James Dacombe becomes Europe’s youngest self-made billionaire at 25

A 25-year-old from Harrogate who left school at 16 just crossed the ten-figure net worth threshold, making him Europe’s youngest self-made billionaire. James Dacombe, the founder of AI chip startup Olix and neurotechnology firm CoMind, hit the milestone after Olix raised $312 million in a Series B round that valued the company at $3.3 billion. Dacombe owns an estimated 30% stake in Olix, which means his slice of the company alone is worth roughly $990 million. Factor in his 12% stake in CoMind, which raised $102.5 million last August, and the math clears the billion-dollar bar comfortably. From Flux Computing to a $3.3B valuation in two years Olix wasn’t always called Olix. Dacombe originally founded the company as Flux Computing in March 2024, rebranding it in January 2026. The startup’s valuation sat at roughly $1 billion back in February 2026. Six months later, it tripled. The investor roster includes Fundomo, Arm, Hudson River Trading, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, and the UK government’s Sovereign AI fund. In total, Olix has raised approximately $612 million across its funding rounds. The core product driving investor enthusiasm is the Optical Tensor Processing Unit, or OT...