healthcare, energy, manufacturing and biotechnology.

Its first two named holdings are OLIX and CoMind.

So his companies are no longer isolated projects.

They now sit inside a wider ownership plan.

James Dacombe’s Investing Activity

Dacombe has also put money into other startups.

One publicly documented example is Lindus Health, a company working on clinical trials.

He joined other investors in the company’s early seed financing.

His personal investment amount wasn’t publicly disclosed.

That means any specific figure attached to his Lindus Health investment would be guesswork.

What Makes His Career Unusual?

The age stands out first.

Dacombe started coding at 13.

He left school young.

CoMind followed in his teens.

Then came a Thiel Fellowship and Forbes recognition.

By 2024, he was building OLIX.

Two years later, that company was valued at $3.3 billion.

Still, valuation and revenue aren’t the same thing.

And private-company wealth can move sharply.

That distinction matters.

His story isn’t simply about a billion-dollar estimate. The stronger fact is that investors have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to two difficult hardware-heavy businesses he started before turning 26.

James Dacombe’s Personal Life

Dacombe keeps most of his personal life outside public coverage.

Reliable public sources focus almost entirely on his companies and work.

There is no strong public sourcing for claims about a wife, girlfriend, children, parents, siblings, height or other private details.

So those claims shouldn’t be guessed.

Where Is James Dacombe Now?

Dacombe remains active across his companies.

CoMind lists him as founder and CEO.

Bletchley Industries lists him as founder, CEO and chairman.

OLIX is working toward its first DX-1 systems, with customer deliveries planned for 2027.

His work now sits across two very different areas.

Brain monitoring.

And AI computing hardware.

Final Thought

James Dacombe took the risky route early.

No university degree followed.

Instead, he spent his late teens building CoMind.

Then OLIX changed the scale of his story.

Its $3.3 billion valuation pushed Forbes’ estimate of his wealth to around $1 billion in August 2026.

But the companies are still private.

Their values can move.

For now, the facts are already unusual enough: Dacombe started coding as a child, built his first health-tech company as a teenager, later started an AI chip company, and reached a billion-dollar estimated fortune before 30.