Hexarad is an end-to-end radiology platform wherein users can get diagnoses from scans such as CTEs and MRIs. 

Taylor also spoke on her hometown of Manchester and whether it holds the secret sauce to building long-lasting and thriving tech communities. 

Black was the founding chair of the British Computing Society’s BCSWomen group, championed the preservation of the WW2 codebreaking HQ Bletchley Park and is a professor of computer science at Durham. 

Flok Health is an AI-powered physiotherapy clinic that provides patients with virtual appointments to treat back pain. The platform fuses AI and human physiotherapists for personalised care without long waiting lists. 

Coding Black Females is the largest community of black women in the UK tech industry. The group aims to grow, educate and inspire one of the most underrepresented groups in the industry. 

ClearBank was founded a decade ago as the UK’s first new clearing back in over two centuries. The firm provides financial institutions with access to payments and clearing services as well as offers embedded banking services in partnership with fintechs. 

ClearScore is a London-based fintech best known for providing free credit score checks and offering tailored support to consumers looking to improve their financial wellbeing. 

Dell is among the most well-known electronics brands, most famous for its computers and laptops. The company has more recently taken a leading role in the AI industry. 

Phoenix Court is a venture capital firm that backs businesses from the seed stage all the way through to IPO. Lenson has worked across the investment industry, having held roles at firms including UBS and SoftBank. 

HLB International is a global network of advisory and accounting firms. In the worldwide top ten of advisory organisations, HLB spans across more than 150 countries encompasses the work of around 60,000 individuals. 

OpenUK is the UK’s industry body for open source technology. Brock became the organisation's CEO in 2019, with a background of more than 30 years in the global technology sector. 

Hutton is a columnist for the Observer, president of the Academy of Social Sciences and the author of numerous major works covering politics and economics. 

Leyser was appointed as the head of UK Research and Innovation, the public body which directs government funding to science and technological enterprises, in 2020. 

NVIDIA is one of the largest companies in the world, known for its top-of-the-line chips, it has been and continues to be instrumental in the rapidly developing AI sector. 

OpenAI is the creator of ChatGPT and is among the largest AI companies globally. Valued this year at $500bn, it is the most valuable private company in the world and has worked extensively with the British government on its AI ambitions. 

Square is a contactless payment system for businesses co-founded by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey. The company partners with firms offering support in payments and point-of-sale.

Beringea is a transatlantic venture capital investment group jointly based in London and Michigan. McCormick discusses the challenges tech companies in Europe face when trying to emulate the success of US tech giants and what firms like Beringea look for in a portfolio company. 

Semble provides management software for healthcare providers. The platform helps clinicians and clinics manage everything from scheduling, billing, and prescribing to patient data and administrative workflows, aiming to reduce manual work and amplify time spent on patient care. 

ActiveOps is a workflow management software provider founded in 2005, now operating in 40 countries around the world.

Conscium is a research organisation focused on applied AI consciousness. The group was founded to explore the questions of the nature of consciousness and how that can apply to AI technology. 

Explore Learning is a tuition provider for young students via its digital platform. Haycox discusses the shortfalls of traditional schooling structures and the pros and cons of supplementing education with technology. 

IMServ is a data collection and energy metering firm. Cox, who was appointed as the group’s CEO in 2024, discusses the importance of understanding baseline energy usage to improve efficiency and reduce carbon footprints. 

Forest, founded as Human Forest, is a London-based bicycle hiring service competing with the likes of Lime. The company was founded in 2020 and has become one of the UK capital's most used bike rental firms. 

Whitehead explains why different iterations of virtual space technology have struggled to take off and why focusing on the correct use cases that properly utilise the technology is the key for consumers to enjoy metaverse experiences. 

OXCCU is a spinout from the University of Oxford developing technology to turn waste carbon into sustainable aviation fuel as well as climate friendly chemical products and biodegradable plastics. 

Saxby became Arm’s first CEO in 1991 and oversaw its rise to prominence that would ultimately lead it to being one of the most important technology companies in the world. Saxby has also held roles at Motorola, Pye and European Silicon Structures. 

Zest is company specialising in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The firm installs, manages and maintains EV charge points on behalf of public and commercial landowners. 

Odyssey Ventures is a venture capital group based in London and San Francisco with a particular focus on early-stage European founders. Among the VC’s primary targets are startups developing solutions in climate tech, sustainability and decarbonisation. 

A British European Space Agency astronaut and ambassador at the Festival of Speed Future Lab, Peake flew to the International Space Station in 2015 and has spent almost 200 days in space. Peake discusses the political nature of space travel and the exciting future of the burgeoning space tech industry. 

Kyle was given the reins of the Tech Department when Labour came to power in July 2024. The MP for Hove and Portslade has been tasked with overseeing one of the government's most ambitious missions, turbocharging the tech sector to meet the growth demands of the nation.

Waterfall discusses the recent focus of the government on investing in advanced defence technology in the context of global threats across the world. 

Heinla helped create the iconic video conferencing software back in 2003. Today, the Estonian is focusing his efforts on Starship Technologies, which develops autonomous last mile delivery robots.

Northzone is a multi-stage venture capital fund based in London. It has backed some of Europe’s largest tech companies, including Spotify, Klarna and Kahoot. Pantazi talks the importance of mentorship and competing against tech giants in the war for talent. 

The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK’s regulator for corporate competition. Overseeing areas such as mergers and acquisitions, ensuring companies meet pro-competition requirements and consumer protection. 

IoT Tribe is an accelerator group that was appointed by the government’s Defence and Security Accelerator to run programmes for startups in the space. IoT Tribe leads the group of specialist organisations called JANUS, the UK participant in NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic. 

Oxford Science Enterprises is a venture capital firm managing assets worth more than £800m. The group operates in partnership with the University of Oxford and is a prominent backer of spinouts from the university. 

Pockit is a London-based fintech that acts as a digital banking alternative targeting those whose needs are not met by traditional banks. Jatania explains the importance of providing financial services to those left behind by major institutions and the reality of running a British fintech in 2025. 

InMotion Ventures is the investment arm of British automotive group Jaguar Land Rover. Nasrolahi has been leading the group’s enterprise and industrial tech investments since 2022.

Astia is an inclusive venture capital group that seeks to address the vast and stagnant gap in funding for women-led businesses.

Unmind is workplace wellbeing platform that partners with brands to offer employee mental health support. Peralta co-founded Unmind in 2016 having previously from a corporate wellbeing background alongside former NHS clinical psychologist Dr Nick Taylor. Peralta explains how so many workplace wellbeing policies are reactive, waiting from problems to occur before they even begin to try to help.

Aurrigo is an autonomous driving company that specialises in vehicles for the aviation industry, including self-driving baggage carriers. The Coventry-based company was founded in 1993, initially focused on autonomous passenger vehicles. A call from the head of innovation at International Airlines Group, convinced Keene that the future of Aurrigo’s technology was in supporting aviation. The group listed publicly on London’s AIM market in 2022. 

Patchwork Health is a digital platform for clinics to manage day-to-day operations, organise workflows and reduce agency spending. Ouyang spent years as a resident doctor where he saw first hand the manual processes and bureaucracy needlessly complicating matters. He co-founded Patchwork with another former NHS doctor to directly address the problems the founders had faced in their health careers. 

Berry is a hereditary peer in the House of Lords and served as the minister responsible for AI and intellectual property under former prime minister Rishi Sunak. During his time at the tech department, Berry was key in organising the UK's AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in 2023. 

BfB Labs provides immersive digital gamified therapy targeting young people in partnership with the NHS. The group provides its services at no cost to the families using them as part of its commitment to democratise young people's access to mental health support. 

Anderson took over TED – which hosts viral talks at its conferences – from its founder Richard Saul Wurman in 2000. He turned the business into a non-profit and has spent years curating its eclectic list of speakers. Anderson discusses why developments in AI technology are terrifying and the future of TED as he plans to step back.

Beyond the School Run is a network for parent entrepreneurs offering networking, training and guidance on the difficult journey of managing a business and a family. Webster discusses why being a parent can actually make someone a better founder and offers words of wisdom for mums and dads with creative ideas who don't know where to start.

Kohli is the founder of the investment firm Kohli Ventures and the charity the Tej Kohli Foundation, which aims to effect social and economic change in poor and underserved communities. Kohli warns that while the UK is full of talent and intent, there is not enough conversation about the most cutting-edge ambitious tech ventures. 

Github is a platform for software developers to collaborate, create and share projects. The service has over 150 million users globally and has been at the heart of countless software innovations. In 2018, the platform was acquired by Microsoft for $7.5bn. Woodward is both an executive at the company and a member of the British open source advocacy group OpenUK. 

The British Standards Institution (BSI) is a more than a century-old body, backed by a Royal Charter, that produces technical standards for various industries. The BSI has been hard at work producing standards for the use of AI in companies and hopes to provide a swift voluntary form of AI regulation while governments plan legislation. 

Abound provides credit products to underserved communities, those without strong credit scores and who have been rejected by the traditional banking and loan system. He founded the digital lender in 2020 with Gerald Chappell. He explains how difficult growing a business is for startups compared to traditional finance and why, she doesn’t view herself as a ‘minority’ despite being a woman in fintech. 

DataSnipper provides audit and finance teams with an intelligent automation platform to reduce the burden of overly manual auditing. Peters believes that alongside auditing, AI has massive potential to relieve the intense pressure on Britain's public services, in particular for the NHS and education system. 

Pure Data Centres Group designs, builds and operates white-label data centres, with some of the world's largest tech firms as their customers. Childs joined the company in 2021 and has been its chief executive since May 2023. Before running one of Britain’s top data centre companies, Childs had a distinguished career which included engineering and executive roles at the National Grid, Gatwick Airport and the Royal Airforce. 

Is now really the time to tear up the DEI rulebook, or are there good reasons to embrace the positive attitude to diversity that many large corporations have taken over the past decade? 

Viv Paxinos is CEO of AllBright, where she leads a global collective of 500,000 ambitious women committed to creating a more equitable world for all. She believes in maintaining a people-first culture through nurturing and mentoring talent to create a best-in-class working environment.

Oxford-based Mind Foundry was setup to create AI responsibly from trusted scientific principles, aligning AI with human values and applying it where it is needed most in areas such as defence and insurance. 

Founded in 2019, Oxford Ionics raised £30m in a Series A funding round in 2023. In September, the company set a new record in quantum state preparation and measurement, bring it one step closer to delivering quantum computers for commercial use. 

Fuel Ventures is a London-based technology investment group focussing on early and growth-stage companies. Pearson said Fuel has always had a good relationship with China, grown stronger by the firm recently securing a £20m investment from Chinese partners. The Fuel managing director said that with Trump likely to further strain US-China relations, there is an opportunity for the UK to grow with increased support from the East. 

Bunq is a challenger bank founded in 2012. Zwart joined the firm in 2016 and worked across a handful of roles before leaving to become an entrepreneur. After founding a few companies, Zwart found herself returning to Bunq to work as its chief of staff and then its chief strategy officer. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Bunq for years operated in the UK before Brexit forced it to stop onboarding British users, though it is seeking a return. 

Taylor works with governments and their non-profit partners to provide more efficient coordination for rapid responses. She also created RefAid, a group looking at innovative solutions to address the refugee crisis. Taylor discusses why investors have historically ignored goodwill projects and why global pressure is changing that. 

Gadhia has held numerous prominent roles throughout her career, including CEO of Salesforce, retail managing director at the Royal Bank of Scotland and founder of Snoop. She discusses overseeing the acquisition of Northern Rock during the financial crisis of 2008 and why women in high-powered roles still earn less than their male counterparts.

Balderton Capital is a multi-stage venture capital firm that backs companies across every phase of growth. Chandratillake discusses why so far the government's approach to business has been encouraging, though it's still early days, why the London public markets are struggling as so many have claimed and why autonomous vehicle policy is the perfect example of the UK's regulatory strengths. 

Ofcom is the UK's media and communications regulatory body. The watchdog was recently granted new powers in regulating content on the internet via the Online Safety Act. Lara explains why there has been an extended gap between the act passing and the rules being enforced and how AI could become both an incredible tool for content moderation and a dangerous weapon in harmful content creation. 

Sustainable Ventures helps climate startups and entrepreneurs across the UK scale through investment, workspaces and venture support. Morris explains why the climate tech startups being funded by the group have to be able to provide solutions that the public can happily adopt without feeling like they are making too great of a sacrifice.

Bloom and Wild is an online flower delivery platform that posts assemblable bouquets through peoples’ doors. Gelbard described how his family has had a history of entrepreneurship that inspired him to found his own company – but not before a prominent consulting career in the City – and how he has had to learn to avoid perfectionism in the scrappy world of startup founding. 

Featurespace is an anti-financial crime startup for enterprises that analyses human behaviour to detect dangerous transactions. King, who joined the Cambridge-based firm as chief executive in 2012, discusses why financial institutions can never do enough to prevent fraud and ponders recent regulatory measures governing how finance firms should respond to cases. 

Builder.ai is a Microsoft-backed startup that uses AI technology to provide a simplified method of app and software development. As the founder of one of Britain's most prominent AI companies, Duggal shares his own experience operating a tech company in the UK and explains why there is so much still to do to make the country viable as a leader in AI, but that the pieces are all there to achieve this.

SamudraOceans is developing automated technologies to transform the industry of seaweed farming. Das explains how the emerging sector is largely manual but with the right introduction of AI and robotics, could make all the difference in the global fight against man-made climate change. Das also describes why the ocean is one of the hardest environments to engineer for, including space. 

Burrus joined the Coalition for App Fairness – a group of app developers advocating for a competitive and fair marketplace – after his work at Spotify (a CAF member) introduced him to the complex struggle between app stores and apps. CAF contains members from early-stage startups to global powerhouses, including Fortnite developer Epic Games. Burrus explains the various legal challenges made against Apple and Google and the progress from global competition regulators in breaking up the app store monopoly, described by Burrus as being akin to Microsoft’s domination of the software market in the 90s before anti-trust lawsuits came into place. 

Gousto is a startup that sends pre-packaged meal kits with ingredients in the exact proportions required for the recipe. The company uses algorithms to tailor recipes to consumers' tastes, health requirements and to reduce food waste. Boldt pitched the startup on Dragon's Den in 2013 while suffering from food poisoning, and after rejecting two offers on the show, he grew the company to a valuation of almost $2bn. 

Volution is a London-based venture capital investor that focuses largely on fintech and software-as-a-service companies that have progressed past the seed and Series A stages. Codling explains that in the UK, there have been incredible efforts to support startups to get to the Series A level, but there has been a myth that once they get there, they can manage alone. Codling calls for a holistic approach from the public and private sectors when looking to support businesses. 

Optalysis is a photonics-based encryption company that can protect data beyond the capabilities of electronic-based computing. New describes how the UK is well-positioned to become a global leader in photonics technology and how raising funding as a deep tech startup presents its own unique challenges.

Shaw founded London Tech Advocates – a non-profit launched to champion and empower the burgeoning London tech industry in the early 2010s – and has since gone on to build a network of Global Tech Advocates, supporting tech hubs across the UK and internationally. Shaw also discusses his role in the UK’s semiconductor strategy and why Labour needs to clarify its position on it.

Tombs co-founded Yoti – which develops age verification and digital ID technology – in 2014 after working in the online gambling space. Tombs saw the difficulty in verifying ages and identities and sought to develop capable of doing so. Yoti works with partners including Meta and Sony to detect user ages and supplies users with a digital card that it hopes will hold the same weight as physical IDs. 

Meechan has worked with ScotlandIS – an industry body supporting the nation’s tech sector – for 20 years. Meechan explains how bodies like ScotlandIS are working towards plugging the digital skills gap but need more support from the government at a local and UK-wide level. ScotlandIS was formed in 1999 through a merger of various industry groups including the Scottish Software Federation. The organisation manages various sector clusters in the country, with its member enterprises employing over 60,000 people. 

Rotilu is an operator-turned-investor and founder, specialising in backing operators-turned-founders who are building tech startups as early as day zero. Before transitioning to investing, she spent the better part of the first decade of her career scaling multinational technology companies like Uber and Branch.co, holding leadership roles such as country manager and general manager.  

Prior to OpenseedVC, Rotilu was a fund manager at Octopus Ventures' First Cheque Fund. Before that, she served as the managing director of the Oxford Seed Fund. OpenseedVC is typically the first investor, providing up to $150k and supporting tech startups in B2B software, AI, fintech, the future of work, or the future of health by leveraging an operator network to support them from start to launch. 

Riparbelli founded Synthesia along with Lourdes Agapito, Matthias Neissner and Steffen Tjerrild in 2017. The London-based company uses AI to generate videos hosted by artificial avatars based on user scripts. Its technology is primarily used by more than 55,000 businesses - including half of the Fortune 100 - for corporate education and communications. Riparbelli explains how at the time his company was founded, an AI boom much like the one occurring today was in full force, albeit with lesser technology. The Synthesia CEO credits the success of his company where so many contemporaries petered out to an early focus on turning complex research into marketable products. Synthesia has secured more than $155m since its launch and last year reached a unicorn valuation.

Thorne founded Tech She Can to help address the "nationwide" problem of too few women in technology roles. The aim of the charity is to see women play an equal role in creating and developing tech businesses, products, and services that will ultimately shape the world and make sure that tech works for everyone. Thorne, who has a PhD in physics, is also a venture partner at Deep Science Ventures, a VC firm funding startups focused on pharmaceuticals, climate, agriculture and computation sectors.

Founded by AI experts from the University of Cambridge in 2015, Luminance is an AI platform for lawyers. Built on a proprietary legal large language model, its AI reads and forms a conceptual understanding of legal documents in any language. From this, it enhances and expedites different tasks such as taking a first-pass review of any incoming contract to automatically flagging contractual anomalies. Lightbody joined the firm in 2021 after a six-year period at cyber-AI company, Darktrace. Luminance secured $40m in Series B funding in April 2024, with its backers including Californian investor March Capital, National Grid Partners and Slaughter and May. Luminance says its technology is used by 600 organisations across 70 countries.

Gilpin founded Smart Green Shipping in 2014. The startup develops hardware and software designed to reduce the climate impact of the shipping industry. Gilpin has been in the shipping industry for well over a decade and discusses how far behind it is in the fight for gender equality. Gilpin notes, however, that her experience of business and engineering in Scotland was surprisingly progressive and welcoming. Gilpin has worked in tech for more than three decades, beginning her career on the launch team for Cellnet mobile phones before spending time in F3 and Formula One.  

Misra founded Walking on Earth (WONE), which uses AI to assess the stress levels of users and provide personalised interventions, in 2020 after almost three years at BenevolentAI. Misra was inspired to develop tech-powered stress relief after examining medical research that found combatting stress is a powerful preventative measure when dealing with physical and mental health. Prior to founding WONE, Misra spent nearly three years at BenevolentAI, most recently as VP of strategy.

Bradbury was a presenter on Channel 5’s The Gadget Show from its launch in 2004 to 2016, where he tested tech and participated in grabbing stunts – including a jet-powered skateboard. In early 2024 The Gadget Show returned as a podcast presented by Bradbury and Suzi Perry. He is also a speaker at business conferences, where he discusses the transformative impact of technologies such as AI, and a published author. Elsewhere on the podcast, Bradbury discusses his film project about gamers using retro tech to fight back against AI in Skegness, and explains why he’s bullish on the metaverse.  

Founded in 2006 by Malcolm and Dr Gareth Maker, M Squared develops laser technologies for a variety of use cases, such as quantum, biophotonics and chemical sensing. Its tech has been deployed across multiple sectors, including in space to calibrate payloads for satellites part of Europe’s Copernicus programme. The company is headquartered in Glasgow and has a presence in the US. Malcolm, who studied laser physics and optoelectronics at Strathclyde University followed by PhD research into compact solid-state lasers, has secured over 400 patents. He was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to science and innovation. He was also Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2017 Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2018 Amazon Growing Business Awards.  

The Lord Mayor of the City of London is the head of the City of London Corporation, the governing body of the Square Mile. The Lord Mayor is elected annually and is an international ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services sector. Mainelli, who is the 695th Lord Mayor of the City of London, was previously elected Sheriff of the City of London in 2019. The American-born British scientist, economist and accountant is also chairman of the consultancy firm Z/Yen. In this episode, Mainelli shares his view on reforms aimed at encouraging pension fund cash into listed companies and how the City is really doing since Brexit.

Grech was the founding CEO of Tech Nation, leading the startup support organisation for over a decade until it was acquired by Founders Forum Group last year. The deal came after Tech Nation lost a bid for government funding to Barclays Eagle Labs, forcing it to cease operations. In this episode, Grech looks back on what he sees as a “puzzling decision” and reflects on the impact Tech Nation had on the UK’s startup ecosystem.  

In October 2023, Grech was appointed MD of Founders at the University of Cambridge, an initiative to connect academics, entrepreneurs, alumni and peer role models to help spinouts scale. Grech discusses the role that universities have to play in supporting “high-risk” ventures born out of academia. In addition to his role at the University of Cambridge, Grech is a member of the UK government’s Digital Economy Council and the World Economic Forum’s Digital Board. 

Johnson has been chief executive of the investment firm since 2021 and has guided its vision of growing the northern economic ecosystem by backing innovative new technologies. Northern Gritstone’s portfolio companies include Pragmatic Semiconductor, C-Capture and Re:course. Johnson is adamant that the ingredients required, such as the exceptional talent from the region's universities, to make the north a tech powerhouse are all there and while it will take time, it's an achievable goal worth fighting for.

Burrows founded Vertical Future in 2016. The company develops the technology to build automated vertical farms wherein robots tend to the needs of stacked crops in enclosed spaces. It has deployed eight farms across the UK and has projects in development overseas. Vertical Future has raised over £30m across grants and family office investments. The company is also working on a project to grow medicinal and material ingredients in orbit, with plans down the line to explore vertical farming on the Moon and Mars. 

Founded in 2012, Inovus Medical designs and manufactures a surgical training platform that combines soft tissue models with digital overlays. The headset-free augmented reality technology provides haptic feedback for trainee surgeons to simulate a real-world environment. The company is based in St Helens, a town in Merseyside, England. Street says the town’s proximity to Liverpool and Manchester means it can access talent from across the North West, while coming with lower overheads.  

In December 2023, Invous Medical opened its US headquarters in Tampa Bay, Florida. In this episode, Street shares tips for UK tech companies looking to expand across the Atlantic, from remote sales tactics to navigating cultural quirks. The expansion followed the company being crowned KPMG’s UK Tech Innovator, a competition to uncover fast-growth tech startups from across the country. Street reflects on how the competition opened doors for Inovus and shares some of the learnings, such as pitch deck advice.

Glover co-founded Amadeus Capital Partners in 1997 alongside Hermann Hauser. The firm generally backs deep tech firms, with major portfolio companies including Graphcore, Improbable and Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Glover discusses how the firm these days is particularly keen on areas including quantum computing, health tech and cybersecurity. 

Snover is the founder of Nourished and Scripted, which provide personalised health products to prevent and treat conditions and make it easier for people to take important nutrients. Snover came to the UK from the States for university and decided as a young entrepreneur that Birmingham had everything she would need to start a thriving business. Nourished has been backed by more than £15m in funding and sells its tailor-made gummies via online subscription. 

Kassai co-founded Onfido, a digital ID company, in 2012 straight out of studying at the University of Oxford. The startup, which uses AI to verify identities, has raised more than $200m and grown to over 500 people, generating more than £140m in revenue. Earlier this year, it was acquired by US-based payments company Entrust. During this episode, Kassai shares what he learnt while building the business and explains why he thinks policy decisions are putting the brightest talent off from working in the UK. Since stepping down as CEO of Onfido, Kassai has launched Quench.ai, a startup developing an AI coach to help workers learn new skills. Kassai explains what’s next for the startup after raising £3.9m in pre-seed funding last year.

Flexa is a careers platform that aggregates a company’s workplace benefits to give job candidates more information when applying for a role. Johnson-Jones co-founded the company in 2020 – alongside Maurice O’Brien, and Tim Leppard – after she was told to leave her job in investment banking. It came after Johnson-Jones, who has an auto-immune disease, had submitted a flexible work request. Flexa aims to inform job candidates about a company’s remote working and benefits policies. Approved companies, which include the likes of Atom Bank and Improbable, can then advertise open roles on the platform and applicants can filter by criteria. More than 2.5 million people now use the platform. In 2022, the startup raised £2m in a seed funding round led by Ada Ventures. Elsewhere in this episode, the Flexa CEO looks at the different approaches startups and corporates are taking for flexible working. 

Grice founded the company, originally called Guardian Angel, in 2016 after facing difficulties when dealing with the sudden death of his mother. The London-based company provides digital tools for people to prepare for end of life and to support those dealing with an unexpected loss through the process. Guardian Angel was acquired by Octopus Group in 2022, prompting the rebrand to Octopus Legacy. Grice discusses dealing with an acquisition from a major corporation and his approach to keeping the startup human centric. 

Improbable develops the infrastructure for virtual worlds. Backed by the likes of SoftBank and Andreessen Horowitz, the London-based company designs, builds and operates metaverse experiences for brands. Recent projects include screening a Major League Baseball match in a virtual ballpark. Last year, Improbable sold its defence business and one of its gaming ventures. In this episode, Narula explains how these commercial deals have made Improbable a more sustainable business that doesn’t need to rely on venture capital. Elsewhere, he responds to what he sees as misconceptions about the metaverse and explains the role he sees web3 playing in preventing large tech companies from dominating the metaverse.

Jamilly co-founded the London-based cultivated fat startup in 2020 alongside his lifelong friend Ed Steele. Jamilly breaks down the science of how meat can be grown in a lab, and how Hoxton Farm’s cultivated fat can extend lab-grown meat beyond sausages and nuggets to high-quality cuts such as steaks, pork belly and bacon. Jamilly also discusses the health implications of his company’s technology and why he feels people will be better off when the last animal factory farms have shut down. Jamilly has a PhD in synthetic biology from Oxford, an MPhil in bioscience enterprise from Cambridge and an MA in natural sciences (biological) from Cambridge. 

Lord Clement-Jones was chair of the Liberal Party from 1986-1988. He was made CBE for political services in 1988 and a life peer in 1998. He is the Liberal Democrat House of Lords spokesperson for science, innovation and technology. He is the former chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. He co-founded and has co-chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence since 2016. In addition to his political work, Lord Clement-Jones is a Consultant on AI policy and regulation with global law firm, DLA Piper. 

Harris co-founded Tramshed with Mark John in 2015. It now has six co-working sites across Wales and provides startup support through programmes on topics such as investor readiness and exports. Tramshed is supported by strategic partners in the UK and Europe, including Google for Startups, Microsoft, Barclays Eagle Labs and SQY. Harris is also a member of the Welsh Government International Strategy Board and UK Tech Cluster Group.  

Oxa, formerly known as Oxbotica, is developing software for autonomous vehicles. Founded in 2014, it is focusing on passenger transportation and industrial autonomy. It has raised more than £150m in funding, including from Google parent company Alphabet. The Oxford-headquartered company recently announced a commercial partnership with a passenger shuttle service in Florida, US. Oxa has been sharing industry input into the UK’s Automated Vehicles Bill, which is currently progressing through parliament. Jackson, who previously held senior leadership positions at Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, was appointed CEO of Oxa in December 2021. 

Nixon joined Onward, a centre-right think tank, in April 2023. In this episode, he unpacks Spring Budget announcements – from pension fund reform to PISCES. He explains why DSIT and the Treasury need to revamp their spending processes to ensure investments keep pace with the tech sector, particularly in areas like compute infrastructure. Elsewhere, Nixon shares suggestions for Whitehall to cut "bureaucratic red tape" that could support the UK's science and tech sector. Prior to joining Onward, Nixon served in various special advisor roles for the UK government – including to the prime minister, security minister and health secretary. He has also worked in Parliament.

Hirt has been with Innovate Finance, the UK fintech industry body, for the past nine years after joining as a community lead in 2015. Hirt then became the group’s ecosystem director, then COO before rising to the rank of chief executive in 2021. The independent group is responsible for championing the efforts of British fintech and advising government policy to support its growth. Before joining Innovate Finance, Hirt held roles at the think tank Chatham House and the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. Elsewhere in this episode, Hirt looks at where fintech clusters are in the UK, why Big Tech must take some responsibility for financial crime, and what she’s hoping to see for the fintech sector in the Spring Statement. 

Jackson joined the Manchester-based venture capital firm in 2022 after years of managing investments in the city at GC Angels. Praetura Ventures prides itself on its commitment to backing companies in the north of England, which traditionally have less access to funding than their counterparts in the south. Jackson is also a founding member of Fund Her North, a collective of northern women investors that campaigns for better treatment and opportunities for northern women in tech. 

In this episode, Fuller shares her experience as a woman and person of colour working in tech and why it’s important to raise awareness “every single day with everything you do”. She explains how she “struggles” with the dichotomy of needing labels like ‘women in tech’ to highlight that change is needed, despite male entrepreneurs not being described in the same way. 

Fuller founded Miribure in 2015. It provides advice to businesses from startups to multinationals on how to mitigate risks. In addition to founding Miribure, Fuller is the co-lead of the Tech London Advocates Women in Tech and the co-chair of the Global Tech Advocates Black Women in Tech. She is also a fellow at the Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows and was voted Computer Weekly’s ‘2023 Most Influential Woman in UK Tech’.  

Ma founded Faculty with Dr Marc Warner and Andy Brookes in 2014. The London-based firm began as a fellowship to help academics become commercial data scientists. It now provides software and consulting services to businesses, with clients including HSBC, Tide and John Lewis. Faculty was controversially paid by Vote Leave to provide services during the 2016 Brexit referendum, but said it stopped doing political work in 2019. Ma, who holds a PhD in physics and applied optics from UCL, previously served as Faculty’s chief operating officer and chief people officer. 

Blair founded Multiverse in 2016. The edtech company’s focus is on matching diverse talent from a range of backgrounds with upskilling opportunities. It has trained over 10,000 apprentices in partnership with more than 1,000 global employers. While the company reached a unicorn valuation in 2022, it is yet to achieve profitability. In 2021, the London-headquartered launched in the US. Multiverse recently scaled back its US workforce after the business missed revenue targets. Blair, who is the eldest son of former British prime minister Tony Blair, was awarded an MBE for services to education in 2022. 

From Newcastle to Middlesbrough, the North East of England is bursting with clusters of tech innovation. But Dunn believes that with the right support, the North East “could be adding more value to UK PLC”. In this episode, Dunn explains how focusing on talent pipelines rather than job creation can stimulate tech sector growth. He also explains steps to overcome funding challenges for North East businesses and how to promote the region internationally. And ahead of an almost certain general election this year, Dunn looks at how the two main political parties have been faring when it comes to tech policy.  

Dunn has held leadership roles at Sunderland Software City since 2008. The not-for-profit provides support services to tech businesses in the region. Dunn also holds the CEO role at support organisation Dynamo North East and is a founding member of the UK Tech Cluster Group, an organisation representing regional tech businesses. 

Donelan is the UK’s first secretary of state for science, innovation and technology. She was appointed to lead the department in February 2023 after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spun it out of the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport, which Donelan led from September 2022. Her responsibilities include all things UK tech, from skills to regulation to R&D. Her department brought the Online Safety Bill into law and negotiated the UK’s post-Brexit re-entry into the Horizon Europe research programme. Donelan and her department organised the first global summit on AI safety, which brought international leaders and experts to Bletchley Park last November. 

HSBC Innovation Banking offers flexible banking solutions for startups, scaleups, growth businesses, investors and those working towards IPO. It officially launched at London Tech Week in June, coming just months after HSBC stepped in at the eleventh hour to rescue Silicon Valley Bank UK. Bumfrey goes behind the scenes of the 100-day rebrand and migration, which would typically take more than 15 months. He delves into the "herculean effort" required to achieve this and the challenges that arose during the transition. Elsewhere, Bumfrey – whose career in banking spans three decades – shares his predictions for the innovation economy in 2024, HSBC Innovation Banking’s growth plans and explains why he’s optimistic about a turnaround in the funding environment.  

Cellan-Jones left the BBC in 2021 after four decades at the broadcaster, spending the last 14 of those years as technology correspondent. During his career, he witnessed landmark tech moments, including the launch of the iPhone. Elsewhere on the show, Cellan-Jones explains why cryptocurrency is "infested with snake oil merchants", shares his thoughts on the metaverse and explains why there are "question marks" over how well large language models will be integrated into businesses.   

In 2019, Cellan-Jones announced via Twitter that he had been diagnosed with early Parkinson's disease. He has since written and spoken about living with the disease and engaged with health tech startups developing tools to alleviate symptoms. He has written several books, including ‘Dot.Bomb’, which tracked the rise and fall of startups in the dot-com crash, and more recently a memoir. Since leaving the BBC, Cellan-Jones has turned his attention to writing, podcasting and adopting a nervous rescue dog from Romania with his wife – the economist Diane Coyle. 

Lane Fox is a British businesswoman, philanthropist and public servant. She co-founded Last Minute during the dotcom boom in 1998 with Brent Hoberman, taking it to a public listing two years later. She entered the House of Lords as a crossbencher in 2013, becoming Baroness Martha Lane-Fox of Soho and the youngest female life peer. That same year, Lane Fox was appointed CBE for "services to the digital economy and charity". And in 2014 she was appointed chancellor of the Open University, a role that she continues to hold. Since October 2022 the entrepreneur has been president of the British Chambers of Commerce, a business network spanning companies of different sizes across all sectors.   

Carbon13 is a venture builder for the climate emergency. The Cambridge-based firm selects, supports and invests in startups focused on building scalable climate ventures that will reduce and remove emissions on a global scale. It has made 65 investments since 2021. Dee has previously worked with UNEP, Nesta and the UK government on climate projects, among others. Dee, who has also been an entrepreneur, is a fellow at CISL, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. 

Imafidon is a British-Nigerian social entrepreneur and computer scientist. She founded Stemettes, a social enterprise promoting women in STEM, in 2013. Imafidon launched the Stemettes after becoming aware of the lack of diversity in degrees like science and maths. The University of Oxford alumna says that while there has been progress in improving diversity in tech, the root cause is yet to be addressed. Elsewhere on the show, Imafidon recalls the backlash she received as a Black woman appearing on Countdown, and why more work is needed on skills to hit the government’s tech superpower goals. Imafidon has previously served as a trustee for the Future of Work and held a board role for the government’s Department for Digital up until 2022. She was awarded an MBE for services to young women and the STEM sector in 2017. 

Hallas leads the Startup Coalition, a lobby group that was formerly known as Coadec that acts as a conduit between Westminster and the UK’s startup ecosystem. Hallas, a former civil servant in the Brexit department, has been executive director of the Startup Coalition since 2018. He is also a member of the Digital Economy Council, a government advisory committee, and a member of Seedcamp’s advisory council. Hallas was a key figure in lobbying the government to save Silicon Valley Bank UK earlier this year, which resulted in HSBC acquiring the specialist lender in an eleventh-hour deal.

Ahmed launched Music For Pets as a side project with business partner Ricardo Henriquez in 2017. The pair researched how music can have a therapeutic effect on anxious and overly excited animals. After Music For Pets' online content grew rapidly in popularity, Ahmed scaled the company to serve more than 20 million pets around the world, who listen to over 12 million hours of music each month. That growth – all without raising external funding and minimal marketing spend – saw Music For Pets acquired by Create Music Group for a life-changing sum earlier this year.

Guha has been at Merian Ventures since 2019, where she invests in women-led innovation. She was previously a career diplomat, most recently as British Consul General to San Francisco where she was embedded in Silicon Valley. In addition to her current role at Merian, Guha holds non-executive director roles at UKRI and Digital Capital, along with advisory roles at Kheiron Medical Technologies and Gallos Technologies. In addition to these roles, she is a member of the investment governance board at Future Planet Capital, council member at Innovate UK and a NED at Reach PLC. In 2021, she was awarded an MBE for services to international trade and women in innovation.  

Bristol-based Graphcore designs hardware and software for intelligent processing unit (IPU) systems. Its technology is used to power AI and machine learning applications. As Toon puts it, Graphcore is the “seller of the picks and shovels” powering the AI revolution. It became one of the UK’s most valuable private tech companies in 2020 after a $222m funding round gave it a valuation of $2.8bn. Toon answers questions about the company’s plan to seek new investment after losses widened last year. Toon was previously CEO at two VC-backed processor companies and co-founder and board director at Icera, a 3G cellular modem chip company, which was sold to Nvidia in 2011.

Space DOTS is a British startup that offers in-space research and development and testing for the quality control of advanced materials. Cefalo co-founded the company in 2021 and it has since raised over £1m in investments and grants. 

Burbidge, a British-American venture capitalist, moved to London from Silicon Valley in 2004. During her early career, Burbidge held roles at Apple, Sun Microsystems and Skype. She is a founding partner of Passion Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that has invested in 96 startup since 2011, including Monzo, Go Cardless and Tide. Burbidge is also the director of Fertifa, a reproductive healthcare startup. In 2015, Burbidge received an MBE for services to entrepreneurship. 

Robin AI is a London-based startup using generative artificial intelligence to automate time-consuming administrative work in the legal sector, such as contract drafting. Robinson co-founded the company in 2019 and it has since raised $16m from the likes of Google and Monzo’s Tom Blomfield. Robin AI’s technology is based in part on the work of Californian AI unicorn Anthropic. 

Colorintech is a non-profit that focuses on increasing access, awareness and opportunities for underrepresented groups in the technology industry. Ainsley grew up in the diverse London borough of Lewisham and went to Oxford University as "the only Black Caribbean boy to go in that year". After securing an internship at Google, he realised that the tech world “felt more like Oxford than Lewisham." In 2016, following roles in the startup and consulting world, Ainsley co-founded Colorintech, which has grown to a community of over 30,000 people. He is also the founder of Black Tech Fest, a three-day event in October showcasing Black culture and innovation.  

Scully was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy) at the newly created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in February. He held the corresponding role at DSIT’s precursor, DCMS, from October 2022 and has been an elected MP since 2015. He is also Minister for London and was appointed to that role on 13 February 2020.

Baltic Ventures is a not-for-profit accelerator located in Liverpool. Based in the city’s Baltic Triangle, the accelerator is aiming to address the funding imbalance for early-stage startups outside of London, with a focus on the North West. Lewis, who began her career as a chartered accountant, previously founded a sustainable ecommerce company. After it was acquired, she worked for an investment bank supporting tech for good startups, before launching Tech North, which went on to become part of Tech Nation.  

Launched in 2005, Founders Forum Group is an entrepreneur community that hosts networking events and provides advice to startups. As chief executive, Dawson oversees all of Founders Forum’s events and businesses. In 2022, she was awarded an OBE for her services to London Tech Week, which she has led for seven years. Prior to Founders Forum, Dawson was president at Informa Tech.

Ahmadi moved to the UK from Iran with a joint passion for technology and psychology. London-headquartered Alena is harnessing computational neuroscience to decode the mental patterns that drive social anxiety. It has raised $3.6m in funding since it was co-founded by Ahmadi in 2019. Before Alena, she co-founded and served as CTO for TAINA Technology, a regulatory technology company that helped financial institutions comply with requirements.

Arundel helped build the payments infrastructure company Currencycloud in 2012 from a background of 15 years working in foreign exchange markets. Currencycloud is used by major fintechs including Revolut, Starling and Monese and was acquired by Visa in 2021 for £700m. 

Khan is the founder of Cambridge Quantum, which in 2021 merged with US-based Honeywell to create Quantinuum, a deep tech company developing scalable quantum computers. 

Cambridge-based Paragraf specialises in graphene-based electronics, a material with highly promising capabilities that could prove to be the perfect alternative to silicon in electronic devices due to its conductivity and power efficiency. It has raised more than $85m in funding. In this episode, Thomas – who has a background in physics, engineering and material science – explains how graphene could produce chips that "operate 1,000 times faster than today's computers". Elsewhere, he delves into the “interesting process” of Paragraf acquiring US chip firm Cardea Bio, which closed in May 2023, and takes aim at the government’s lack of clarity when it comes to a long-term semiconductor vision.  

Founded in 2017, Hazy creates artificial data that replicates the quality of real-world data without including personal information. Companies can then use this synthetic data to train AI models without the associated privacy risks. The company has raised nearly $15m and has been backed by Microsoft. Keen was previously engineering design lead at Opendesk.  

Oxford-headquartered PQShield is a cybersecurity spinout founded by researchers to develop post-quantum cryptography tools. The company, which has raised nearly $27m in funding, has contributed to developing the first cryptography standards designed to block cyberattacks powered by quantum machines. Its software and hardware products are already being adopted by companies such as Bosch and Collins Aerospace. Kaafarani is also a researcher at the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford and has previous experience at HP Labs.  

London-headquartered Coachvox AI creates digital coaches of entrepreneurs, coaches and content creators, who train the AI model to communicate in their style and in “any field”. The model is fed data provided by clients, such as a back catalogue of blog posts, to ensure the AI coach is equipped with relevant knowledge. The AI coach is then fine-tuned by the human coach scoring the accuracy of answers. The startup's goal is to provide "24/7 access to your brain". Cook founded her previous venture, a digital agency called JC Social Media, straight after university and after 10 years completed a successful exit. 

The trade association represents nearly 1,000 members and its goal is to “ensure the UK is the best place for technology companies to locate and thrive”. Its member includes smaller startups and SMEs, along with larger corporates such as Amazon Web Services UK. In addition to engaging with the government on behalf of its members, techUK holds events, workshops and creates reports.

Newton co-founded Karma Kitchen with her sister Gini in 2018 after struggling to find kitchen space for their corporate catering delivery company. The London-based firm buys industrial real estate in “underutilised areas” and converts them into multi-use kitchen spaces for food businesses. In 2020, the startup raised £252m from investors and today it has four operational dark kitchens – also known as ghost kitchens - with six more under construction.  

Mirolyubova co-founded Immigram in 2020 to assist IT and tech professionals with relocation across the world. The company is headquartered in London, where Mirolyubova has lived since 2016. In November 2022, Immigram scooped the top prize at the Slush 100 Pitching Competition. However, Slush faced fierce backlash for awarding the prize to a company founded by two Russian passport holders amid the country’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Mirolyubova talks about the physical and emotional toll the situation had on her, which resulted in her receiving death threats, losing 7kg in weight, and avoiding social media. Away from Slush, Mirolyubova reveals which tech roles are in-demand, the staggering gender divide in visa applications, and Immigram’s plans for 2023. 

Jung, who has a background in design, co-founded Charco Neurotech in 2019, launching out of Imperial College London. It has secured more than $10m in investment for its non-invasive, pebble-shaped device that delivers vibrotactile stimulation to the chest to improve motor performance and alleviate gait freezing for people with Parkinson’s. It can be linked with an accompanying smartphone app to track symptoms and customise treatment. The device is currently used by 900 people, with a further 12,000 on its waiting list. 

Clarke launched Olio, which lets people list surplus food and second-hand goods, in 2015. It has since attracted over 6.9 million users who have given away over 95 million portions of food. Listings on the circular economy app grew fivefold during the pandemic and the company has expanded beyond the UK to 63 countries. Olio, which has raised more than $50m in funding, has entered partnerships with businesses including Tesco and Pret. It has plans to rebrand later this year.  

London-headquartered Greyparrot was co-founded by Druckman in 2019. The company uses computer vision technology to analyse and sort rubbish into the right categories at waste facilities. It has raised more than $17m in funding and counts waste management companies such as Suez and Biffa among its customers. Druckman is a Global Future Council member at the World Economic Forum and was previously chief commercial officer at Blippar, where she worked on computer vision and augmented reality products.

The edtech startup held most of its funds with SVB UK. Like thousands of other startups, Lingumi worried whether it would be able to pay staff and invoices. Mather recounts his rollercoaster experience of the weekend that rocked UK tech, and his amazement at the "Dunkirk-style effort" in government to save the country’s tech startups. Elsewhere on the show, Mather talks about the impact of ChatGPT in education and the “healthy” discipline the tech downturn is creating for startups.  

Lingumi is a smart tutoring platform that uses AI to create interactive courses for young learners. It has more than two million users, mostly in Asia, using the platform to learn how to read and speak languages. Prior to founding Lingumi, Mather studied modern languages at the University of Oxford, and worked as an EFL teacher, during which time he began developing the idea for Lingumi.  

Bassi, a serial entrepreneur, founded London-based Cervest in 2016 after his sustainable farm in West Africa was flattened by strong winds, causing millions of dollars in damage. Cervest’s platform uses AI to bring together disparate climate data and provide businesses and governments with insights about the climate risk to their physical assets. It has secured more than £32m in VC funding and went to market last year. Bassi has advised Fortune 500 companies and has been a featured speaker at Harvard University, COP26, World Bank and Tech Nation.  

Sachiti is a serial entrepreneur and inventor who moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in the early 2000s. By his mid 30s he had set up and successfully exited three companies. He founded the Academy of Robotics in 2017, which has gone on to develop Europe’s first autonomous delivery vehicle for the road, Kar-go. The Academy of Robotics has also created self-driving technology used by the RAF and indoor helper robots for hospitals, currently being trialled at the NHS. Sachiti was named Disruptor of the Year by the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in 2021.

Levykin, a Ukrainian-born tech entrepreneur, spent time working in IT in Silicon Valley before moving to Edinburgh to found rocket company Skyrora. Levykin used private funds to launch the company in 2017, which is building launch services for small satellites. Skyrora became the first company to complete a successful integrated rocket stage test in the UK since the 1970s, and has completed four suborbital rocket launches.

Longobardi co-founded CGD, a fabless semiconductor company, in 2016. It is developing transistors that use gallium nitride (GaN) instead of silicon to power electronics, with the goal of making devices such as data centres more energy efficient. The Cambridge-headquartered company has raised more than $28m in funding.

Boden founded Starling Bank in 2014 after decades of working for some of the world’s biggest banks. Starling, which is an online-only bank, provides both business and current accounts. The unicorn fintech company has been profitable since 2021 and has 500,000 small business accounts. In 2018, Boden was awarded an MBE for services to financial technology.  

Wragg founded Karakuri, a London-based robotics startup, in 2018. Its two main products are a robotic arm that serves personalised sushi dishes, and an automated fryer for chips. The London-based company has raised more than £13.5m in funding. Wragg spent time at Arm during the 1990s and has a background in physics and music, working at studios such as Universal and EMI.  

Hadley founded Immersive Labs, a Bristol-based cybersecurity training platform, in 2017. The company’s platform creates cyberattack simulations to teach organisations practical IT security skills. The company has raised $189m in funding. Prior to founding Immersive Labs, Hadley worked as an analyst and security consultant for British intelligence agency GCHQ. 

Belamant is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO and Co-founder of the double unicorn fintech Zilch, recently valued at over $2bn. Before Zilch, Belamant founded, developed, and sold two other successful fintech ventures. The first provided value-added mobile payment services that grew to over 20 million users in 15 different countries across India, Africa, and Europe, which led Belamant to conceive and launch South Africa’s first cash-to-Mastercard system for Uber that became a top 40 fintech company. Belamant was named Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021 by the Great British Entrepreneur Awards for leading Zilch to the forefront of the changing payments landscape. 

Goodall has worked with some of the biggest brands and names in technology and finance across Europe, the US, Australia and Asia. His previous business was 10x Future Technologies which he cofounded with ex Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins. His latest venture Banked burst onto the scene in 2020 to build a payments network to rival Visa and MasterCard. Goodall leads the company as CEO. Goodall lives in London with his wife and two small kids spending as much time outdoors and as close to the beach as they can. 

Sugihara is Pave’s co-founder and CEO. Born in Kyoto he studied politics, psychology and sociology at the University of Cambridge. He received a BA from King’s College, where he focussed on informal economies and economic exclusion. Sugihara began his career working with NGOs across Latin America, implementing socially responsible economic solutions to reduce poverty. He then joined McKinsey & Company where he consulted global clients across the financial and healthcare service sectors on strategy and business. His experience in consulting and reading on economic exclusion led him to leave McKinsey in 2017 and co-found fintech firm Pave.

Chappell, CEO and Co-founder: Previously Partner at McKinsey & EY; Led McKinsey’s Digital Lending and Credit Analytics solutions globally. Led 200+ quants developing Artificial Intelligence models 

He, COO and Co-founder: Previously Director at EY. Global delivery lead for C-suite at top European banks (team size up to 1500); FinTech advisor; Ph.D in machine leaning

Prior is a successful and highly respected global travel and leisure leader with significant experience across multiple industry sectors, business models and geographies. He has led and grown some of the most iconic experiential leisure brands across the globe, ranging from Crystal Ski, the UK’s largest ski tour operator, Le Boat, the European leader in self-drive boating vacations and Sunsail & The Moorings, the worldwide leader in yacht charter vacations based in the USA. As a portfolio Managing Director at Travelopia, Prior also co-led the buyout of TUI Group’s niche leisure businesses. 

Prior balances clear strategic thinking and decision-making with a robust approach to strategy execution in international organisations. He has led both high growth businesses and those requiring the strong leadership of a performance turnaround, harnessing the power of digital technology to deliver new and innovative customer experiences to drive growth.  

His focus now is on scaling TrustedHousesitters globally to fulfil its potential to disrupt the vacation pet care market. 

Naeff also discusses where they have spent funding after closing their recent round at £80m bringing Bux to a grand total of £115.8 in funding.  

Naeff is the CEO and co-founder of BUX, Europe’s fastest growing neobroker. After starting his career in investment banking, he made his way to neobrokerage as one of the first hires at BUX. From day one, Naeff was responsible for the mobile broker’s operations and during this time he designed a business made to scale.  

Naeff believes that to shape the future of investing, fintechs need to understand the motivations of future generations. As a millennial, he personally understands the changing relationship that younger generations have with money and is applying this next gen mindset to tailor BUX products and services to a generation that is looking for better ways to build future wealth. His vision for BUX is to not only build the tools that people need to start investing, but to ensure that customers are also empowered with the knowledge to build up wealth for later.  

Having successfully contributed to growing BUX from pre-live start-up to an insanely growing scale-up, Naeff is very connected to the start-up community. Naeff is also an angel investor and has helped multiple early-stage companies. 

Talking funding, Haji explains why crowdfunding is not for them and after closing a seed round of £2m, she shares on her experience on the way investors view women versus their counterparts.  

Haji is a WashU computer scientist turned Harvard MBA who has spent her career developing transformative experiences at the intersection of people, technology and education. After her first chapter as a developer, she spent nearly seven years in a variety of leadership roles at EF Education First, the world's leading international education company, before joining start-ups in 2017. Haji loves fostering cultures that are inclusive and highly collaborative, where everyone is empowered to do their very best work. In her spare time, you can find her sneaking in early morning HIIT workouts and listening to NPR podcasts.  

 
Ricky Knox is a serial entrepreneur and investor. Ricky is Chairman of ForMore, an ethical wealth management platform. Ricky is the Founder of Tandem Bank (and CEO from inception to July 2021), an app-based bank that aims to revolutionise banking to save people and planet. App-operated bank Tandem was conceived after Ricky and his co-founder Matt Cooper saw the opportunity for a purpose driven bank. Tandem is currently focused on helping the UK reach Net Zero 2050 by leveraging customers savings to help customers to finance environmental improvements to their home, transport and lives. 

Ricky has helped to create a series of technology disruptors in Fintech and telecoms before founding Tandem Bank. He co-founded GSM Systems (a global mobile telephony network services provider) in 2003 to recycle mobile networks into the developing world and is a founder of Small World Financial Services Group, a global money transfer business with over £5bn of transfers and one of the world’s largest international money transfer operators. In 2012, he co-founded Azimo, a social digital payments platform that enables simple, fast and secure remittances to 198 countries around the world and remained as Non-Executive Director until 2018. 

Ricky has been investing in Fintech businesses since 2003, and has backed other notable Fintech businesses such as Curve, Comply Advantage, Vitesse, Liberis and Modulr. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a first class honors in Economics from Bristol University.

Hodgson is also technical co-founder (and a Guardian) of The Matrix.org Foundation. Hodgson has been building communication solutions for well over a decade and has a BA in Computer Science and Physics from the University of Cambridge. He came up with the idea of Matrix with Le Pape in 2013 while they were running Amdocs’ Unified Communication unit. Together they created a new secure ecosystem that makes real-time-communication as universal and interoperable as email.  

Le Pape is also co-founder (and a Guardian) of The Matrix.org Foundation, the open source project that publishes the Matrix open standard for secure, decentralised, real-time communication.  

Le Pape leads operations across the entire company. With over 10 years’ experience in mobile services and telecommunications, Le Pape is an engineer that previously set up and led product management for the Unified Communications line of business within global communications company Amdocs. She has a degree in telecommunications engineering from Ecole Supérieure de Chimie, Physique et Electronique de Lyon as well as an EMBA from ESC Rennes. 

Vanpoperinghe has over 15 years' project and team management experience in Fortune 500 companies (3M and BT) across the globe. She was previously Director of Finance & Operations for an international NGO set up by the Nike Foundation and working in developing countries to empower adolescent girls to reach their potential. Before that, she worked close to 10 years in finance in the corporate sector in France, India and the UK. 

Vanpoperinghe is originally from northern France and has been in the UK for the past 10 years. Her grandparents were potato farmers and so she knows what it takes to grow fresh produce. 

Mabey is a former corporate lawyer with Freshfields and spent time with LegalZoom before founding Juro in 2016. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is a fellow of the RSA, and adviser to The Entrepreneurs' Network and an alum of the Georgetown Leadership Seminar. As co-founder and CEO of Juro, Mabey has expanded the business to over 85 countries and grown its customer base to well over 6,000 users.  

Before Chip, Latham held Head of Marketing roles within tech and the music industry. He specialises in the art of viral, and outside of work he can be found covered in paint, decorating, or sitting on a rowing machine. 

Vyas has both travel and entrepreneurship running through her veins – so much so it was almost inevitable that she’d end up founding Flash Pack, an adventure travel platform that connects like-minded solo travellers. Bootstrapping the company from back bedroom startup to a £20m turnover in four years with no external investment, Flash Pack has transformed the tired and outdated image of group tours with an aspirational travel and lifestyle brand.