Nothing Ventured

Who’s actually getting paid in venture right now? AI capital is still flowing, but investors are asking tougher questions about infrastructure spending, defensible moats and how founders and funds get liquidity. In this episode of Nothing Ventured News, host Aarish breaks down the latest developments across global and UK venture capital, including: 🚀 Q3 venture funding and the AI capital boom 🧠...

In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Dr Georgia Fleet, co-founder of Zinovy, to explore antimicrobial technology, medical device innovation and the challenges of commercialising deep tech. Georgia shares her journey from materials science to founding Zinovy, which is developing Z-Rose, an antimicrobial technology designed to kill microbes on contact when integrated into...

In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Romain Clément, founder of AKA Science, to explore how AI, clinical data and drug discovery could transform the pharmaceutical industry. Romain shares the personal story behind AKA Science, following his own brain tumour diagnosis and the three years of research that led him from literature and philosophy into healthcare, pharmaceutic...

What does the future of fusion look like beyond energy generation? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Talmon Firestone, founder and CEO of Astral Systems, to explore fusion technology, deep tech commercialisation and the unexpected applications of compact fusion systems. Talmon shares his journey from space science to building Astral Systems, explaining how the company...

In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Rubina Singh from Foresight Group to explore the changing landscape of deep tech venture capital, strategic infrastructure, and the challenges of turning breakthrough technology into scalable businesses. Rubina shares her perspective on deep tech investing, defence and space technology, healthtech, university spinouts and what separat...

What’s really happening in UK venture capital right now? Record funding, massive AI investment, tougher growth-stage conditions and a new era of private-market liquidity are reshaping the startup landscape. In this episode of Nothing Ventured News, host Aarish breaks down the latest developments across UK and global venture capital, including: 🚀 Record global venture rounds and the rise of AI fun...

In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Adam French, investor at Antler and former operator and co-founder of Scalable Capital, to explore what makes exceptional founders, how venture capital is changing, and where the UK startup ecosystem is heading. Adam shares his perspective on founder DNA, venture capital investing, startup funding, co-founders, AI and building venture...

What does the future of climate tech, energy and deep tech investing really look like? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Matthew Blain, climate tech investor at Voyager, to explore where venture capital is flowing, why climate tech is being misunderstood, and why the economics behind new technologies matter more than the narrative. Matthew shares his perspective on cl...

What does the future of space tech look like and can the UK become a global deep tech powerhouse? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, host Aarish Shah sits down with Maureen Haverty, Principal at Seraphim Space, to explore the rapidly evolving space technology and deep tech investment landscape. Maureen shares her perspective on space tech investing, nuclear innovation, deep tech startups, ventur...

What will replace the touchscreen as the next generation of human-computer interaction? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Jacques Blagburn from Fether Labs to explore the future of gesture control, wearable technology and human-machine interfaces. Jacques explains how Fether Labs is developing tendon sensing technology that can capture high-fidelity hand movements, of...

What happens when financial advice meets AI? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, host Aarish Shah sits down with Laura Cornely, CEO & Co-Founder of Count, the UK’s automated financial advisor, to explore the future of fintech, financial advice and startup investing. Laura shares how Count is using technology to help people manage their money, build budgets, create rainy day funds and invest throu...

What happens when AI meets finance, treasury management and the future of the CFO? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish sits down with Pac O'Shea, CEO and Co-Founder of Round Treasury, to explore how AI is transforming finance teams, startup banking and treasury management. Pac shares how Round Treasury is solving the challenges faced by high-growth and high-risk startups, from banking and...

The next generation of billion-dollar startups won't win because they build better AI. They'll win because they build better experiences. In this episode of Nothing Ventured, host Aarish Shah sits down with Milena Nikolic former Senior Engineering Director at Google, former CTO of Trainline, and Co-Founder of Heighway Labs—to explore how AI is fundamentally changing product design, startup strateg...

Ben Prade is a Partner at Bullhound Capital (formerly GP Bullhound), where he's spent close to a decade building out the firm's growth investment strategy across frontier tech. In this episode, he joins Aarish to unpack why venture capital still doesn't know how to price AI companies and what that means for founders, funds, and the future of software. 📌 In this episode: 💰 Why SaaS multiples brea...

Samira Sohail has built products at the BBC, led product at edtech unicorn Newsela, run a venture studio for family offices, and invested in 60+ startups. Her career doesn't follow a straight line and she thinks that's exactly the point. In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Samira Sohail and host Aarish cover: 🔹 Why the "career ladder" is giving way to curiosity-led, nonlinear careers 🔹 The real...

Jack Henderson bootstrapped his first healthcare business, KPI Health, to £20M+ revenue with no outside investment before exiting in 2023. Now he's building Flexzo AI an AI-driven workforce infrastructure aiming to break the NHS's dependency on staffing agencies backed by $20M+ in venture funding. In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Jack and host Aarish cover: 🔹 The 1 mistake healthcare operator...

What if the future of manufacturing is actually a return to the past? In this episode, Aarish sits down with Drew Allen, CEO of Grace Technologies, to explore why American and Chinese manufacturing dominance came from operators who also designed the machines and what happened when we lost that craft. They dig into: - How the PLC dumbed down the factory floor operator - Why creativity needs to be d...

June 2026 Venture Capital & AI Market Breakdown | The SpaceX IPO Changes Everything? June wasn't just another AI news cycle. It was the month the venture capital concentration story finally spilled into the public markets. In this episode of Nothing Ventured, we break down the biggest developments shaping venture capital, startups, AI, and deep tech. From SpaceX's record-breaking IPO and the retur...

In a world where anyone can prompt an LLM, what actually makes you valuable? Rahim Hirji author of SuperSkills, founder of Box of Amazing, and former international growth lead at Quizlet joins Aarish on Nothing Ventured to explore the skills that will define the next decade of work, learning and leadership. In this episode: - The SuperSkills ladder every person and immigrant family goes through -...

Is mobile gaming still a venture-worthy bet or has the gold rush ended? Anton Backman, General Partner at Play Ventures, has one of the most contrarian takes in VC right now. In this episode, Anton breaks down why the gaming funds that exploded during Covid are struggling, why Istanbul has quietly become the world's hottest hub for mobile games (and why Helsinki lost its edge), and why micro drama...

AI is scaling faster than the infrastructure supporting it. In this episode of Nothing Ventured, Aarish Shah sits down with Meryem Arik, Co-Founder of Doubleword, to explore the hidden economics powering the AI revolution. They discuss why token prices may have to rise, why AI companies are facing compute shortages, the growing GPU bottleneck, and how open-source AI models are challenging the domi...

In this episode of Nothing Ventured, we break down the real state of the venture capital market, from AI investment concentration and startup funding trends to liquidity pressure, emerging manager struggles and the growing power of platforms like OpenAI. We explore: • Why a handful of companies dominate venture funding
 • The liquidity crisis still facing founders and investors • Why emerging VC f...

In this episode, we welcome Kris Naudts & Zeynep Koruturk two leading voices in quantum investing and deep tech innovation from Firgun Ventures to break down where the industry is really heading. Quantum is often spoken about as a single technology but the reality is far more fragmented. In this episode, we break down the three core pillars of the quantum industry: computing, sensing, and communic...

What if the next breakthrough in solar, OLEDs, batteries, or carbon capture already exists… hidden inside millions of undiscovered molecules? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, we sit down with Omer Omar co-founder & CEO of Apollo — a startup building a digital platform for discovering organic materials using AI, quantum chemistry, and massive molecular databases. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 01:20...

What happens when making music no longer requires talent, training, or expensive studio time? In this episode of Nothing Ventured, we sit down with the founder of Mozart AI Sundar Arvind which is an AI-powered music creation platform that’s redefining how music is made. From generating full tracks on your phone to scaling to 100,000+ users and raising $6M, this is a conversation about speed, creat...