Podcasts about octopus ventures

In this Teamcraft episode, Andrew and Mark are joined by Laura Wilming, Head of Portfolio Talent at Octopus Ventures, to explore the dynamics of startup teams and venture capital.From handing out samples at a supermarket during BrewDog's early days to scaling Harry's from a team of of only twelve people, we hear about Laura's journey culminating in her insights from working across the portfolio of one of Europe's largest venture capital firms.  Laura shares her stories and insights about building teams, leadership and culture in these unique, high-growth companies.Key Themes from the Episode: - How BrewDog's “punk ethos” influenced its team dynamics and bold approach to brand building.Lessons from Harry's rapid growth, prioritizing curiosity, humility, and execution while scaling a team. - Why psychological safety is essential and how to nurture it, even in high-pressure, fast-paced startups. - The importance of consistent hiring processes and aligning teams with company objectives. Laura explains how founders should spend 20-30% of their time hiring and focus on culture, not just filling roles. - How investors like Octopus Ventures evaluate and support startup teams to unlock their full potential.Whether you're a founder, investor, or team leader, this episode offers valuable insights into the craft of building high-performing startup teams, with lessons that are much more widely applicable in any team..Pass it on material:When They Win, You Win The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership Secrets of Sand Hill Road Chapters: 00:00 Punks, Pitches, and a Portfolio of Teams - Inside Venture Capital with Laura Wilming07:34 Boozy Beers and Taxidermy13:02 Harry's and rapid scaling26:53 How startups can struggle with management28:48 Going from building a product to building a team30:35 Common Ground in Founding Teams34:17 How do VCs look at founder teams and their teamcraft?36:42 Advice for early stage teams39:24 Support from Investors to founder teams41:18 The importance of a great hiring process45:41 How do you deal with a team that is 'just ok'?57:43 Quick FiresThanks for listening!Music by Tom Farrington

“[We're] actually using TikTok in a positive way. The whole reason we exist is to combat misinformation, which there is a lot of on TikTok, but it can be used positively.”  In today's 40 Minute Mentor episode, we're joined by Jas Schembri-Stothart, Co-Founder of luna, the world's first digital health companion for teenage girls.  Working with leading health and education institutions, Jas and her Co-Founder Jo Goodall are building a digital companion enabling teenage girls to have a healthier and happier teenhood.  To date, the app has over 100k members in over 100+ countries, was featured as app of the day across app stores and has seen them raise £1.2 million from Octopus Ventures, Syndicate Room and prolific Angel Investors.  In today's episode, we uncover all the highs and lows along the way so far…  Episode Chapters: ➡️ Foundation in consulting [05:50]  ➡️ Deciding whether to get your MBA [08:30]  ➡️ The Origin story behind luna [11:30]  ➡️ Growing through community [19:30]  ➡️ More about Leadership Unleashed [21:20]  ➡️ Spending to grow & hiring mistakes [23:00]  ➡️ VC vs Angel Investment [27:20]  ➡️ Getting to know Gen Z & Generation Alpha [33:20]  ➡️ Embracing Founder Communities [41:30]  ⛳ Helpful links: ➡️ Connect with Jas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasschembri/  ➡️ Find out more about luna: https://weareluna.app/ 

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James is joined by Matt Chandler, Principal at Octopus Ventures, one of Europe's leading early-stage venture capital firms. Known for his focus on consumer tech, Matt shares his journey from aspiring oil painter to venture capitalist, weaving creativity into every step of his career.Matt discusses the unique dynamics at Octopus Ventures, including their thematic investment approach and their mission to back transformative startups across sectors like gaming, consumer AI, and niche communities. He provides fascinating insights into the "practicalities of change," lessons learned from his entrepreneurial past, and how to maintain focus on core customers during periods of growth.The conversation dives into Octopus's recent investments, including their backing of Onibi, a groundbreaking MMO gaming platform introducing innovative physics to user-generated worlds. Matt also explores overlooked themes in venture capital, including loneliness, consumer AI, and the evolving world of niche communities.This episode is packed with actionable insights for founders and investors alike. Tune in to hear how Octopus Ventures is championing underdog consumer startups and how Matt's creative approach is shaping the future of venture capital.Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow The Riding Unicorns podcast on your favourite platform and stay connected with us on social media for more inspiring episodes!

In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, master data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Alice Wallbank, a professional support lawyer for the law firm Shoosmiths, whose clients include Mercedes-Benz, Octopus Ventures, and Travelodge. The company also specialises in working for businesses in both the property and banking sector.   The Financial Times has garlanded Shoosmiths as “one of Europe's most innovative law firms”, and Alice's pioneering role at the company – focused on privacy, data, and increasingly AI – is symptomatic of a business in the vanguard of a profession catching up with the broadest implications of technology.   At the start of this year, Alice co-hosted an excellent ‘data insights' conference – naturally hybrid, both in the room and online – which featured a keynote from Austrian activist and lawyer, Max Schrems. Schrems is famous for his successful campaigns against Facebook (and Meta) for their violations of European data privacy laws.   Before joining Shoosmiths, Alice spent six years as the principal legal counsel for the cyber and information security division of the leading technology business, QinetiQ.    Alice is a passionate advocate of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), describing it “as a good thing for data privacy – without a shadow of a doubt”. Although first introduced in 2016 and in place since 2018, it has its origins in a 1995 directive, designed to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals from Big Tech. Alice believes this showed “remarkable foresight”.   One of the very few people in the UK, Europe, and the world to have read all 90,000 words of the EU's AI Act, artificial intelligence gives Alice that fabled reaction to trench warfare of “a combination of boredom and terror”. There are huge potential upsides – such as radiography diagnostics – and massive downsides from a system that is “at heart a self-limiting black box” dealing in “biases in, biases out”.   And in a Data Malarkey exclusive, Alice is our first guest in more than 40 episodes … to sing. She dons her white stilettos, dances round her handbag, and turns the clock back to 1984 for a tuneful rendition of Rockwell's dancefloor smash, Somebody's Watching Me – for Alice, an insightful foreshadowing of data privacy issues 40 years into the future.   EXTERNAL LINKS   Shoosmiths home page – https://www.shoosmiths.com   Alice's profile on the Shoosmiths' site – https://www.shoosmiths.com/people/cvdetails/alice-wallbank   Alice's article on Ashley Madison – https://www.grip.globalrelay.com/could-the-ashley-madison-data-breach-happen-today/   Another blog from Alice, this time on the environmental credentials of GDPR.   The EU AI Act – all 90,000 words of it – here   Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me from 1984 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY     To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com. It takes just two minutes, and we'll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.  

Barney Balmforth's journey is a testament to calculated risk-taking, resilience, visionary leadership, and two pivotal lessons: the importance of taking calculated risks and pursuing meaningful endeavors. These values, along with the inspiration to work hard, drove Barney's career in the high-stakes world of tech and biotech startups. His latest startup, Biofidelity, has attracted funding from top-tier investors like Agilent Technologies, Octopus Ventures, BlueYard Capital, and SBI Investment.

In this week's episode:   'Venture capital is broken': Scalare pitches backdoor IPO as VCs question model. Ed Keelan of Octopus Ventures releases Losing Product Market Fit part 3.  Startmate returns.  Cannon-Brookes-backed millennial super fund Spaceship snapped up by eToro in $80 million merger.  VC's looking for low hanging M&A fruit. Is the SaaS era over?  SaaS Growth is cooling but free trials are converting at double the rate to freemium models. What are your competitors doing? By Magic Breif.  Sharts:  hello@tribeglobal.vc 

In this episode of The Dyslexia Explored Podcast, host Darius Namdaran sits down with Edward Keelan, a partner at Octopus Ventures. Edward opens up about his early diagnosis with dyslexia and how he navigated the challenges in both education and his tech career. From organizing charity fundraisers to landing pivotal roles at Rolls Royce and becoming the first employee at a promising startup, Edward's story highlights the power of perseverance, unique problem-solving skills, and the critical support of family and mentors. This inspiring conversation sheds light on the misconceptions about dyslexia and champions the distinctive strengths it can offer in high-stakes business environments. This podcast is sponsored by: http://dyslexiaproductivitycoaching.com/  Martina-at.com: https://www.martina-at.com/  The Dyslexic Edge: https://www.sdsquared.org/  Octopus Ventures: https://octopusventures.com/  Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/edward-keelan-b241211 Blog: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7160533274828660736/  Website: https://octopusinvestments.com/  Dyslexia Quiz: https://bulletmapacademy.com/dyslexia-quiz/ Dyslexia at Work: www.ivvi.app Bulletmap Academy Page: https://bulletmapacademy.com Show notes: https://bulletmapacademy.com/blog/152/ Interested in being a guest? Email us at info@bulletmapacademy.com

Maria Rotilu, founder and general Partner at OpenseedVC, discusses the thesis behind backing operator-led startups, and how Africa's large, youthful population - combined with decreasing barriers to innovation - is positioning the continent as a valuable investment opportunity.    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. 

Katy coaches and advises CEOs and founders at Series B and beyond. She helps them become more effective leaders and navigate the challenges of scaling people and operations.   Her clients include some of the fastest-growing companies in the US and UK tech ecosystem, backed by leading investors, including SoftBank, First Round, Felix, Octopus, Inflexion, and more.   Katy is also a coach and judge for Tech Nation Future Fifty and Upscale, Octopus Ventures, Founders Forum, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, PwC Fintech, the Mayor of London Mentoring Program, and a member of the board of advisors for various startups.   Her work has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Success Magazine, The Org, and Thrive Global. She shares her insights on CEO leadership, developing high-performing executive teams, and building healthy organizations at scale.   Born and raised in Germany, Katy spent four years traveling the world before moving to New York City. After multiple years in the US startup ecosystem, she expanded her business to the UK, bringing a global perspective to her work with innovative and purpose-driven organizations.   LinkedIn Instagram   Quick recap Next steps • CEOs should focus on maintaining a human approach to leadership, especially during challenging times like layoffs. • Executives cultivate a problem-solving mindset and view daily challenges as opportunities for growth. Tech Ecosystem Advisor Role and Approach A tech ecosystem advisor, Katy shared her role and approach with Michael. She works with CEOs and executive teams, focusing on leadership, branding, operations, and scaling organizations. She differentiated her role from that of a consultant, emphasizing the importance of creating buy-in and seeing the pain points for solutions. She also highlighted her background in executive coaching. Michael acknowledged her deep understanding of an organization and the importance of her approach in integrating with the system's flow. He agreed with her that advisors should be a crucial part of the organization's DNA. Tech Industry Impact and CEO Behavior Amid Pandemic Katy and Michael discussed the impact of the pandemic on the tech industry. Katy noted that many companies, especially those with large tech spikes, had little substance behind their valuations and were ultimately forced to cut costs and let people go. Katy emphasized this as a daily challenge that CEOs face, but the pandemic accelerated it significantly. Michael agreed and asked Katy for her perspective on the behavior of CEOs and leadership during this time. Impact of Pandemic on Startups, VC Katy and Michael discussed the impact of the pandemic on startups and the venture capital landscape. The pandemic led many companies to overhire and pursue products without market fit. Katy emphasized bootstrapping, validating products before scaling, and using cost-effective marketing channels. Due to a slowdown in the VC ecosystem, many companies now face difficulties raising funds and need to shift toward profitability. This poses challenges for founders who have given up significant equity but cannot achieve desired growth. Katy highlighted the need to keep teams motivated despite lacking a potential "big exit." Attracting Talent Amidst Competitor Pressure Michael highlighted the tendency for companies to lose key personnel to competitors like Google and Facebook when their stock underperforms. He shared a personal experience where a potential partnership with a company ended prematurely, hinting at the challenges of maintaining long-term business relationships. Katy agreed, noting that when organizations face numerous options and distractions, it can be challenging to navigate through them effectively. She emphasized that simply adding more people to a company does not increase efficiency, implying that a change in approach is needed when a company grows. Managing Growth, Strategic Exits, and Contingencies Katy discussed the challenges and strategies of managing a growing company. She emphasized that while there are opportunities for increased revenue through product launches in new markets, it's essential to maintain focus and consider creating separate business units to manage these endeavors. Katy also highlighted the need for a strategic exit plan, suggesting that founders should be prepared to sell when the company is in a strong position rather than holding on for a potentially lower valuation later. She also advised that founders should have contingency plans if the desired valuation is not reached, such as buying out investors or seeking secondary funding. Focusing on Process for Successful Strategy Katy and Michael discussed the importance of focusing on the process and journey in executing a successful strategy rather than solely on the end goal. Michael emphasized the value of being present and navigating through challenges and stressed the need for setting targets to ensure progress towards the desired outcome. He also believed that adapting and persevering through difficult times is a crucial characteristic of successful executives and companies. Strategies for Executive Leadership in Turbulent Times Michael and Katy discussed strategies for executive leadership in turbulent times. Katy emphasized taking one day at a time, approaching challenges as new opportunities, and maintaining a human-centric leadership style. She also stressed the need for transparency, understanding decision-making processes, and communicating effectively, particularly during layoffs. Michael agreed, highlighting that a robust support system, including a sound board and team, was crucial to avoid executive burnout. Both underscored the significance of reputation, noting it can take years to build but can be quickly damaged. Navigating Public Life, Social Media, and Layoffs Michael and Katy had an insightful conversation about navigating public life and social media, with Michael advising Katy on how to handle different situations. Katy shared details about her work, and Michael praised her work. They also discussed the importance of understanding and respecting leaders' decision-making process during layoffs. Michael shared his personal experience with layoffs and emphasized the importance of maintaining a professional attitude. 

Pre-seed investor Techstars, has announced that it's seeking aspiring entrepreneurs from across Ireland and the UK to participate in Startup Weekend Deep Tech (26 - 29 July). This is significant in that it's being brought to Belfast for the first time, in partnership with the prestigious Queen's University Belfast. To date, Techstars Startup Weekend has taken place in over 150 countries, with over 7,000 programmes and 428,000 participants. Techstars Startup Weekend is a three-day programme that will provide invaluable opportunities for ambitious minds to help them gain real insights into startup life. It will enable aspiring entrepreneurs to connect with other creators and learn from experienced founders all whilst enhancing their knowledge in deep tech, from InsureTech to HealthTech, AI and more. The 54 hour-long programme will bring together the best would-be entrepreneurs in the deep tech sectors and give them the chance to meet a team, ideate, receive mentorship and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. The overall objective of the event is to help ambitious minds establish whether founding a company within deep tech is for them. Techstars' Startup Weekend methodology has successfully yielded thousands of companies, some of which became unicorns, including Zapier, Rover, Yotpo, EquipmentShare and Carousell. Day one of the event will see team formation and plenty of networking opportunities. Day two will be centered around customer validation, mentoring and building the solution. The final stretch of the programme will feature pitching and selection of winners. Queen's University Belfast has been credited with creating successful spin-out companies for the second consecutive year (2020) by The Octopus Ventures report. This recognition highlights Queen's strong emphasis on research and commercialisation through its commercialisation arm, QUBIS. The report specifically commends Queen's for its high-value exits in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, and life sciences? (QUBelfast)?? (Sync NI)?. In addition, Queen's University has demonstrated a significant impact on regional economic development, particularly in Northern Ireland's flourishing life sciences sector. Notable successes include companies such as Re-Vana Therapeutics, which raised 3 million euros in pre-series A financing, and Titan IC, acquired by Mellanox Technologies. Additionally, Sonrai Analytics secured over 828 thousand euros in seed funding, with the company currently working on an 8 million euro project to improve cancer outcomes? (Queen's University Belfast Alumni)?. According to Ulster Bank and Beauhurst's Startup Index, 14,000 new companies set up in Northern Ireland in 2023, a 59% increase on 2022. In addition, a report from The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that, in Northern Ireland, 6.5 percent of the working-age population describe themselves as "early stage entrepreneurs." Open to thinkers and doers across the UK and Ireland, interested attendees can register for the programme by July 25, 2024. Speaking about the significance of Startup Weekend DeepTech in coming to Belfast, Program Manager at Techstars leading this Startup Weekend, Emilie Vallauri said: "Techstars is excited to collaborate with Queen's University Belfast and QUBIS to accelerate the emergence of the next generation of deep tech entrepreneurs from Belfast. We are proud to support this vibrant tech ecosystem and to contribute to the creation of new startups in the insurtech, AI and healthtech verticals." For further information on the Techstars Startup Weekend DeepTech, please click HERE. See more stories here.

Today's Investor Focus guest is Edward Keelan of Octopus Ventures.  This is an awesome episode as we love the way Ed simplifies topics that are often made overly complex.  The episode discusses;  Ed's Startup Experience, Lessons, & Entry Into VC. B2B Software Investing. Resilient Founders and Teams. Importance of Funnel Metrics as Accountability and Evaluation Tools. Concept of "Tilt". Top-of-the-Funnel Focus. Sales Process & Scalability. Avoiding Weighted Pipelines. Market Expansion Challenges and Strategies. And so much more! We highly recommend following Ed on LinkedIn, and appreciate what we learn from the content he generously shares.  hello@tribeglobal.vc   

Questa è la storia di una donna che sta lavorando per realizzare il suo sogno: migliorare la vita delle persone, si chiama Nora Cavani ed è la co-founder di Alba Health. Alba Health è una startup biotech con sede a Stoccolma che ha sviluppato un test del microbioma intestinale specifico per i bambini, basandosi sulla consapevolezza che il microbioma intestinale nei primi anni di vita è associato a sintomi infantili comuni (come coliche, costipazione) e allo sviluppo di malattie croniche più avanti nel tempo (allergie, asma, obesità). La startup è stata avviata nel 2022 da Nora Cavani e dal Prof. Emerito Willem M de Vos, scienziato con oltre 800 pubblicazioni sull'argomento, e vanta una collaborazione di ricerca con la coorte HELMi, uno dei più grandi set di dati al mondo sul microbioma intestinale infantile. Alba Health ha raccolto 2,6 milioni di euro di finanziamenti nel 2023 nel round pre seed guidato da Voima Ventures, Octopus Ventures, Noaber, Bust VC, Joyance Partners, e dai cofounders di Oura. Nata in un piccolo paese del Modenese, Nora cresce passando il suo tempo nel ristorante di famiglia, imparando l'etica lavorativa e l'importanza del cliente. Fin da piccola soffre di dermatite atopica e numerose allergie, e nel voler risolvere le sue problematiche si appassiona alla scienza e alla biologia, sognando un giorno di migliorare la vita delle persone. Intraprende studi scientifici, prima in Italia e poi in Danimarca, e dopo una parentesi in alcune case farmaceutiche e in BCG, decide in soli due mesi di lasciare il lavoro in consulenza e realizzare il suo sogno lanciando Alba Health. Durante l'episodio Nora ci ha raccontato di quanto la determinazione sia stata fondamentale per costruirsi la vita che sognava, senza lasciare nulla al caso. SPONSORS Made IT è powered by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alchimia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, società di investimento che opera principalmente nel settore del Venture Capital. Investono e co-investono in opportunità ad alto potenziale di crescita, offrendo capitale e risorse strategiche e operative dedicate. StrongHer by Qonto rappresenta un percorso formativo articolato in diverse sessioni, focalizzate su tematiche di rilievo quali il digital marketing, la gestione finanziaria e contabile, nonché l'empowerment femminile. Le iscrizioni sono aperte, con scadenza il 7 aprile 2024 e le attività si svolgeranno dal 13 al 31 maggio. Per candidarvi e ottenere ulteriori informazioni, vi invitiamo a visitare il sito https://qonto.com/it/strongher SOCIAL MEDIA Se vi piace il podcast, il modo migliore per dircelo o per darci un feedback (e quello che ci aiuta di più a farlo diffondere) è semplicemente lasciare una recensione a 5 stelle o un commento su Spotify o l'app di Apple Podcast. Ci ha aiuta davvero tantissimo, quindi non esitate :) Se volete farci delle domande o seguirci, potete farlo qui: Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@madeit.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@madeitpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join us for a dynamic conversation with Edward Keelan, Partner at Octopus Ventures, as we explore the world of venture capital and investing in UK tech companies. Whether you're an investment professional, entrepreneur, or tech enthusiast, this episode offers invaluable insights into the evolving landscape of VC investment. Keelan shares practical advice on allocating capital into tech companies with transformative potential. From tackling the challenges of growing a sales team to mastering lead generation strategies, Keelan provides actionable tips for success in today's competitive market. Explore the essential traits of successful founders and gain insights into the hierarchy of needs for VC investment. Don't miss out on the three key things every founder should know about securing VC funding.Find Edward here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-keelan-b241211https://octopusventures.com/team/b2b-software/edward-keelan/====================================================

In our latest podcast, Chris Walters, JLL's Head of UK Life Sciences, is joined by Hugo Villanueva, VC Investor at Octopus Ventures. The episode explores the opportunities for Life Sciences companies to gain venture capital funding but also, why social value is critical in driving success within the Life Sciences sector.

This session will continue an ongoing dialogue between the UK and Saudi Arabia on Clean Technologies. Key areas for partnership in the sector will be considered, alongside the support available, government-to-government cooperation frameworks, market access, the role of clean technologies within ongoing projects, and Saudi plans for a circular carbon economy. Featuring Dr Abdulaziz Aljodai (Corporate Director, SABIC), Alison Young (Global Export and Investment Specialist, Connected Places Catapult), Dr Neil Quilliam (Energy Director, Think Research and Advisory), Noaman Al Adhami (Head of Country, UK, Al Fanar), and Rubina Singh (Principal, Octopus Ventures). The inaugural Innovation Zero Congress at Olympia London in 2023 convened 6,866 passionate, forward-looking experts who exchanged critical knowledge, debate and discussions around the implementation and scaling of the innovations needed to meet the Paris goals. Learn more via www.innovationzero.com.

Episode #360: In this episode of the "Let's Go Win" podcast, we are joined by leadership expert and coach, Katy Trost. We explore various aspects of leadership with a particular focus on scaling businesses. Katy illuminates her journey from the corporate world of New York City to specializing in helping CEOs and founders of fast-growing tech companies to become more effective leaders. We delve deeper into the challenges encountered when growing a medium-sized organization and how to engage and motivate employees to fit their personal vision within the larger company's vision. Katy sheds light on the distinction between management and leadership, the three pillars of CEO coaching, dealing with investor influence, and the tricky transition from startup to corporate CEO. We also dive deep into the potentially destructive power of unchecked ego and the importance of defining the company's culture. Towards the end, Katy discusses the reward of a CEO stepping back at a certain company growth point. This episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tools to improve leadership and company culture.Timestamps(00:00:00) Introduction: Katy Trost on Leadership(00:01:04) Entry into Tech and CEO Leadership(00:02:36) Importance of Vision in CEOs(00:05:15) Power of Repetition(00:06:05) Communication Strategies for Scaling Businesses(00:11:16) Management Vs. Leadership(00:14:16) Three Pillars of CEO coaching(00:21:41) Hiring a Chair: Investor Influence(00:23:22) Addressing Fears in Business(00:27:12) Ego Management in Start-ups(00:31:26) Success through Strong Culture(00:38:39) Revenue Growth Impact(00:41:06) Keeping Ego in Check for Business SuccessBio:Katy Trost is a coach and advisor to CEOs and founders at Series B and beyond. She helps them become more effective leaders and navigate the challenges of scaling people and operations.Her clients include some of the fastest-growing companies in both the US and UK tech ecosystem, backed by leading investors, including SoftBank, First Round, Felix, Octopus, Inflexion, and more.Katy is also a coach and judge to Tech Nation Future Fifty and Upscale, Octopus Ventures, Founders Forum, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, PwC Fintech, and the Mayor of London Mentoring Program as well as a member of the board of advisors for various startups.Contact Katy:Website:https://katytrost.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katytrostInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/katy_trost#EffectiveLeadership#ScalingBusinesses#CEOMindset#Founder#OrganizationalGrowth#LeadershipChallenges#CultureBuilding

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Pablo Karnbaum, Associate von SquareOne. Pablo bespricht die Finanzierungsrunde von Qomodo und Langfuse.Das italienische FinTech Qomodo hat in einer von Fasanara Capital geleiteten Pre-Seed-Finanzierungsrunde 34,5 Millionen Euro erhalten. Unter den Investoren befinden sich Exor Ventures, Proximity Capital, Ithaca Investment, Notion Capital, Octopus Ventures sowie Angel-Investoren wie Simone Mancini, Freddy Kelly und Mark Ransford. Qomodo plant, die Finanzierung zu nutzen, um Zahlungslösungen wie SmartPOS, Tap-to-Phone und Buy Now, Pay Later auf den Markt zu bringen und so Händlern verbesserten Cashflow und Kunden flexible Zahlungsoptionen zu bieten. CEO Gianluca Cocco betont, dass die Lösungen Online-Vorteile in physische Geschäfte bringen sollen, und erwartet, monatlich Hunderte bis Tausende von neuen Händlern zu gewinnen.Langfuse, ein Berliner Startup, hat in einer Seed-Runde 4 Millionen US-Dollar von Lightspeed Venture Partners, La Famiglia und Y Combinator erhalten. Das Unternehmen entwickelt eine Open-Source-Lösung zur Überwachung von Large-Language-Model-Produktionsanwendungen. Die Plattform ermöglicht es Entwicklungsteams, Metriken und Debugging-Informationen zu erhalten, um komplexe Probleme bei der Integration von Userfeedback und LLM-Analysen zu lösen. Langfuse zielt darauf ab, Entwicklern fundierte Entscheidungen zu ermöglichen, basierend auf realen Daten und Benutzerfeedback. Das Startup wurde 2022 gegründet und hat während seiner Teilnahme am Y Combinator Programm verschiedene Anwendungen entwickelt.

Nella puntata "speciale" di oggi parliamo con Gianluca Cocco e Gaetano De Maio, i founders di Qomodo, la nuova startup fintech italiana appena uscita da ‘stealth mode' che ha chiuso un dei round pre-seed più importanti di Italia.  Nell'arco di pochi mesi, sono riusciti a raccogliere un round di pre-seed da €34.5 milioni da Fasanara Capital, Exor Ventures, Proximity Capital, Ithaca Investment, Lumen Ventures, The Techshop, Primo Ventures - oltre a fondi stranieri quali Notion Capital, Octopus Ventures e Plug&Play. Di cosa si occupa esattamente la startup? Qomodo porta negli store fisici una suite di soluzioni per i pagamenti smart, compresa la formula Buy Now Pay Later, per le spese essenziali, spesso impreviste. Effettivamente vi potrebbe aiutare a pagare una spesa come una riparazione imprevista della propria macchina o una spesa veterinaria importante.  Ma sentiremo tutti i dettagli direttamente da Gianluca e Gaetano nella loro prima intervista podcast dal lancio.   SPONSOR Made IT è powered by ⁠Alchimia⁠, società di investimento che opera principalmente nel settore del Venture Capital. Investono e co-investono in opportunità ad alto potenziale di crescita, offrendo capitale e risorse strategiche e operative dedicate. SOCIAL MEDIA Se vi piace il podcast, il modo migliore per dircelo o per darci un feedback (e quello che ci aiuta di più a farlo diffondere) è semplicemente lasciare una recensione a 5 stelle o un commento su Spotify o l'app di Apple Podcast. Ci ha aiuta davvero tantissimo, quindi non esitate :) Se volete farci delle domande o seguirci, potete farlo qui: Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@madeit.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@madeitpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Jess McCreadie, Principal Investor at Octopus Ventures speaks to Steve Roest, CEO of PocDoc on this week's HealthTech Hour. Jess has spent her career helping businesses finance themselves, grow, scale and is hugely passionate about Venture Capital as a force for good. In this episode, Jess and Steve cover a huge amount of ground including: - Jess' journey through male-dominated industries, driven by her passion for finance and watching companies grow - and her views on diversity of gender and of background in VC/finance/startup culture - The impact of AI on healthcare and why it's not all smooth sailing - The value of solving a genuine problem and the mistakes founders make in becoming too obsessed with their technology - Software as an enabler for many health problems - e.g. automation of fertility (Overture) and neuromodulation - The issues with startup culture and what's good / bad for founders and staff

Antton Pena, the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Flock Insurance, a UK Insurtech on a mission to make the world quantifiably safer with connected fleet insurance that enables and incentivizes safer driving. Flock started providing drone insurance, then commercial vehicle insurance. Essentially the company uses the telematics of cars so that the vehicle only triggers insurance cover when it's moving, not when it's sitting on the lot, incapable of causing any accidents. Flock has raised to date $60 million from notable investors such as Anthemis, Social Capital, and Octopus Ventures.Today, Flock has more than 600 commercial fleet clients, including Jaguar Land Rover, Europe's electric car subscription company Onto and a third of the U.K.'s independent Amazon fleets.If you like our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe and support us on your favorite podcast players. We also would appreciate your feedback and rating to reach more people.We recently launched our new newsletter, Principles Friday, where I share one principle that can help you in your life or business, one thought-provoking question, and one call to action toward that principle. Please subscribe Here.It is Free and Short (2min).

Edward Keelan, Partner at Octopus Ventures, shares his experiences growing up with dyslexia, pursuing his passion for entrepreneurship and his career in Venture Capital. With over 13 years of investing experience, Edward talks us through growing up in an entrepreneurial family, the lessons this taught him from a young age and his commitment to mentoring young people who wouldn't typically have access to such careers. Here are 3 key takeaways from Episode 6: 1) To be the best, you have to outwork those around you. Talent will only get you so far. If you can outwork those around you, the sky is the limit. 2) Learn to become comfortable with failure. It's the only way to develop as a person but can also be the hardest skill to harness. 3) Being in a position of privilege is only powerful when you are able to serve the communities who nurtured you. Volunteer to help your community and open doors for people.

The BAE HQ welcomes Shamik Parekh, a Healthtech Investor at Octopus Ventures.Shamik started his career in a hedge fund, before deciding to want a change. He went onto do a masters and later on created a fintech to benefit the local community. After this Shamik went into Venture Capital to formulate his ideas to help change the world. He created an accelerator as part of TenX Health before they got acquired by Octopus VenturesIf you're listening to this and want to see the video, go to YouTube:https://youtu.be/T4lGCD9pXGQVisit our website: http://thebaehq.com

My guest is Katy Trost! Katy Trost is an esteemed coach and advisor to tech CEOs in London and New York City, specializing in helping them become more effective leaders and cultivate healthy organizations, particularly during periods of growth like Series B and beyond. Her impressive client portfolio includes companies backed by prominent investors such as SoftBank, First Round Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Felix Capital, Octopus Ventures, Inflexion, Maven, and others. Katy serves as a coach and judge for renowned programs like Tech Nation Future Fifty, Upscale, Octopus Ventures, Techstars, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, PwC Fintech, and the Mayor of London Mentoring Program, in addition to her advisory roles with various startups.  With a global perspective honed through years of travel and experience in the US tech ecosystem, she expanded her consultancy to the UK. Katy holds an Executive mini MBA from the London School of Business and Finance (LSBF), PCC accreditation from the International Coach Federation (ICF), and certifications in leadership methodologies, including iPEC, Workboard™ OKRs, and Gazelle's Scaling Up™ framework, which has propelled countless firms worldwide to successful scaling. She has also completed programs like the Financial Times Board Director Program and the Nedx Board Alliance Program.  Katy's impactful work has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Success Magazine, The Org, Thrive Global, and others, and she collaborates with organizations like WeWork, Soho House, Home Grown, and Quinnipiac University to deliver training on business, leadership, and high-performance psychology. Social and Website: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katytrost/ For more episodes and information, visit us at https://www.digitalnicheagency.com/media Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4zS5V79... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=524781... Follow Digital Niche Agency on Socials for Up To Date Marketing Expertise and Insights Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalniche... Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digi... Instagram: DNA - Digital Niche Agency @digitalnicheagency • Instagram photos and videos. Twitter: https://twitter.com/DNAgency_CA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDlz…

In this episode, I am joined by Katy Trost, a highly sought-after coach and advisor specializing in guiding CEOs and executive teams through the intricacies of scaling up. With a client list that reads like a 'Who's Who' of the venture capital world, including firms like SoftBank, Octopus Ventures, and First Round Capital, Katy brings unparalleled experience to the table. The conversation starts with an insightful discussion on the challenges CEOs commonly face as their companies move through funding rounds and scaling stages. Katy delves into the psychological aspects of leadership, touching upon the role of imposter syndrome, the CEO's relationship with the board, and nuanced gender differences in how leaders seek and utilize support. As the episode progresses, Katy shares her perspective on the dynamism that exists within various departments of a scaling company—from the sales team to tech to finance. The chat sheds light on how CEOs can serve as the linchpin that connects different personalities and professional objectives into a coherent, effective leadership framework. One of the episode's highlights is a deep dive into company culture, a concept often misunderstood or underemphasized during rapid growth. We explore the necessity of maintaining a strong culture at scale and the challenges that can arise when implementing change across an organization. They also discuss the importance of measuring and setting Key Performance Indicators (KPI

Ed Keelan is a Partner at Octopus Ventures focused on B2B SaaS. As well as identifying & nurturing disruptive SaaS startups, Ed's actively involved in various initiatives addressing D&I topics - including neurodiversity - within the VC sector.  We discussed: What do VCs really care about when evaluating startups & entrepreneurs? Why many SaaS businesses that raised money during the VC bubble need to refocus on unit economics and "Swiss army knife" talent The importance of all types of diversity, including neurodiversity, in VC - Ed, who himself is dyslexic, is involved in several D&I initiatives The struggles faced by “the forgotten 90%” in VC portfolios - one CEO told Ed “I wake up most days just wishing someone would tell me what to do” - and a few crucial steps overwhelmed CEOs can take to address their challenges  For more insights into Octopus Ventures head over to https://octopusventures.com/ & for advice on recruiting exceptional leaders for startups & scale-ups check out https://alpinasearch.com/  

In this week's episode Edward shares his journey into venture capital and why it took him so long! We discuss:

Katy Trost is a coach and advisor to CEOs and founders at Series B and beyond. She helps them become more effective leaders and navigate the challenges of scaling people and operations.   Her clients include some of the fastest-growing companies in both the US and UK tech ecosystem, backed by leading investors, including SoftBank, First Round, Felix, Octopus, Inflexion, and more.   Katy is also a coach and judge to Tech Nation Future Fifty and Upscale, Octopus Ventures, Founders Forum, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, PwC Fintech, and the Mayor of London Mentoring Program as well as a member of the board of advisors for various startups.

In der Mittagsfolge sprechen wir heute mit Kaspar Filipp, CEO und Founder von Colonia, über die erfolgreich abgeschlossene Seed-Finanzierungsrunde in Höhe von 6 Millionen Euro.Colonia bietet ein B2B Sharing-Modell für Nutzfahrzeuge an. Über einen Marktplatz mit sicheren Zahlungslösungen und einer userfreundlichen Flottenmanagement-Software können Logistikunternehmen ihre Fahrzeuge miteinander teilen und Flotten effektiver betreiben. Bei einer geringen Auslastung können die Fahrzeuge somit gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden. Wenn ein Unternehmen die eigenen Kapazitäten ausgeschöpft hat, erhält es einen Zugang zu geeigneten Fahrzeugen, sodass keine Aufträge verloren gehen können. Das Startup hat zusätzlich eine neue Funktion eingeführt, die Usern eine ergänzende Zahlungssicherheit bietet. Durch einen externen Finanzierungspartner können Vermietende sicher sein, dass die Mietzahlungen sicher und pünktlich bei ihnen ankommen. Somit ist die Zahlungsabwicklung gesichert und das Risiko von Zahlungsausfällen ausgeräumt. Colonia wurde im Jahr 2021 von Jakob Sadoun und Kaspar Filipp in Köln gegründet.In einer Seed-Runde hat das Startup nun 6 Millionen Euro unter der Führung von Octopus Ventures eingesammelt. Zu den weiteren Kapitalgebern gehören u.a. Vent.io, Plug and Play, MobilityFund, Atlantic Labs, Hoyer und prominente Business Angels wie die Gründer von Flixbus, Grover und Seven Senders. Das frische Kapital soll dafür eingesetzt werden, um die Funktionalität der B2B-Sharing-Plattform für Nutzfahrzeuge zu erweitern.

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Leo Lerach, Principal bei Project A und Philipp Werner, Partner bei Project A. Die beiden besprechen die Übernahme von MoasicML durch Databricks sowie die Finanzierungsrunden von Dexory und Colonia Technologies.Databricks, ein führendes Unternehmen im Bereich Datenanalyse und künstliche Intelligenz, hat die generative KI-Start-up-Firma MosaicML für 1,3 Milliarden Dollar übernommen. MosaicML hat große Sprachmodelle entwickelt, darunter das MPT-30B, das als Konkurrenz zu GPT-3 und GPT-4 gilt. Databricks plant, diese Modelle in seine Lakehouse-Plattform zu integrieren und seine Position im boomenden Markt der generativen KI zu stärken. Dexory, ein Unternehmen, das Lagerhäuser mit Echtzeit-Bestandsmanagementdaten mittels KI-Software und autonomen Robotern versorgt, hat in einer Series-A-Finanzierungsrunde 19 Millionen US-Dollar eingesammelt. Zu den weiteren Investoren gehören Atomico, Lakestar, Maersk Growth, Kindred Capital und Capnamic. Der europäische Risikokapitalgeber Atomico führte die Investitionsrunde an. Dexory entwickelt Roboter mit Sensoren und Kameras, die Daten erfassen und kontinuierlich Fotos von Regalen machen, während sie mit normaler Gehgeschwindigkeit durch das Lager gehen. Das Unternehmen wurde 2015 in London gegründet.Das deutsche Startup Colonia Technologies hat 6 Millionen Euro für seine Plattform zur gemeinsamen Nutzung von Nutzfahrzeugen aufgebracht. Das B2B-Sharing-Modell ist ein Marktplatz für Logistikunternehmen, um ihre Fahrzeuge für Engpässe im internationalen Logistikbereich zu teilen. Gegründet wurde das Unternehmen im Jahr 2021 von Jakob Sadoun und Kaspar Filipp. Investoren der Seed-Runde waren Octopus Ventures, vent.io, Plug and Play, MobilityFund, Atlantic Labs, Hoyer sowie die Gründer von Flixbus, Grover und Seven Senders.

Guy Hutchinson, cofounder at Startup CFO talks to Edward Keelan from Octopus Ventures. Edward has held positions with Octopus for fifteen years, now focusing on the B2B software vertical, overseeing deal origination and his role on their investment committee.In this episode we reflect on a world where growth at all costs is a thing of the past, we learn about why CFOs are great at pursuing fundamentals and assess the key growth efficiency metrics that VCs are focused on.

In this week's episode Dr Chantal Cox shares her whirlwind journey from clinical medicine to consulting at McKinsey and now Healthtech VC investing at Octopus Ventures. We delve into the rational and logic for each career pivot. Chantal concisely covers the pros and cons of each role, sharing her advice for clinicians looking to explore alternative careers outside medicine and the reality of it all. Chantal shares her passion to be a voice for change particularly changing the narrative in venture capital for females and founders of colour. She is also conscious how many young people see her as a role model and why it's important she has real impact.  Dr Chantal Cox is an Early stage VC investor at Octopus Ventures (Health). Ex-strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company. Medical Doctor with 3+ years clinical experience in the National Health Service. Connect with Chantal ------------------------------------- Check out Peerr Peerr gives professionals the tools to create and publish content, build an audience and earn money on one single channel. ✍️ Publish articles or blogs, courses and coaching sessions

How does the manager of UK's largest Venture Capital Trust view the current economic landscape? How do moves in the main stock market affect VCTs and their portfolio? And where is one of Europe's biggest venture capital teams seeing opportunity currently? We spoke to Malcolm Ferguson of Octopus Ventures – the backer of Depop, Zoopla, Graze, Cazoo and ManyPets – about Octopus Titan VCT and the companies in its portfolio. In this interview: About Octopus Ventures What is Octopus Titan VCT? Three types of founders the VCT likes Investing in Minimum (carbon footprint measurement and reduction) Investing in Tatum (blockchain application development tool) Investing in Skin+Me (personalised skincare) Investing in Big Health (digital health app) Investing in ManyPets (top five insurer in the UK) “The funding is the easy bit” – what other support do founders get? Three core KPIs in venture capital What happens in a recessionary environment that benefits early stage? How much cash runway is there in the portfolio? “A drastic shift in the mindset“ – what's changed in venture capital in 2022? How high are the risks for early stage investing? Exits – Depop, WaveOptics, Glofox Performance, public markets and Cazoo Ultimately why might experienced investors consider Octopus Titan VCT? IMPORTANT: The opinions expressed in this podcast are the interviewee's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Wealth Club Limited. This interview, like our service, is not advice and the products featured are not suitable for everyone. VCTs are higher risk and less liquid than mainstream investments. You could lose your capital. Tax rules can change and tax benefits depend on your circumstances. If you're unsure an investment is right for you, please seek professional advice.

Zoe Reich from Octopus Ventures is not only a deep tech specialist, but also a cryptocurrency whiz who has sold her own exchange whilst on maternity leave. And if that's not impressive enough, she's also a startup mentor and a powerlifting champ. We'll be delving into Zoe's fascinating background growing up with scuba diving parents, her passion for studying volcanoes, and her insights into the world of deep tech.Our sponsor today is Ashore, sign up here for exclusive early access to an amazing network of homes.Subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can sign up to Jimmy's substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsFor more information on partnering with us please visit our partnerships page here. Also make sure you subscribe to The Shift- you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Once again thank you to our series partner Octopus Group, a collection of 8 entrepreneurially minded businesses that look to back the people, ideas, and industries that will change the world.

One of the biggest issues founders face is finding amazing talent - it's one thing to have an idea, but to build it you need talented people on your team.What's the best way to do it? Where is the best place to go? How has the pandemic changed it? How do you maintain a culture with a new team working in a hybrid format. We had the terrific opportunity to speak to someone who thinks about this more than anyone else,  Laura Wilming, Head of Portfolio Talent at Octopus Ventures. They are part of the wider Octopus Group who are eight entrepreneurially minded companies who are together focused on investing in the people, ideas and industries that will change the world, they are also a long term backer of this podcast Laura's job is to oversee people and talent for all of the Octopus Ventures portfolio and so is a treasure trove of information about working, hiring and growing within startups: how to prepare for job interviews (whether you are hiring or trying to be hired!). We speak about the importance of having a professional network, the skills and jobs to look out for in the future, such as the increase in roles like Chief of Staff in start ups Laura spent several years working with start-ups in New York, notably at Harry's razors, where she helped build the team to several hundred across the world. And, whilst still a student, she interned with Brewdog, being one of the first 8 to work there well before it became the globally recognized brand it is today.I always say each guest is a fascinating episode - todays episode is no exception, but perhaps it is one of our most practical too … For weekly information on the topics mentioned in the show sign up for the Octopus Ventures newsletter here. In this episode we discuss:What exactly she does at Octopus Ventures as Head of Portfolio Talent.What does Octopus Ventures do?What her advice is to startups who have just raised capital. Her hiring advice from when startups become scaleups.The most common advice she gives to pre-seed founders When you should hire C-suite level talent. The best methods to hire the best talent. How long founders should spend on hiring. How the pandemic has impacted hiring and creating culture. How can founders inspire their team - and this amazing example.What questions you should ask in an interview and how to not fall into bias traps.How to speed up your hiring process. Laura's story from Brewdog to Harry's razors. If Laura was 22 in 2022 what would she do?Should entrepreneurs hire a chief of staff?The best startup job title she was ever seen - Director of Ideas!The content Subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes, releasing every Wednesday.You can up to Jimmy's substack here for weekly content on the future of work, technology, and politicsAlso make sure you subscribe to The Shift- you can find it here on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. Once again thank you to our series partner Octopus Group, a collection of 8 entrepreneurially minded businesses that look to back the people, ideas, and industries that will change the world.

In this episode, our host Giovanni Lauricella and our guest Shamik Parekh from Octopus Ventures discuss how he discovered the true impact of capital, how he set-up an incubator for companies to help them scale, what kind of technology they invest in, what stage of the company they invest, how do they define HealthTech, what they look for in an investment, what their due diligence process looks like, his best advice for entrepreneurs on how they should reach out to investors, and so much more. Shamik Parekh LinkedIn Octopus Ventures Website Project Medtech Website Giovanni Lauricella LinkedIn Project Medtech LinkedIn

In der Nachmittagsfolge begrüßen wir heute Robin Röhm, CEO und Co-Founder von Apheris, und sprechen mit ihm über die erfolgreich abgeschlossene Finanzierungsrunde in Höhe von 8,7 Millionen Euro.Apheris hat eine Plattform für die Schaffung kollaborativer Datenökosysteme entwickelt. Das Startup hilft Unternehmen dabei regulatorische, technische und kommerzielle Herausforderungen zu meistern. Auch bei mehreren Organisationen kann durch die Erschließung von Datensätzen und die Bereitstellung einer einheitlichen Ansicht ermöglicht werden, präzise Entscheidungen zu erleichtern und effizientes Handeln zu fördern. Mit der Wertschöpfung aus dezentralen Datensätzen ermöglicht diese Lösung eine Innovationswelle in der Analytik und künstlichen Intelligenz, um große Probleme der Welt zu lösen. Apheris wurde im Jahr 2019 von Robin Röhm und Michael Höh in Berlin gegründet. Mittlerweile beschäftigt das Tech-Unternehmen über 30 Mitarbeitende. Zu der wachsenden Liste von Kunden und Partnern zählen u.a. BASF, BCG und BMW.In einer Seed-Runde hat das Berliner Tech-Startup nun 8,7 Millionen Euro unter der Führung von Octopus Ventures eingesammelt. Außerdem unterstützten Heal Capital, Berthold von Freyberg und Mirco Novacovic als neue Investoren die Seed Erweiterung. Die bestehenden Investoren LocalGlobe, Dig Ventures, Another.VC und Patrick Pichette haben sich ebenfalls an der Runde beteiligt. Mit dem frischen Kapital wird Apheris seine Plattform weiter ausbauen.

For more details on Octopus Apollo VCT, including documents & how to invest, go here....IMPORTANT The opinions expressed in this video are the interviewee's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Wealth Club Limited. This interview, like our service, is not advice and the products featured are not suitable for everyone. VCTs are higher risk and less liquid than mainstream investments. You could lose your capital. Tax rules can change and tax benefits depend on your circumstances. If you're unsure an investment is right for you, please seek professional advice. In this interview: 0:00 Intro to Richard Court and Octopus Ventures 1:16 About Octopus Apollo VCT – what it aims to do for investors 1:51 Types of companies Apollo looks to invest in 3:54 What makes a good management team for a B2B software business? 5:10 Investing in Mention Me – referral engineering platform 6:14 Investing in Fergus – software platform for tradespeople 6:55 Investing in Natterbox – cloud telephony provider 8:11 Besides funding, what does Octopus do to help companies succeed? 9:41 How is the current environment affecting the way Apollo invests? 11:03 How is the economic dip affecting portfolio companies?12:06 Has the portfolio been revalued, given the falls in stock markets? 13:24 What's the biggest challenge for a manager at present? 14:16 How many companies in the portfolio would you expect not to make it? 15:30 Recent exit: Veeqo – inventory management software 17:05 Performance of the VCT and dividend targets 18:16 Summary – why should investors consider Octopus Apollo VCT?

In our latest Scaling Stories podcast, we were delighted to catch up with Ben Newsome, a portfolio partner at Octopus Ventures, a very active multi-stage European VC. Ben previously helped build some of Europe's leading tech companies – from Monzo to Improbable – so who better to talk to about how VCs perceive the importance of talent within an organisation.Octopus supports and invests in approximately 180 companies, covering everything from unicorn companies to more traditional ‘safer bets' in industries as varied as health tech, fintech and ‘deep tech'. One of the things that differentiates Octopus is its close working relationships with founders, or what Ben calls a “robust end-to-end process” covering everything from an induction, a holistic look at the business and how capital is deployed.“It's very novel for VCs to be looking at driving performance through talent and people,” Ben observes.When it comes to hiring talent, Octopus is there to support its portfolio in an advisory position, rather than taking a backseat and advising on the odd hire. The Octopus talent team are positioned as ‘coaches', and they take a holistic approach to advising companies on their talent and people.A good VC, says Ben, should have capacity to service and support their portfolio, as “there's only an amount of companies that you can service at one time”, and essentially they should “operate as as an extension of that team”.But what's not always appreciated about VCs is that when it comes to getting the right talent, they're not just tasked with advising founders and senior staff – but the investors too.“The interesting part about the ‘deal flow' in VC is that there's a ton of research and due diligence and naturally, when you look at the success of businesses or the businesses that have achieved great things, it's [because] they get the right people and scale the business efficiently.”Ben explains that part of his role is to understand “red flags” and “potential areas of weaknesses” so he can have transparent conversations with investors and make sure they understand the importance of recruiting well – a “precursor to success”.Regular readers of this hallowed digital scroll may recall the words of Jim Collins, business management guru and author of Good to Great, who wrote that successful executives know how to “get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus)”, and Ben's keen understanding of why recruitment matters is a testament to this.

Heute: Planetly, Limehome, Apheris und Eterlast In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Jan Miczaika, Partner bei HV Capital. Jan hat die Runde von Limehome, Apheris und Eterlast sowie die Schließung der Planetly GmbH kommentiert. Das Münchener Startup Limehome hat 45 Millionen Euro in einer Finanzierungsrunde erhalten. Limehome vermietet Ferienwohnungen, welche kein Personal benötigen. Der Check-in funktioniert über einen Türcode und die Reinigung übernehmen externe Dienstleister, die die Aufträge per App bekommen. Das frische Investment besteht aus Eigen- und Fremdkapital. Investoren sind der Kopenhagener Kredit-Boutique Capital Four und das Family Office der AW Rostamani Group. Die Bestandsinvestoren HV Capital, Picus Capital und Lakestar haben sich ebenfalls an der Finanzierungsrunde beteiligt. Limehome wurde 2018 von Lars Stäbe und Josef Vollmayr gegründet. Fast ein Jahr nach dem Exit an OneTrust wird die Berliner-Klimaschutz GmbH Planetly geschlossen. Planetly entwickelte eine digitale Plattform, mit deren Hilfe Unternehmen ihre CO2-Emissionen berechnen, reduzieren und ausgleichen können. OneTrust bietet hingegen Lösungen für den Umgang mit Datenschutz und IT-Sicherheit. Nun wird den 200 Mitarbeitenden gekündigt. Zukünftig werden Features von Planetly in das System von OneTrust inkludiert, sodass es dafür kein Personal mehr bedarf. Planetly wurde von Anna Alex und Benedikt Franke gegründet. Das Berliner Startup Apheris erhält in einer Seed-Finanzierungsrunde 8,7 Millionen Euro. Die 2019 von Robin Röhm und Michael Höh gegründete Plattform von Apheris schafft kollaborative Datenökosysteme. Die Plattform ermöglicht es mehreren Organisationen, aus ihren dezentralisierten Datensätzen gegenseitig Wert zu schöpfen, indem sie es Datenanbietern und Datenkonsumenten ermöglicht, auf eine technisch und kommerziell tragfähige Weise zusammenzuarbeiten. Die Runde wird von Octopus Ventures angeführt, unter Beteiligung von Patrick Pichette, Heal Capital, Berthold von Freyberg und Mirco Novacovic. Die bestehende Investoren LocalGlobe, Dig Ventures und Another.VC sind auch mit dabei. Das Sport-NFT Startup Eterlast hat in einer Seed-Finanzierungsrunde 4,5 Millionen Euro erhalten. Eterlast mit Wurzeln in London und Barcelona hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, Fans durch NFTs, Blockchain-Spiele und immersive Erlebnisse eine neue Art der Interaktion mit Sport, Teams und Spielern zu ermöglichen. Die Finanzierung wurde von Supernode Global angeführt, unter Beteiligung von Play Ventures, Aktive Partner, Gründer Fabrik, Pfahl-Kapital und Unberechenbar X. Mit der neuen Finanzierung wird sich Eterlast auf die Gewinnung von Nutzern und den Ausbau von Markenpartnerschaften konzentrieren.

This month we've got a very special, live edition for you. We were invited to host the panel at Product Party with Octopus Ventures, so we figured we would record it and share with you all!We were really excited to take part, we've wanted to record the podcast with a live audience for a long time now and when the opportunity arose to interview such a wonderful panel, we jumped at the chance.You can find all the panelists on Twitter:Nat Buckleyhttps://twitter.com/thatnatbuckleyCamila Diazhttps://twitter.com/Ux_ChickRachel Ilan Simpsonhttps://twitter.com/rilan

Welcome to the latest episode of TechToTransform, the Mantis podcast. This episode is going to sound a little different because it's a recap of the event the Mantis team held in Bristol on the 10th October. Mantis PR took part in this year's Bristol Technology Festival, where we gathered a fantastic panel to discuss ‘Government innovation in science and technology, where next?' Chaired by Eleanor Willock, Head of Mantis, the panel discussion and networking event gave the science and tech community access to the Government's own perspective on the topic, VC input on the industry investment landscape, and discussion opportunity with growth and collaboration specialists A world-leading programme of innovation in science and tech is a huge Government priority. How does it manage its ecosystem and partnerships to achieve this? How can firms wanting to work with public sector innovators become suppliers and grow their business? Where are investors focused right now? How will the NHS and health tech industry collaborate? These were just some of the questions the panellists tackled during the discussion. The full, uninterrupted panel session is already on website, but we've included some highlights here too, particularly some advice and insight from panellist Dr Chen Mao Davies, CEO and Founder, LatchAid, a parenting and breastfeeding support app. Chen was also a 2021 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award Winner. Chen then discussed the types of funding her business has received to help it grow, which led the conversation on the do's and don'ts for innovators looking for investment. Other panellist included: Matt Newman, Deputy Director of Accelerated Access Collaboration for Innovation, Research and Life Sciences, NHS England; Alex Leach, Acting Director of Innovation at the West of England AHSN, and Hugo Villanueva, Biotech and Health Specialist VC, Octopus Ventures. Take a listen.

On the 10thOctober, Mantis PR took part in this year's Bristol Technology Festival. We gathered a fantastic panel to discuss ‘Government innovation in science and technology, where next?' Chaired by Eleanor Willock, Head of Mantis, the panel discussion and networking event gave the science and tech community access to the Government's own perspective on the topic, VC input on the industry investment landscape, and discussion opportunity with growth and collaboration specialists. A world-leading programme of innovation in science and tech is a huge Government priority. How does it manage its ecosystem and partnerships to achieve this? How can firms wanting to work with Public Sector innovators become suppliers and grow their business? Where are investors focused right now? How will the NHS and health tech industry collaborate? These were just some of the questions the panellists tackled during the discussion. Panellists included: · Matt Newman, Deputy Director of Accelerated Access Collaboration for Innovation, Research and Life Sciences, NHS England. · Alex Leach, acting director of innovation at the West of England AHSN. · Hugo Villanueva, biotech and health specialist VC, Octopus Ventures. · Dr Chen Mao Davies, CEO and Founder, LatchAid, Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award Winner 2021 If you missed the event, you can listen to the full panel discussion and questions from the audience here.

For business owners preparing to exit their business, it is important to be able to inspire the next generation of employees in order to scale the company. VC investors need to be able to take challenges from investors and entrepreneurs need to be able to understand the financials of a business in order to secure. In this episode featuring Edward Keelan, we covered: 1. The importance of being able to inspire the next generation of employees in order to scale a company 2. The need to be able to take challenges from investors 3. The importance of understanding the financials of a business in order to secure investment

For business owners preparing to exit their business, it is important to be able to inspire the next generation of employees in order to scale the company. VC investors need to be able to take challenges from investors and entrepreneurs need to be able to understand the financials of a business in order to secure. In this episode featuring Edward Keelan, we covered: 1. The importance of being able to inspire the next generation of employees in order to scale a company 2. The need to be able to take challenges from investors 3. The importance of understanding the financials of a business in order to secure investment

Hiring is an art in itself and it is incredibly important that businesses get their processes in place as soon as possible to that they can attract the best people into their businesses and work as efficiently as possible. Jonathan has a wealth of experience in recruitment and talent acquisition and helps businesses get where they need to be in terms of hiring. We covered: When a business should implement hiring processes What does strategic planning for hiring processes look like The blueprint for putting together hiring processes What the hiring process workflow should look like How the interview process should look What our time to fill should be How to deliver a great candidate experience Contact Jonathan here - Jonathan Durnford-Smith

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Philip Specht, Partner bei Speedinvest. Philip hat die Finanzierungsrunde von KatKin, UpGrad und Apotekamo analysiert: Das Londoner Food Startup KatKin konnte in einer Series-A-Finanzierungsrunde 22 Millionen US-Dollar einsammeln. Das von Brett und Nikki O`Farrell gegründete Unternehmen bietet seinen Kundinnen und Kunden die Lieferungen von individualisiertem Katzenfutter. Das Geschäftsmodell basiert auf einem monatlichem Abonnement, dass zwischen 50 und 64 Pfund kostet. Neben der Beteiligung von Octopus Ventures wird die Finanzierungsrunde von Verlinvest und Perwyn angeführt. Mithilfe des frischen Kapitals will KatKin die Produktion expandieren und das Produkt kontinuierlich verbessern und weiter vermarkten. UpGrad hat eine Finanzierungsrunde unter der Führung von ETS Global in Höhe von 210 Millionen US-Dollar abgeschlossen. Neben den Bestandsinvestoren Temasek und IIFL beteiligten sich unter anderem ETS Global, Bodhi Tree und Kaizen Management Advisors. Zudem steuert das Gründerteam 12,5 Millionen US-Dollar bei, um weiterhin 50 Prozent am Unternehmen halten zu können. Das Indische EdTech bietet Lernenden und Berufstätigen eine online Plattform für Lernkurse und Hochschulabschlüsse. Mit dem frischen Kapital will UpGrade sein Team mit über 1000 Lehrenden und 5000 Coaches erweitern. Gegründet wurde UpGrad 2012 von Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, Ravijot Chugh. Die Stockholmer Online-Apotheke Apotekamo konnte sich in einer Finanzierungsrunde 2,5 Millionen Euro sichern. Mit der Runde steigt die Unternehmensbewertung auf 14,6 Millionen Euro. Apotekamo bietet auf seiner online Plattform neben Medikamenten auch Zahlungslösungen für externe Medikamentenlieferanten. Nach dem Start in Serbien will das Startup mithilfe der Investition weiter in Bosnien und Herzegowina expandieren. Die Geldgeber sind Angelgate AG, Schoeller Group und Hasan Salihamidžić, der von nun an Apotekamo beim Marketing unterstützt. Das Portfoliounternehmen des schwedischen VCs EPTI steht unter der Leitung von Arli Mujkic, CEO und Gründer von EPTI.

Joe Stringer is a Partner at Octopus Ventures, one of the largest European Venture Capital firms with £1.8 billion under management. He was Partner at Ernst & Young for 10 years, before leaving his cushy position to launch his own venture fund TenX Health. He then led Google Health in the UK before becoming Partner at Octopus Ventures. We talk about his thesis on the future of health, the importance of hard work, grit and resilience, as well as building and managing relationships — in particular, trying not to be too British. You can find me on Twitter @MustafaSultan and subscribe to my newsletter on www.musty.io

Sign up for my Daily Fintech or Daily Digital Banking Newsletters here. Check out my latest podcast episode below: Welcome to another episode of our Daily Fintech Podcast. THE NEWS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY IS Revolut has picked Ireland as the first market to launch its buy now, pay later product that will see it go head-to-head with the likes of Klarna and other FinTechs in the rapidly growing area of lending. JUST IN: Ant Group, the financial services arm of Alibaba Group, will apply to become a financial holding company, possibly this month. ALSO: Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot announced on June 21 that it would release 200 new limited-edition watches that will also be available for online purchase using chosen cryptocurrencies through BitPay. FURTHERMORE: US-based Flagstar Bank has suffered a data breach that has hit over 1.5 million customers. WHAT ABOUT FUNDING ROUNDS AND INVESTMENTS? Hokodo has just raised over €37.8 million in Series B funding. Finhay has secured a US$25 million Series B round co-led by Openspace Ventures and VIG. Lista has raised over US$ 5.1 million in a recent funding round led by Singaporean VC firm Openspace Ventures. StrideUp has raised £280m in funding to bring a new shared ownership mortgage product to the UK's first-time buyers. Octopus Ventures launches its first-ever pre-seed fund of £10m. Dastgyr Technologies raised $37 million in the country's largest-ever Series A funding. Wibond (YC W22) raises US$6 million in a financing round. Colombia-based Pandas, which focuses on offering Asian-origin inventory to micro-businesses in Latin America has nabbed $6.3 million in the largest pre-seed funding in the region. Bank of America has built on its partnership with iCapital Network by making a strategic investment in the alternative investment platform. WHAT ABOUT CRYPTO? Crypto lender BlockFi announced Tuesday it had received a $250 million revolving line of credit from crypto exchange FTX to help bolster its balance sheet.

Gian Seehra co-founded Pebble Labs and Trait Biosciences — having raised a total of $16M. He was also a VC at Octopus Ventures, where he oversaw over $200M in funding. He led QuitGenius's $12M Series A and also facilitated follow-on investments into companies such as Elvie, Big Health and Depop. He now takes his knowledge built from being on the other side of the table — to coach entrepreneurs on how best to pitch and tell their story in order to raise money. We discuss how to pitch to investors — good ways of doing so, but also common mistakes. We also discuss the core tenants of authenticity, logic, empathy and the X factor. Essentially ways of sidestepping the monotony of “here are the 10 things investors want to see” — and instead really getting investors excited about what your vision and what you're building — and hopefully throwing money at you. I hope you enjoy. You can find me on Twitter @MustafaSultan and subscribe to my newsletter on www.musty.io

Episode description On this week's episode of The Invisible Gift, sits down with Edward Keelan aka The Dyslexic Investor - Principal Investor with Octopus Ventures. In the show, Edward explains what a venture capitalist actually does, Andrew asks Edward if dyslexics really are discriminated against by their employers, and the lads share anecdotes on their worst best man speeches. Top quotes “My invisible gift is my ability to roll back from failure.” - Edward “When you're younger you care what people think. When you're in your thirties you stop caring. And then when you're older you realise nobody cared anyway!” - Andrew About the guest Edward Keelan is Principal Investor at Octopus Ventures and blogs under the name ‘The Dyslexic Investor'. Edward would join the sales department of Octopus Ventures in 2008 and would work his way into the Investment Team becoming Principal Investor in 2019. In March 2020, Edward published his first blog as the ‘Dyslexic Investor' where he spoke candidly about his experiences, his dyslexia and his believe that neurodiversity offers a different, rather than inferior, set of skills. The post would go viral and would later be republished on the British Dyslexia Association's website. Edward was awarded mentor of the year 2020 at Career Ready. About the host The Invisible Gift is hosted by entrepreneur and dyslexic, Andrew Kitley. With twenty years experience, Andrew Kitley has worked his way up the metaphorical and literal ladder to become Managing Director of Kitall: an engineering firm. Under Andrew's guidance, Kitall is now one of the most sought after names to complete complex engineering projects in the UK. In each episode of The Invisible Gift, Andrew seeks the advice and inspiration of a fellow trailblazer who has defied the odds to achieve the extraordinary - turning the challenge of neurodiversity into a gift. Resources https://www.kitall.co.uk/ (https://www.kitall.co.uk/) https://www.onefineplay.com/ (https://www.onefineplay.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-keelan-b241211/?originalSubdomain=uk (https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-keelan-b241211/?originalSubdomain=uk)

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Dorothea Gotthardt, Investment Manager bei Capnamic. Dorothea hat die Runde von Graswald und Papercup analysiert: Papercup aus Großbritannien konnte 20 Millionen US-Dollar für seine KI, die Videos automatisch synchronisiert, einsammeln. Mit der jüngsten Series-A-Finanzierung hat Papercup nun insgesamt 30,5 Millionen Dollar eingeworben. Octopus Ventures führte die Investition an, gefolgt von Local Globe, Sands Capital, Sky und Guardian Media Ventures, Entrepreneur First, BDMI und einer Reihe von Angel-Investoren, darunter Des Traynor, Mitbegründer von Intercom und John Collison, Mitbegründer von Stripe. Zu den bestehenden Angel-Investoren gehören William Tunstall-Pedoe, Gründer von Evi (jetzt Amazons Alexa) und Zoubin Ghahramani, Senior Research Director bei Google Brain und ehemaliger Chefwissenschaftler bei Uber. Das Unternehmen wurde 2017 von Shemen und Jiameng Gao gegründet und bietet eine KI-gestützte Synchronisationslösung, die menschliche Stimmen in einem Film oder Sendung identifiziert und Synchronisationen in einer neuen Sprache erzeugt. Sky News, Discovery und Business Insider haben die Technologie bereits genutzt. Das Hannover Startup Graswald konnte in einer Seed-Runde 1,25 Millionen Euro Kapital einsammeln. Der High-Tech Gründerfonds, Lakestar sowie Business Angels investieren in das Unternehmen, welches mit dem frischen Kapital seine 3D-Content-Plattform für fotorealistische Virtualisierung von Natur schneller weiterentwickeln möchte. Zudem soll weiterer Content geschaffen und Graswald zu einer Plattform entwickelt werden. Die Vision des Startups ist es, fotorealistische 3D-Ökosysteme für das Metaverse Leben bereitzustellen. Gegründete wurde Graswald im Jahr 2021 von Julius Harling.

Millen spent nine years at Citigroup working her way up to become Vice President of Corporate Derivatives before setting up her own business, "no+mi" in 2016 - an online destination with perfectly curated gift sets for expecting and new mothers. In 2020 she joined the consumer team at Octopus Ventures and is particularly interested in category-defining innovations around the way we live, work, travel, play and recuperate! Octopus runs one of Europe's largest venture funds with £1.2 billion under management and they have been fortunate enough to have worked with the founding teams of some fantastic companies including Zoopla, Graze.com and Depop. Episode Links: Sponsored by trumpet Millen's Linkedin Octopus Ventures

After a record-breaking 2021 with staggering valuations and a total of 84 new European tech unicorns, the number of new venture capital investors in Europe has simultaneously decreased by almost half. With 61 new investors in 2021, including ten headquartered in the United Kingdom, the total number of European investors thus rose to 817 at the end of the previous year. A study by international tech M&A advisor i5invest, venture builder i5growth, and the Entrepreneurship Center of the Vienna University of Economics and Business shows that British investors have in excess of €468 billion in assets under management and a particular focus on investments in HealthTech & Life Science. Investors in Europe Despite Brexit, the UK continues to lead the ranking of countries with the most local investors in Europe (351), followed by Germany in 2nd place (199), France in 3rd place (128), and the Netherlands in 4th place (70). While the DACH region grew the fastest in terms of new investors in 2020, Scandinavia counted among the most newcomers last year. “Most central European countries have relatively constant growth figures. Scandinavia however was able to increase while we observed only about one-third of newly founded investors in the UK in 2021 compared to the year before”, emphasizes Herwig Springer, CEO of i5invest, indicating a possible change in trend. The portfolios of British investors are the most successful out of any in a European comparison. Of a total of 130 European startups valued at more than one billion dollars, the so-called unicorns, 68% have at least one British venture capitalist on board. For companies that investors believe have the potential to reach this billion valuation threshold in the next 24 months, the so-called soonicorns, this figure is as high as 60%. Out of the 191 investors primarily based in the UK, 67% have an early-stage investment focus, at least among other stages. This trend appears to be unbroken – nine out of the ten new investors founded in 2021 invest exclusively in early-stage startups. “European scale-ups in later stages are largely dependent on money from the UK where by far most of the European growth capital is concentrated. However, the bigger the funding round, the more likely we see a US investor in the lead. There is definitely potential for more growth capital across Europe”, says Simona Huebl, CEO of i5growth. Europe's Most Active and Most Powerful Investors Based on assets under management in 2022, Novo Holdings (Denmark), Balderton Capital (UK), Atomico (UK), Target Global (Germany), and Verdane (Norway) are the most powerful European venture capital investors. CVC Capital Partners (Luxembourg), Partners Group (Switzerland), Ardian (France), Intermediate Capital Group (UK), and Schroder Adveq Management (Switzerland) lead the private equity ranking. The total assets under the management of all investors included in the European Capital Report 2022 amount to more than €3,286 billion. The most active European venture capital investors based on the number of investments made in 2021 are Global Founders Capital with 233 investments (Germany), followed by Seedcamp (UK), BGF (UK), Entrepreneur First (UK), and SFC Capital (UK). In the ranking of the largest venture capital investors from the UK in 2022 based on the respective assets under management, Balderton Capital leads ahead of Atomico, BGF, Octopus Investments, and Octopus Ventures. If one ranks all investors in the UK according to the number of investments made in the previous year, Seedcamp leads with 116 investments, followed by BGF (113), Entrepreneur First (111), HG Capital (108), and SFC Capital (103). Corporate Venture Capital One trend that is only slowly gaining momentum across Europe is for large companies to set up venture capital arms as part of their innovation strategy. The UK's most prominent example is Unilever Ventures. “What stands out is that some of the largest German corporations, including BMW, SAP, and Si...

Today's guest is Ruth Handcock, CEO of Octopus Investments. Ruth has had a really interesting career. She's gone from working on checkouts and factories during the nightshift to being the CEO of one of the UK's biggest financial service firms. It's an incredible journey and one we're excited to share with you.Investing can often seem an opaque world but Ruth talks us through what Octopus Investments does and dismantles the long-held beliefs about what you need to start investing.  Ruth is also the Chair of Octopus MoneyCoach.  The British tendency not to talk about money means we are often shy when it's going well but are especially tight-lipped when things go wrong. In this episode, we delve more into the role MoneyCoach plays in reducing people's money worries and why it's so crucial for employers to offer this type of service. In this episode with Ruth we discuss:Her experience as Global finance director of Bacardi , specifically martini whiskey and cognac.Ruth's wide variety of jobs including checkout operative, salad chopper on a nightshift and car washer- what did those jobs teach her about being CEO of an investment firm? What do CEOs look for when hiring?Learnings from her own entrepreneurial failure What attracted her to join Octopus?What does Octopus Investments do? How much money do you need to invest? The difference between Octopus Ventures and Investments.What is the role of a Chief Executive? How the pandemic was an opportunity to do that better.Setting boundaries in the world of work.What more can we do to inspire women at the top of financial services? What the government can do to help this?How easy has she found it to achieve work-life balance? How did she find what she was passionate about? What is Octopus Moneycoach and what does it do?Where are there opportunities to improve education post-pandemic? If Ruth was 22 in 2022, what sectors would she like to work in? What sources of information does she consume? What her cocktail of choice is? If you'd like to see more information about the job roles being offered please look at my Twitter @jimmym

We spoke with Natasha Jones from London headquartered Octopus Ventures about the intersection of climate change and fintech startups, the booming collaboration in climate tech, and the challenges of  ESG investing.Here are some of the key takeaways from Natasha Jones:**"The data is really clear - if you can move your pension to a green and sustainable pension, it's 27 times more effective than going vegan, which, as someone who tried to go vegan and failed, it seems a lot easier to just select a green pension provider."**"I think what's super interesting is now the regulatory push to clamp down on greenwashing. And that's tied to consumer distrust as well. I think in France a survey said 60% of consumers distrust green labeling from banks. I think for our space, that creates a kind of an opportunity."**"I think the first thing to note ... just a huge amount of collaboration. I think other sectors tend to be a bit more cagey on sharing IP, on collaborating between different stakeholders, from entrepreneurs all the way to policymakers and investors in between. Climate tech is really different in that sense. Everyone's very keen to collaborate to find different solutions. And I think that's what makes it really optimistic space to be in."

Our guest, Sarah Ruth, has spent almost a decade building healthtech startups. She cut her teeth in healthcare technology at Oscar Health, where she helped grow the team by 1000 in less than two years. She moved on to Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company, where she scaled the internal team and launched several of its portfolio companies, including CityBlock Health. Most recently, she led US Portfolio talent for Octopus Ventures, a UK-based VC fund that specializes in launching healthtech companies. Currently, she leads Recruiting for Thyme Care, a Nashville-based oncology navigation startup backed by Andresseen Horowitz, AlleyCorp, Frist Cressey, Casdin, and Bessemer. Sarah Ruth lives in Wedgewood Houston with her husband Michael and their Golden Retrievers Charlotte and Lucy. Talking Points: What does the interview process typically look like from behind the scenes? What makes a candidate standout? What is the best way to work with a recruiter? Is it ok to reach out to people on Linkedin? Guest - Sarah Ruth Hendrix https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahruthb Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA www.hillaryblackburn.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook @HillBlackburn Twitter

#blippar #augmentedreality #webar #nocode #metaverse Blippar's vision is to make augmented reality content creation accessible for everyone, they have a no-code platform Blippbuilder, WebAR SDK to build content on your browser/PC/Mac & Blippar Studio where their expert team helps bring to life large scale augmented reality experiences. Faisal Galaria is a CEO with over 25 years of experience in leading and growing teams in some of the world's most disruptive consumer technology companies including Spotify, Kayak, and Skype. He is currently leading the turnaround of Blippar, the pioneer of augmented reality technology and one of the UK's first tech unicorns. Prior to that, he was the Deputy CEO of Gocompare, where he led growth & digital transformation and the IPO on the London Stock Exchange in November 2016. Previously Faisal was a Senior Partner of Alvarez & Marsal, the world's largest turnaround and restructuring company, serving private equity and corporate clients including Habib Bank, KKR, CVC, BC Partners, Travelocity, HMV, and OLX. Faisal joined Alvarez & Marsal from Spotify where he was a Senior Vice President and launched the service in 7 countries including the USA. He was also the International Managing Director of Kayak.com prior to its IPO and was an early member of the Skype team and was promoted to European Director post the acquisition by eBay. Faisal has also been an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Octopus Ventures and started his career as a TMT consultant at Arthur Andersen. He graduated from UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) with a Bachelor's degree in Management Sciences. He also holds an MBA from IESE in Spain. https://uk.linkedin.com/in/fgalaria https://twitter.com/fais_4 https://www.blippar.com Kindly Subscribe/Share Our Audio Podcast Channels Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/xr-om/id1479853773Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZnjHyLLNE2jX6rOoRj5QoGoogle: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9jMjg3YWVjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz Anchor: https://anchor.fm/s/c287aec/podcast/rss

This week the Quick Tips come from Will Gibbs, Principal at Octopus Ventures - one of Europe's largest and most active Venture Capital firms investing in start-ups in the areas of health and digital therapeutics. Get in touch with Will: wgibbs@octopusventures.com Website: https://octopusventures.com/team/health/will-gibbs/?show_all=true Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon

This week, James is joined by Will Gibbs, Principal at Octopus Ventures - one of Europe's largest and most active Venture Capital firms investing in startups in the areas of health and digital therapeutics. Prior to Octopus Will set up multiple small-scale enterprises including a rare-breed pig farm and an organic spirits company. Will holds a degree in Ancient History and Classical Archaeology from Oxford University. When not investing in new health companies or working with Portfolio Companies, Will is most likely to be found messing around on boats, climbing mountains, reading books on random topics or at home with his fiancé, growing a collection of 50+ house plants. Previously, his passion for sailing has led him to sail twice around the UK as part of the Round Britain and Ireland race. Get in touch with Will: wgibbs@octopusventures.com Website: https://octopusventures.com/team/health/will-gibbs/?show_all=true Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon

Earlier in this series, we looked at Bubble, a marketplace digitising trust to help fix a sector in dire need of innovation: childcare.This episode is looking at another marketplace but this time at the other end of the care spectrum, Elderly care, which is in equal need of a shakeup. With care homes dominating headlines over the past few weeks, this episode explores just exactly how Peter thinks the industry will change over the next ten years and what the government can do to build this particular sector back better. We also explore how businesses can help remove societal stigmas (in this case the stigmas around the role of carers) and the importance of framing old age in a positive way. As we mention in the introduction, our partners Octopus Ventures have created a report on the Future of Fertility tech, exploring the issues and emerging trends in this relatively new sector. You can find the full report on Octopus' website here: https://octopusventures.com/future-of-fertility/As always you can find out more on our website or get in touch via hello@jobsofthefuture.coYou can follow us on social media:Instagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInIf you'd like to see more information about the job roles being offered please look at my Twitter @jimmym

Gian is the founder of Pitch Deck Helper, where he helps deconstruct and demystify the funding process for start-up founders. Previously, Gian worked for Octopus Ventures and Q Ventures Venture Capital firms in London after he had raised $16 million for start-ups in the BioTech space in Canada.Round 1: Gian's experience raising money with VCs and working at a Venture Capital firm. Why he opted against running his own VC-backed start-up.Round 2: What investors look for when funding a start-up. Mythbusting the most common myths around early-stage start-up funding.Unboxing Uncensored for members-only: Authoritarianism vs Freedom - The dichotomy playing out in society.Join the Unboxing Gym: https://unboxingwithharry.com/unboxing-gym Work with Gian: https://www.pitchdeckhelper.com/

Content automation company Turtl raised $17M in Series A funding from Octopus Ventures to expand its team and double its headcount. This Series A funding is Turtl's first institutional raise and stated that with this, the startup would double its headcount using the proceeds from the fund.Osano raises $11M in funding from Jump Capital to support its international expansion and hire for sales marketing and engineering. It witnessed significant growth and has over 10 percent of the Fortune 500 as paying customers.Genially raised $20M in a Series B funding round led by 645 Ventures and Owl Ventures to accelerate its global content aspirations and focus on growing its community alongside the constant evolution of its product.SaaS companies Molecule Software and Fidectus team-up. Molecule Software stated that the partnership is aimed at developing the integration between the two software platforms, which would be available in the first half of 2022.Sinch, a cloud communication company, recently announced the acquisition of MessengerPeople. Sinch will pay a total enterprise value of $ 56.2 million, consisting of $ 39.4 million in cash and $ 16.8 million in new Sinch shares.Freshworks, a provider of SaaS customer engagement solutions, debuted on the Nasdaq on Wednesday after a billion-dollar IPO. Freshworks stock increased by 32% after the company raised $1 billion in an IPO priced above the marketed range.  Lio, a SaaS startup, received $5M in seed funding from Lightspeed India Partners and Sequoia Capital India. The funds will be used to hire more engineers and increase the number of users of the company's mobile app.Pentathlon Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage B2B SaaS, has announced the final close of its INR 76 crore first Fund. Pentathlon plans to invest in 20+ B2B SaaS startups each year, with average investments ranging from INR 75 lakh to INR 3 crore.

 Today's episode is special for two reasons- firstly it's one of the first we've recorded in person a long time.But this is also our second in the series organised with our partners: Octopus- who back the entrepreneurs of the future. And there are one better who exemplify that than today's guest Pooja Sikka. Pooja is a still practising GP, founder in her own right and formerly a partner at Octopus Ventures heading up their health tech investment wing- and it's this latter hat she'll mostly be wearing as she speaks to us today.Octopus are producing a report in the emerging market of FemTech- technology designed around the improvement of women's health. And that forms a large part of today's discussion-  female founders attracting VC investment is a recognised problem, but FemTech is an area that's traditionally been overlooked and undervalued despite the size of markets. We talk about Pooja's fascinating career and how she brings together knowledge of health, entrepreneurship and finance. But first, we start in a topsy turvy way- bringing a question we usually save to the end right to the start..... You can find out more on our website or get in touch via hello@jobsofthefuture.coYou can follow us on social media:Instagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedInIf you'd like to see more information about the job roles being offered please look at my Twitter @jimmym

UK-based open banking bulk payment startup Comma has raised £4.34 million ($6m) in a Seed round of funding led by Octopus Ventures and Connect Ventures. They were joined by investors Village Global, and the founders of Wagestream, Peter Briffet and Portman Wills.

Will Gibbs came to Octopus Ventures via a circuitous route - which interestingly, included setting up a rare breed pig farm in his native Essex. He landed in venture capital because he loves to build things - especially large-scale solutions for "taboo" or overlooked medical conditions like substance addiction, menopause, and acne.  Will and Eugene peek underneath the hood of venture capital. They discuss Octopus Ventures' investments in companies like Big Health and Quit Genius, the ins and outs of investing in DTx solutions, whether there is a valuation bubble in the DTx space, and Will offers some advice for startups looking to raise funds. >>Click here to read the transcript Viewing in Apple Podcasts? Visit our website for links to everything below: https://digitalhealthtoday.com/dtx/ Guest Links and Resources: Connect with Will Gibbs: LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/willgibbs1/ Visit Octopus Ventures: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website Host Links and Resources: Connect with Eugene Borukhovich: Twitter | LinkedIn Follow Eugene's journey of writing his first book: Hard Pill to Swallow Connect with YourCoach.health: Website | Twitter Subscribe to Exits & Outcomes Brian Dolan: Twitter | LinkedIn HealthXL: Website | Twitter | Join an Event Follow Digital Health Today: Browse Episodes | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram Follow Health Podcast Network: Browse Shows | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Digital Health Today is made possible by the support of our sponsors. Thank you to: Bayer G4A Cedars-Sinai Accelerator Takeda Roche

Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is hiring, read more on our next chapter here and you can sign up to our newsletter here.I first met Oliver when he came into No.10 to talk to me about Kano which was a computer that young children could self build and learn about hardware, software and coding … Although, frankly it probably wouldn't have been a bad idea for this early 30 something to have tried it at the time too. He is now running a company called Jolt in the UK, which describes itself as a business school for self made people. The world moves so fast now, that people need to be almost constantly reskilling and Jolt is helping people to do this in the modern era. They are financially backed by the partner of the second season of Jimmy's Jobs of the Future, Octopus Ventures who are part of the Octopus Group.They are built to specialise in the four areas they believe will change the world for the better: health, money, deep tech and consumer.They have backed the founding teams of more than 100 companies including Zoopla, Secret Escapes, graze.com, tails.com, Swiftkey, Depop, and Cazoo.Some of their portfolio companies have gone on to join forces with the world's largest businesses including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter.With £1.3 billion under management and investing over £100m a year, Octopus Ventures is one of the largest and most active venture investors in Europe. Their typical investment is from £1 million for Seed to £10 million for Series B and they have funded companies who have gone on right through IPO. So today's guest is Oliver Beech who runs Jolt in the UK, one of Octopus portfolio companies. A reminder you can follow us onInstagram: @JimmysjobsTwitter: @JimmysjobsAnd most importantly on LinkedIn.If you'd like to see more information about the job roles being offered please look at my Twitter @jimmym

In episode 7 of our podcast series, Mantis PR's MD Eleanor Willock is in conversation with one of Europe's most active health venture capitalists, Joe Stringer, from Octopus Ventures. They discuss: The new market definitions of health and med tech, and how investors' appetites for both are changing How International tech firms should be viewing the NHS as an opportunity How data collection and analysis capabilities are driving capital investment The importance of PR and good founder communications in the route to funding Take a listen. https://mantispr.co.uk/​​ https://www.linkedin.com/company/mant...​ https://twitter.com/MantisPR​​

In this week’s podcast, Medtech Insight managing editor Reed Miller discusses Augmedics’ and NeuroPace’s financing deals, and UK-based reporter Barnaby Pickering offers some insights from Octopus Ventures, a venture capital fund based in London. Listen to the podcast via the player below: Medtech Insight articles addressing topics discussed in this episode: Investor Eye: Octopus Ventures Tackles Tough, Taboo Problems In Health Care NeuroPace Seeks $75M In IPO Augmedics Raises $36M To Support Stereotactic Surgical Navigation For more information on Medtech Insight and to start a free trial, click here: http://bit.ly/2w7LnlR

How can you become a superconnector? Will Gibbs leads the Future of Health team at Octopus Ventures; one of the largest Venture Capital firms in Europe — with over £1.3bn under management. Will studied Classic Archaeology and Ancient History at Oxford, before trying his hand at pig farming and then becoming an investor at Octopus. We talk about the pros and cons of being a doctorpreneur, being right when others are wrong and how to become a superconnector. I hope you enjoy. You can find me on Twitter @MustafaSultan and subscribe to my newsletter on www.musty.io

SaaS startup Icertis raises $80 million in Series F funding; valuation triples to $2.8 billion. This year's funding was led by existing investor B Capital Group, with participation from Greycroft, Meritech Capital Partners, Premji Invest, PSP Growth, and e.ventures. The company will use this funding to invest in accelerating its AI and Blockchain development, expanding its sales and marketing footprint, and building out its global partner network. It also has plans to expand across Japan, South East Asia, and northern Europe. The funding round makes Icertis the second most valuable SaaS unicorn in the Indian startup circuit after Freshworks, which was valued at $3.5 billion in their last funding round in 2020.Pipe Raises $50 Million Through Latest Investment Round Led By Raptor Group & Siemens Next47Pipe stated it gives SaaS companies access to the full annual value of their subscriptions, upfront. Since launching its SaaS financing platform in February 2020, Pipe claims it has seen overwhelming demand from early and growth-stage SaaS companies. Speaking about the platform, Harry Hurst, Co-Founder, and Co-CEO of Pipe stated: “When we were approached by such incredible companies with aligned missions to form partnerships, the conversations quickly evolved. We felt it made sense to have the broader ecosystem that powers growth-oriented companies join forces to invest together in the future of revenue as a tradable asset class.”Legl gets $7M to help law firms upgrade to digital workflows. B2B SaaS startup Legl has bagged $7M in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures for its platform for law firms which offers tools to streamline core business processes such as customer onboarding, due diligence, and payments. The UK startup was founded just over a year ago by Julia Salasky, a lawyer by background, who previously founded the public interest legal crowdsourcing campaign platform, CrowdJustice. Legl says it's now working with around 100 UK-based law firms, including around a dozen of the top 200. Series A will be used to expand Legl's team and grow its UK user base as well as for further development of the product.

Our expert hosts, David Brear and Kate Moody, are joined by some great guests to talk about the most notable fintech, financial services and banking news from the past week. This week's guests include: Oliver Prill - CEO, Tide Tosin Agbabiaka - Early Stage Investor, Octopus Ventures. We also spkoe to we spoke to Vidya Peters, CMO at Marqeta to hear more about their story. We cover the following stories from the fintech and financial services space: It been a busy week for Goldman, as Marcus offers checking accounts with Marqeta in the US, while hunting for acquisition opportunities for Marcus UK. Tide to launch in India Monzo founder Tom Blomfield is departing the challenger bank and says he’s ‘struggled’ during the pandemic - Grab’s financial services arm raises $300M Paypal takes full ownership of Chinese payments company GoPay Jamie Dimon says JPMC should be “scared shitless” about fintech This podcast is brought to you by Jack Henry Digital (https://hubs.ly/H0w__kt0) the pioneer and creator of personal digital banking that helps community financial institutions strategically differentiate their digital offerings from those of MegaBanks, BigTechs and FinTechs. This podcast is also brought to you by Mitek (https://bit.ly/3bAy2HL)(NASDAQ: MITK). Mitek is a global leader in mobile capture and digital identity verification solutions built on the latest advancements in computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Mitek’s identity verification solutions enable an enterprise to verify a user’s identity during a digital transaction, which assists businesses operating in highly regulated markets to reduce financial risk and meet regulatory requirements while increasing revenue from digital channels. Financial services, marketplaces and other organizations around the world use Mitek to reduce friction creating the digital experiences their customers expect. Mobile Deposit® and Mobile Verify® are used by millions of consumers for check deposit, new account opening and more. The company is based in San Diego with offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris and St Petersburg. Learn more at www.miteksystems.com. Banking as a Service is deconstructing the banking stack. It's enabling brands to embed finance more easily, and to tailor financial products to specific customer needs. This is presenting new opportunities for specialised providers and offers banks extra revenue streams. Download our report for a comprehensive, no BS view of what Banking as a Service is and what it means for the industry. Head to bit.ly/bankingasaservice (https://bit.ly/bankingasaservice). Fintech Insider by 11:FS is a podcast dedicated to all things fintech, banking, technology and financial services. Hosted by a rotation of 11:FS experts including David Brear, Simon Taylor, Jason Bates and Sarah Kocianski and joined by a range of brilliant guests, we cover the latest global news, bring you interviews from industry experts or take a deep dive into subject matters such as APIs, AI or digital banking. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and please leave a review Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fintechinsiders where you can ask the hosts questions, alternatively email podcasts@11fs.com! Special Guests: Oliver Prill, Tosin Agbabiaka, and Vidya Peters .

The future of money is here as Octopus Ventures Partner Zihao Xu sits down with Lloyd to discuss how he finds tomorrow’s fintech behemoths.After starting his career with renowned strategic consultancy Roland Berger, Zihao moved into the venture capital sphere with Octopus, which identifies “unusually talented entrepreneurs” and offers early-stage funding. In this in-depth conversation, Zihao tells us what he looks for in an entrepreneur, how he determines the potential of products that haven’t even been built yet, and why effective staffing is the most important thing in building a successful enterprise. Plus, Zihao lets us in on what the next decade of fintech has in store and whether the shift to fully digital currencies is inevitable. Follow Mana Search on TwitterFollow Mana Search on LinkedIn Episode Highlights:05:55: What constitutes unusual talent and how does Zihao identify it?08:52: How Octopus prioritises product in early-stage investments17:48: The importance of staffing effectively in early-stage businesses.21:52: How the internet is spurring major changes in finance29:30: What does the next decade of finance have in store?35:35: Why Octopus is investing in crypto derivatives39:40: Zihao’s path into (and out of) consulting43:29: How Bitcoin spurred Zihao to follow his passion49:45: What Zi does to be the best venture capitalist possible.39:10: How to increase executive diversity in FinTech41:05: How to build a purpose-driven culture

Julia and Laura are joined by Huw Llewellyn-Waters, director at MBS Group. They discuss diversity and inclusion in food and grocery, whether automated stores really are about to go mainstream and Octopus Ventures' growing focus on consumer businesses.  Plus, they chat about an intriguing clothes recycling initiative by H&M and celebrate two Co-op employees' recognition in the birthday honours. Articles discussed in this episode:  ‘Two Co-op employees recognised in birthday honours for services during pandemic' | The Grocer ‘Automated stores are heading for the high street' | The Sunday Times ‘Karen Betts: the diplomat with a passion for whisky' | The Grocer ‘Octopus Ventures to focus more on consumer startups' | Sifted ‘Flies lead the way to a greener future' | Financial Times ‘H&M to launch high-tech “Looop” system instore which will shred old clothes and create new ones in real time' | Charged   Learn more about our show and get in touch at thepicklist.co.uk If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, subscribe and leave a review.

Welcome to Episode #272 with Jonathan Petrides, founder and CEO of allplants as we talked about Building a Business that is Earth-Friendly, Sustainable and Healthy. JP is the serial entrepreneur behind plant-powered food company allplants. From an innovative London kitchen allplants uses bold flavours and hyper convenience to help us all to eat healthier and nourish the planet - bringing more plants onto plates across the UK with chef-made frozen meals delivered nationwide. Since launching just over two years ago they've bagged culinary awards for pushing the boundaries (from pulled Jackfruit to polpette meatballs and a creamy to-die-for carbonara), delivering +750,000 healthy + delicious meals to doorsteps nationwide and building a community of +100,000 fans. allplants is also a certified B-Corp that's raised +$10M - making them the highest funded vegan venture outside of the US with backers including Octopus Ventures and Felix Capital. Together with allplants' growing team of chefs, creatives, engineers and storytellers they're now driven to change the world for the better through great tasting plant-powered food. Some helpful links: Connect with JP via LinkedIn here. Visit allplants website here.

Akriti discusses the massive boom in the gaming industry, fuelled by non gamers reaching for the console as a way to stay connected in a lockdown world. What do Travis Scott and UC Berkeley have in common? (hint: virtual reality game). Bonus: tips on how to get most of your VC coffee chats Check out the full Octopus Ventures portfolio: https://octopusventures.com/portfolio/

Gareth Interviews Luke Hakes who's one of the partners at Octopus Ventures, one of the biggest VC funds in Europe. Luke did a PhD in computational genetics and unexpectedly went on to join Octopus in the early stages, in what could be described as opportune circumstances. He has since had a fantastic career in venture capital, overseeing multiple success stories with some of the UK's most innovative tech companies. He currently runs a hugely successful health-tech portfolio, at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. We break down his criteria for investing and talk about the importance of building human capital value and having faith in your team. We also discuss upcoming macro shifts and the potential opportunity and turmoil that may arise.

James has read the reports from the McKinsey Global Institute and Octopus Ventures so you don't have to... but they're also linked below. McKinsey's "Prioritizing health: A prescription for prosperity" concludes that by improving health globally, we can save lives and inject trillions into the global economy and they lay out some key findings in the exec summary which gives you the best overview. And Octopus Ventures have pinpointed huge innovation opportunities in fertility treatment, with global investment over the last five-year period topping $2.2bn (rising to $750m last year). Check out the reports here: 1. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/prioritizing-health-a-prescription-for-prosperity 2. https://octopusgroup.com/newsroom/latest-news/octopus-ventures-pinpoints-innovation-opportunities-in-fertility/ Get in touch: www.jamessomauroo.com | www.somx.co.uk

Once again we're recording remotely, and this time we're thrilled to be joined by Nick Sando of Octopus Ventures (and, briefly, his cat). Before he joined Octopus to invest in the Future of Money, Nick was a founder himself - we discuss the highs and lows of entrepreneurial life, and how those experiences inform his approach to investing and supporting portfolio companies. Nick's LinkedIn Octopus Ventures

Greg Palmer hosts Tosin Agbabiaka of Octopus Ventures to talk financial inclusion from a VC perspective, advice for startups, and the (hypothetical)self-serving bank agenda.

In our first installment of Breaking Banks EU's sub-series "Where does the money go?," Meaghan Johnson interviews Nicholas Sando of Octopus Ventures. Meaghan and Nick discuss early-stage FinTech startups, the start of 2020's trends toward consolidation, and even the role of operators. Later, Nina Mohanty interviews Natasha Foster, co-founder and COO of Paid to discuss servicing SMEs. They discuss the notorious problem of procurement processes in large organizations and how Paid is making it easier for SMEs and large organizations to work together.

This week we have some great stories for you as David and Sarah are joined by a couple of great guests: Amy Lewin, Senior Reporter at Sifted James Teodorini, European Partnerships Development Manager at Button Oliver Prill, CEO of Tide Megan Caywood, Global Head of Digital Strategy at Barclays We kick off the episode by taking a look at how British fintech booms as 2019 is set to be a record year for UK investment. To start us off, we have a soundbite from Jo Oliver, Partner at Octopus Ventures, commenting on the story. Jo explains why the trend of signinificant investment is likely to continue and why we shouldn't read too much into a 30% decline in investment deals. James Teodorini makes the point that only 15% of this investment is early stage and he'd like to see this figure increase, as this indicates that we're still seeing new entrants to the market. (4:35) Up next, JPMorgan's CEO is looking for the banks next acquisition, and they're expected to be targeting a US neobank. This sparks a built it vs. buy it debate, with the guests discussing the pros and cons of each, as well as a discussion about how open neobanks are to being acquired and much more. (14:47) Other stories include: * Facebook 'to be fined $5bn over Cambridge Analytica scandal' (28:15) * Fintech in Latin America continues to draw big dollars as Softbank invests $231 million in Creditas (34:34) * Startup Button Rides Mobile Commerce Growth to New Financing (41:53) * Sydney could use facial recognition for public transport payments (46:58) * Private Eye's analysis of UK challenger bank's tube ads (59:08) All this and so much more on today's show. Fintech Insider by 11:FS is a podcast dedicated to all things fintech, banking, technology and financial services. Hosted by a rotation of 11:FS experts including David Brear, Simon Taylor, Jason Bates, Leda Glyptis and Sarah Kocianski and joined by a range of brilliant guests, we cover the latest global news, bring you interviews from industry experts or take a deep dive in subject matters such as APIs, AI or digital banking. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, leave a review on iTunes and let us know your thoughts on the stories @FintechInsiders on Twitter where you can also ask the hosts questions, or email podcasts@11fs.com This week's episode was produced by Laura Watkins and edited by Alex Woodhouse. Special Guests: Amy Lewin, James Teodorini, Jo Oliver, Megan Caywood, and Oliver Prill.

James is joined by Tania Boler, the cofounder and CEO of Elvie, a health and lifestyle brand developing smarter technology for women. Elvie takes the best of medical technology and turns it into premium consumer products that women love to use. Together with her co-founder, Alex Asseily (co-founder, Jawbone), she has raised > $50M in investment, most recently their $42M Series B round led by IPGL and supported by Octopus Ventures and Impact Ventures UK.  Their first product, Elvie Trainer, is a category-defining Kegel trainer and is sold in major retailers, including Nordstrom and John Lewis and their latest product is the Elvie Pump, a breast pump that made its debut on the catwalk at London Fashion week. James and Tania talk about her background, coming from UN policy into entrepreneurship, the importance of design in healthtech, how to launch a B2C medical device and the ever growing femtech space in health. 

This podcast will provide a 5 minute highlight reel of all that happened in the startup ecosystem last week. So let’s begin with the news around funding. So, guess what? This week’s startup funding scene has been quite great. We are talking about a total of 330 funding rounds, $6.7 billion total funding, 99 acquisitions recorded, and a transaction of a total acquisition amount of $7.3 billion. That being said, let’s dive right into the highlights. Gokada a Nigeria based ride-hailing startup raises $5.3M In many large cities across Africa, motorcycle taxis are the most common mode of shared transport. That includes Lagos, Nigeria, where ride-hail startup Gokada has raised a $5.3 million Series A round to grow its two-wheel transit business. Gokada has trained and on-boarded more than 1,000 motorcycles and their pilots on its app that connects commuters to moto-taxis and the company’s signature green, DOT– approved helmets. The startup has completed nearly 1 million rides since it was co-founded in 2018 by Fahim Saleh — a Bangladeshi entrepreneur who previously founded and exited Pathao, a motorcycle, bicycle and car transportation company. Zero raises $20 million from NEA and others for a credit card that works like debit Just ahead of the launch of the Apple Card, a startup that has its own take on modernizing the credit card industry, Zero, is announcing the close of its $20 million Series A. The new round of funding was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and brings Zero’s total raised to date to $35 million, including both equity and debt funding. Today, only 33% of millennials have a major credit card, a Bankrate survey found — largely because they’re wary of falling into the vicious debt cycle. Instead, this younger demographic often only carries a debit card. But that also means they’re missing out on credit card benefits — like points, rewards and cash back. Zero’s idea is to offer a rewards credit card that works like debit. The Zerocard itself is a World Mastercard, so it earns credit card cash back. But unlike a traditional credit card, it’s combined with an FDIC-backed checking account called Zero Checking. That means Zerocard and Zero Checking work together in the app, allowing cardholders to see one net number they can spend from. Hunters.ai raises $5.4M for its autonomous threat-hunting solution Hunters.ai, a Tel Aviv-based startup that built an AI-based threat-hunting solution, today announced that it has raised a $5.4 million seed funding round led by YL Ventures and Blumberg Capital. Sofar Sounds house concerts raises $25M. Sofar Sounds announced it’s raised a $25 million round led by Battery Ventures and Union Square Ventures, building on the previous $6 million it’d scored from Octopus Ventures and Virgin Group. The goal is expansion — to become the de facto way emerging artists play outside of traditional venues. The 10-year-old startup was born in London out of frustration with pub-goers talking over the bands. Now it’s throwing 600 shows per month across 430 cities around the world, and more than 40 of the 25,000 artists who’ve played its gigs have gone on to be nominated for or win Grammys. What else caught our eyes last week? Well, I mean anything bitcoin needs a mention. So, ya CoinBits launches as a passive investment app for bitcoin. Finman, who built his first company while still in high school, is launching a new startup called CoinBits, which allows users to passively invest in bitcoin. The idea, according to Finman, is to democratize access to the currency by letting everyday folks invest nominal sums through well-known mechanisms like roundups on transactions made with a credit or debit card or through regular transactions from a customer’s savings or checking account to bitcoin through CoinBits. That’s pretty great. The next thing I want to bring to your notice is this recent hike in non-alcoholic beverage startups around the world. In their recent article, TechCrunch talks about how millennials, according to various studies, are consuming less alcohol than previous generations and are therefore seeking non-alcoholic beverage alternatives. For example, we have Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirits company. Or Haus, launching this summer, an all-natural beverage distilled from grapes that has a lower alcohol content than most hard liquors. Haus, like any good consumer startup in 2019, is shipped directly to your door. Perhaps the most noted so far is Liquid Death, canned water for the punk rock crowd, I mean why not? I’m loving this trend. Liquid Death has attracted nearly $2 million in funding from angel investors like Away co-founder Jen Rubio and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Then you have Bev, a canned wine business that recently raised $7 million in seed funding from Founders Fund, thinks marketing in the alcohol industry is the problem. Founder Alix Peabody designed a line of female-focused canned rosé. Peabody explained most alcohol brands cater to men, and that’s a problem.

This week Alex and James are joined by Gian Seehra an investor at Octopus Ventures to talk about transitioning from entrepreneur to venture capital, health tech investments and how both founders and investors should approach setting early valuations. Gian focuses on health investments at Octopus and splits his time on deal origination and assessment of investment opportunities. Prior to joining Octopus, Gian spent two years in Canada building a biotechnology company called Pebble Labs tackling vector-borne, animal and plant diseases, and Trait Biosciences within the cannabis industry. Gian holds a degree in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham. He spent two months training in Muay Thai Boxing in Thailand and plans to spend two weeks a year training there. Octopus Ventures are one of Europe's largest Venture Capital teams with £1bn under management. Octopus is a generalist fund but with specialist investments in health-tech. Based in London and New York, they have Venture Partners in San Francisco, Singapore and China. Their typical initial investment is from £1m for Seed to around £5m for Series A. https://octopusventures.com For more information and content, check out our website www.hs.ventures. You can follow us on Twitter @HSVenture, on Instagram @hs.ventures, on Linkedin at HS. and you can email us at info@hs.live You can get our host, Dr. James Somauroo, at www.jamessomauroo.com and you can follow him on Twitter @jamessomauroo, on Instagram @j_soms and on Linkedin at james-somauroo

In this weeks Invested Investor, podcast, we are pleased to introduce, former scientist, Luke Hakes. An accomplished deep technologies investor with numerous successes under his belt, including Magic Pony and Eve Sleep, to name just a couple. Luke is happy to talk to us about some of the failures he has experienced too, and gives us his practical advise on people, timing and gaining the right investors.  Luke is a talented, Invested investor and partner in Octopus Ventures, Chairman of the University of Manchester’s commercialisation company, UMI3, Director of The University of Manchester Global Leadership Board and an angel investor specialising in the AI and Genetics space.

Our hosts Simon and Jason are joined by three great guests: Joost Lobbes, Product Manager at Rabo Bank, and Diana Paredes, CEO of Suade Labs. First up, CYBG cans Virgin Money deal with Anthony Jenkins startup. The new owner of Virgin Money has canned a long-term deal with a digital banking start-up launched by Anthony Jenkins, the former Barclays chief executive. Not entirely unexpected, since David Duffy, CYBG's chief executive, had hinted since securing a £1.6bn deal to buy the bank that it was likely to use its own technology platform. Confirmation that CYBG is ditching the 10x deal may deal a blow to Mr Jenkins, who has been in talks with investors for several months about a substantial new funding round for his venture. Virgin Money is understood to have committed tens of millions of pounds to creating a digital platform with 10x's support, and CYBG's decision to terminate the deal is likely to trigger a sizeable payment to 10x. Fintech startup Revolut is in talks to raise $500M from Softbank. Several sources have told City A.M. that the deal is set to close early next year, as Revolut tries to launch its banking app in the US, one of fintech’s most notoriously hard to crack markets. Comes less than seven months since Revolut closed its last funding round at $250m, which valued the London startup at $1.7bn as a so-called unicorn company. Not known if previous backers such as Index Ventures, Draper Esprit and DST Global will sign on to this round. Softbank said earlier this year that it was looking to deploy around $200m into fintech from its $100bn Vision Fund, and was reported by Sky News to have explored a similar investment in UK challenger bank Oaknorth. We spoke to Emily Nicolle, the author of this article for City AM to give us her thoughts on this story. Digital bank Starling to roost on the high street. Digital bank Starling is heading to the high street, announcing a tie-up that will enable its personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash over the counter at all 11,500 Post Office branches nationwide. Despite falling cash use across the UK, the app-only challenger bank said it was responding to customer needs. “Our customers still want to pay in cash and take money out,” said Julian Sawyer, head of banking services at Starling Bank. “The Post Office has more outlets than all the other banks combined, so it became a very obvious channel to link up with.” The digital bank’s move to the high street comes as larger banks shift customers online, closing hundreds of high street bank branches and free-to-use cash machines in the process. We caught up with Megan Caywood at Xerocon yesterday to tell us more about this announcement and what it means for their users. Simple attracts Amazon exec as new CEO. US neo bank Simple has named a former Amazon executive as its new CEO, in a rare example of talent returning from Big Tech to the banking industry We interviewed the Co-Founder of Simple Bank, Shamir Karkal in ep. 254. David Hijirida moved from Washington Mutual to help build Amazon’s online payments business in 2007 before acting as a director of AWS. Hijirida takes over from Dickson Chu who was working as the interim chief executive of the bank after founding CEO Josh Reich who quit in May. Fluidly raises £5M in Series A Funding. Fluidly is an applied AI business that combines machine learning and financial modelling to automate the forecasting and management of cashflow for SMEs. The £5m Series A funding round was led by New York-based fintech investor Nyca Partners. Existing investors Octopus Ventures, Anthemis and tech angels including Simon Murdoch and Charlie Songhurst also participated in the latest financing round. We caught up with Fluidly CEO Caroline Plumb at Xerocon yesterday, to find out more about what this money will be used for. Alibaba sets new Singles Day record with more than $30.8BN in sales in 24 hours. Alibaba smashed through its Singles Day sales record on Sunday. The gross merchandise value (GMV) hit over $30.8 billion in sales in the 24-hour shopping event. That topped the $25.3 billion record set in 2017. Singles Day got off to a strong start with sales hitting $1 billion in one minute and 25 seconds. BofA faces trademark suit over Erica chatbot. Bank of America has been sued by a man over the use of the name "Erica" for its in-app AI-powered virtual assistant chatbot. Rolled out to BofA's millions of customers over the summer, Erica helps users with a host of simple transactions such as money transfers and balance enquiries. Erik Underwood registered his own virtual assistant, called E.R.I.C.A (electronic repetitious informational clone application) in Georgia in October 2010. PFM app Fintonic to fund interest-free deferred payments at Amazon. Financial management app Fintonic is collaborating with Amazon to provide Spanish clients with the option to fund interest fee purchases at the e-commerce store. Under the agreement, Fintonic's 500,000 Spanish users will be able to defer payments ranging between €200 and €1,000 for up to four months. Marketed as taking 3 minutes and users are given a reusable gift card for Amazon.es that lasts up to 10 years max PayPal bans Tommy Robinson from its platform. PayPal has told the former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon it will no longer process payments on his behalf. The online payments system said its services cannot be used to "promote hate, violence, or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory". Online petitions calling for companies like PayPal to stop processing his payments have gained thousands of signatures. All this and so much more on today's episode of Fintech Insider! ​ Subscribe so you never miss an episode, leave a review on iTunes and every other podcast app. Spread the fintech love by sharing or tweeting this podcast. ​ Let us know your thoughts @FintechInsiders and join the discussion by signing up at www.fintechinsidernews.com ​ This week's episode was produced by Laura Watkins, written by Dhanum Nursigadoo and edited by Alex Woodhouse. Special Guests: Caroline Plumb, Diana Paredes, Emily Nicolle, Joost Lobbes, and Megan Caywood.

Dr Simon Murdoch follows his instincts. He set up Bookpages in the mid-90's because he saw an opportunity to emulate Amazon in the UK. He has invested in some the most iconic UK start-ups of the last twenty years. He has become a figurehead for invested investors in London. He loves what he does, particularly learning something new everyday. In this podcast Simon describes why he set up a competitor to Amazon, what it's like to work for Jeff Bezos and how he transitioned into investing. Although he has experienced his share of failures, his eye for a successful start-up is remarkable.  Dr Simon Murdoch is Managing Partner of Episode 1 Ventures which runs two Enterprise Capital Funds investing c £100m in early stage software-driven businesses in the UK. Investments in Episode 1’s first fund include Aimbrain, Carwow, CloudNC, Emoov and Triptease. The second fund was launched recently and is looking for c 25 more companies to build from Seed to Series A and beyond. Simon is a highly experienced technology investor and has been an entrepreneur as well as a very active angel and venture capitalist. Previously, Simon was VP Europe of Amazon.com. He managed huge growth from start up in late 1996 through to multimillion turnover and hundreds of staff, ie from founding his own Internet bookselling company Bookpages in 1996, to acquisition by Amazon.com and launch of Amazon.co.uk in 1998, and its subsequent ultra-high growth. In 2000, he was founder and managing partner of Chase Episode 1, a $100m fund raised to invest at start up or early stage in Internet and technology businesses in Europe such as Betfair (IPO 2010), ScanSafe (sold to Cisco 2009) and First Tuesday. Unusually for a year 2000 vintage fund, Chase Episode 1 returned over 3x the amount invested to its investors. He also spent two years from 2010 at Octopus Ventures as Portfolio Director covering over 30 investee businesses including Evi Technologies, SwiftKey and Graze. Over the last 18 years, Simon has invested directly as a business angel and advised as non-executive chairman or director a number of successful Internet and mobile technology businesses based in the UK.

Study finds over 3,300 Android apps improperly tracking kids. http://bit.ly/qlearly389 SpaceX will try 'giant party balloon' to recover upper rocket stages. http://bit.ly/qlearly390 Elon Musk says Tesla will be profitable in Q3 and Q4. http://bit.ly/qlearly391 Samsung Jumps on the Blockchain Bandwagon. http://bit.ly/qlearly392 It’s time to give Firefox a fresh chance. http://bit.ly/qlearly393 World’s third hyperloop test track is now under construction. http://bit.ly/qlearly394 Apple might finally allow third-party Apple Watch face support. http://bit.ly/qlearly395 Hackers exploit casino's smart thermometer to steal database info. http://bit.ly/qlearly396 Netflix sees itself as the anti-apple. http://bit.ly/qlearly397 London’s Octopus Ventures raises $280 million to expand its seed and early stage investing. http://bit.ly/qlearly398 Song: Poldoore - Morning Glory Thank you for tuning in!

In this podcast Simon King talks to Peter about his journey to working in Venture Capital from a background in physical sciences and academia, via Africa. He talks about the challenges in transitioning from an academic background to the commercial world and how investments are considered at Octopus Ventures.

Welcome back after a week off last week - our first in a year. Wow. Hope everyone's having some fun this summer.   We've got some amazing guests lined up over the next few months, so stay tuned for that. We're increasingly active in our newsletter lately - if you'd like to be a part of that, you can subscribe on our website at www.bankingthefuture.com.   Today, we've got one for the entrepreneurs. We've had some great episodes with venture capitalists and founders going through the most interesting opportunities their seeing, ideas about areas of fintech ripe for further innovation, startup advice and more.   We're pulling all of that together in one place in a nod to our founder and aspiring founder listeners, of which there are many. A lot of the questions that come up most often in our community are around turning concepts into action. One of our core tenants at Rebank is that its delivery that matters. The discussion and analysis of high level ideas and trends are part of the work that takes place around and in support of execution, but with no action, the reflection is only so relevant.   Today, we hear from a number of past guests, including Michael Kent of Azimo, Steve Lemon of CurrencyCloud, Nigel Verdon of Railsbank, Alex Macpherson of Octopus Ventures, Carolina Brochado of Atomico, Michael Treskow of Eight Roads, Ameya Upadhyay of Omidyar, Charlie Delingpole of ComplyAdvantage and Aman Ghei of Orange Growth Capital.   As always, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or on our website at bankingthefuture.com.   If you like today's show, please subscribe on iTunes, or your podcast platform of choice, and leave us a review.   Please enjoy today's special episode on starting a fintech.

A couple weeks ago we joined our friends at Innovate Finance in London for their annual VCs Take the Stage event, where we caught up with two of the headliners.   The first interview you hear is with Alex MacPherson, CEO of Octopus Ventures, the £660 million venture capital arm of UK fund manager Octopus Group. Alex's fund has invested and exited a handful of noteworthy AI companies, including Evi Technologies, Swiftkey and Magic Pony, which sold to Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter, respectively.   After we talked to Alex, we caught up with Carolina Brochado, Partner at Atomico, another London-based VC firm. Atomico manages over a billion USD and has invested in seven companies that grew to be worth more than a billion dollars, according to the Financial Times, including games developer SuperCell and weather data company Climate Corporation.   As always, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or on our website at bankingthefuture.com.   If you like today's show, please subscribe on iTunes, or your podcast platform of choice, and leave us a review.   Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Alex MacPherson and Carolina Brochado.

This is a new format where I bring experts from different fields to have a roundtable discussion on a particular topic. Today we speak about the state of transatlantic tech and what you should be thinking about if you’re looking to expand internationally. Note that this was recorded late Dec 2016 just before President Trump came into office. MY 3 GUESTS: (1) Daniel Glazer – partner at Silicon Valley-headquartered law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads the New York office’s Technology Transactions practice. He also helps lead WSGR’s US Expansion practice, advising UK and other non-US technology companies on US expansion (2) Pru Ashby – head of North America at London & Partners who are the official promotional company for London. She works on attracting and advising US companies to set up and grow in London (3) Alliott Cole – director at Octopus Ventures, one of Europe’s largest venture capital teams. Some of their investments include: Secret Escapes, yPlan, Zoopla, Swiftkey (sold for $250M to Microsoft) & Lovefilm (sold to Amazon for $200M)   FIVE THINGS TO LISTEN OUT FOR:  (1) Similarities and differences between US and UK/European markets (2) Startup ecosystem post-brexit (3) Future outlook under a Trump presidency (4) How do you structure an expansion into US or Europe (5) What companies have done this well? TIME STAMPS [3m21s] Intros [6m16s] State of UK post brexit [18m49s] Investment growth in London since 2010 [19m28s] It takes 10.2yrs for companies to IPO on average [20m23s] Has the market overreacted to Brexit? [23m9s] Mood post US election [24m16s] How will entrepreneurs think about globalisation [30m9s] Similarities and differences in business culture in US vs UK [42m11s] Recommendations on hiring people in US when you’re a startup [43m35s] How do you structure an expansion [48m27s] Where do you start your first US office [51m41s] When do you know it’s the right time to move [58m36] Examples of companies that have done a good job of expanding [1hr6m] What do companies struggle with when they move [1hr14m] What should US companies think about when expanding to UK [1hr18m] Looking forward  Sign up for exclusive content, giveaways and my email updates: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe Connect on social:   https://www.instagram.com/creatorlabfm https://www.facebook.com/creatorlabfm https://www.twitter.com/creatorlabfm https://www.snapchat.com/add/creatorlabfm   Connect with Bilal: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.instagram.com/bzaidi212

This week we’re joined by Alex Macpherson, Managing Director of Octopus Ventures. With 53 companies in its portfolio (including successes like Zoopla, Swiftkey and Graze.com), and around $850M in management, Octopus is one of the European ecosystem’s leading players, backing teams across multiple stages and sectors. Alex transitioned into venture after 11 years as a derivatives trader in the City – prior to which he sold personal and business computers after leaving school (and even worked in the circus). In 2000 he founded Katalyst, a private investor group making investments into early stage, start up and expansion stage companies. Over seven years, Alex led the business as CEO until its sale to Octopus in August 2007 – upon which he joined the firm. Speaking to Seedcamp partner Carlos Espinal, Alex discusses the ways his years as a City trader shaped his approach to investing– including learning the lesson that the ‘first cut is the cheapest’, meaning investors and entrepreneurs should know when to cut their losses or shift strategy. Referencing some of Octopus’s biggest success such as Zoopla, Alex explains how he looks for teams that combine execution with vision and why, given that the difference between success and failure is ‘wafer thin’, backing exceptional founders is essential. Show notes: Carlos Medium: sdca.mp/2entVR3 Seedcamp: www.seedcamp.com Octopus Ventures: www.octopusventures.com Related bio links: Carlos: linkedin.com/in/carloseduardoespinal / twitter.com/cee Alex: linkedin.com/in/alexandermacpherson

WATCH: https://londonrealacademy.com/episodes/alex-macpherson-octopus-ventures/  Alex Macpherson - Octopus Ventures. Silicon Real - Entrepreneurs In Tech. Octopus Ventures has a clear mission: to be the preferred venture capital house of the most talented entrepreneurs. Octopus Ventures on Twitter: http://twitter.com/OctopusVentures In their own words: "We back teams with the potential to build big businesses. Our focus is on identifying entrepreneurs and fast-growth companies that can scale explosively to create, transform or dominate an industry. We partner with entrepreneurs, we don’t just invest in them, and we work tirelessly to make them as successful as they can be. We have a proven track record of helping build exceptional global businesses, including graze.com, Secret Escapes, SwiftKey, and Zoopla Property Group." Octopus Ventures: http://octopusventures.com SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/SiliconReal  More Silicon Real: http://www.siliconreal.comhttp://www.twitter.com/SiliconRealhttp://www.facebook.com/SiliconRealhttp://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/silicon-real/id668705287?mt=2

In this episode we were joined by Simon Murdoch, Founder of early stage European technology VC, Episode 1. Simon discusses his background and experience that led him to becoming an entrepreneur and later an investor at Episode1, what he brings to the companies he works with, and insights into what he looks for in founders. Simon sold his first company BookPages to Amazon in 1998 after which he reported to Jeff Bezos as VP Europe of Amazon.com. In early 2000, Simon founded and ran Chase Episode 1, an early stage European technology VC fund backed by JP Morgan Chase. The fund made over 3x return after all fees and carry. Chase Episode 1 included investments in BetFair (IPO 2010) and ScanSafe (sold to Cisco 2009). After the fund Simon became a full-time angel investor. His angel portfolio includes/included investments in Shazam, Zoopla (IPO 2014), LoveFilm (sold to Amazon 2011), Shutl (sold to eBay 2013), and Natural Motion (sold to Zynga 2014). In addition, from 2010 to 2012, Simon worked at Octopus Ventures in portfolio development. Simon has a BA in Physics from Cambridge and a PhD in Computer Science and Expert Systems.