UKTN | The Podcast

Anne Glover, co-founder and CEO of Amadeus Capital Partners, discusses the ways that the tech investment scene has changed since her firm launched in the late 1990s, how tech started as a niche sector but has since started to encompass everything, why AI hype is valid but there's more to it than just generative AI, and what the UK needs to do to shake its history of not scaling tech companies like...

Melissa Snover, founder and CEO of Nourished, discusses how the advent of modern scientific data analysis has birthed the personalised health boom, why as an American expat she fell in love with Birmingham as a startup hub, and how women founders can fight the odds to close the funding gap.   Snover is the founder of Nourished and Scripted, which provide personalised health products to prevent and...

Husayn Kassai, founder of Onfido and Quench.ai, suggests what the UK can do to attract more IPOs and build more scaleups, reflects on providing a 320x return on investment for the University of Oxford, and explains why people should be wary of the “excessive romanticisation” of unicorn success stories.   Kassai co-founded Onfido, a digital ID company, in 2012 straight out of studying at the Univer...

Flexa CEO and co-founder Molly Johnson-Jones discusses the future of flexible working, how companies can “turn hiring into marketing” and why she thinks some corporate CEOs are using flexible working as a scapegoat for innovation failures.   Flexa is a careers platform that aggregates a company’s workplace benefits to give job candidates more information when applying for a role. Johnson-Jones co-...

Sam Grice, founder and CEO of Octopus Legacy, discusses how the administrative side of death can make the grieving process much harder, why we need to be able to talk about death to plan our lives properly and keeping the ethos of his business alive after it was acquired.    Grice founded the company, originally called Guardian Angel, in 2016 after facing difficulties when dealing with the sudden...

Improbable CEO and co-founder Herman Narula makes the case for the metaverse amid claims it is dead before it started, unpacks his company’s recent commercial deals and explains the impact AI is having on virtual world-building.   Improbable develops the infrastructure for virtual worlds. Backed by the likes of SoftBank and Andreessen Horowitz, the London-based company designs, builds and operates...

Max Jamilly, co-founder of Hoxton Farms, discusses why developing lab-based fat is the secret ingredient for the cultivated meat industry, why some people oppose lab-grown meat and how the regulatory progress for getting new alternative proteins in shops is going.    Jamilly co-founded the London-based cultivated fat startup in 2020 alongside his lifelong friend Ed Steele. Jamilly breaks down the...

Lord Tim Clement-Jones, Liberal Democrat peer, explains why a lack of consistency from the government hasn’t helped startups, weighs in on the debate around using copyrighted material to train AI systems, and unpacks why regulation isn’t the enemy of innovation.     Lord Clement-Jones was chair of the Liberal Party from 1986-1988. He was made CBE for political services in 1988 and a life peer in 1...

Louise Harris, co-founder and CEO of Tramshed Tech, discusses the challenges and opportunities for the Welsh tech sector, unpacks the country’s sub-sector strengths from semiconductors to creative, and mulls what a changing political landscape might mean for businesses.   Harris co-founded Tramshed with Mark John in 2015. It now has six co-working sites across Wales and provides startup support th...

Oxa CEO Gavin Jackson explains why the UK is well-positioned to be a leader in autonomous vehicles, breaks down Oxa’s strategy for commercialisation, and unpacks who is liable in the event of an autonomous vehicle crashing.   Oxa, formerly known as Oxbotica, is developing software for autonomous vehicles. Founded in 2014, it is focusing on passenger transportation and industrial autonomy. It has r...

Allan Nixon, head of science of technology at Onward, shares his assessment of the Spring Budget, outlines steps he thinks Whitehall could take to improve tech sector growth, and compares the Labour and Conservative parties' approach to tech policy.    Nixon joined Onward, a centre-right think tank, in April 2023. In this episode, he unpacks Spring Budget announcements – from pension fund reform t...

Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, unpacks what the UK must do to maintain its historical strength in financial technology, why clarity in regulation for crypto, BNPL and open banking is vital, and what needs to be done to tackle rising financial scams.    Hirt has been with Innovate Finance, the UK fintech industry body, for the past nine years after joining as a community lead in 2015. Hirt t...

Jess Jackson, investment manager at Praetura Ventures, discusses the challenges startups in the north face, the stark gender divide in the tech and investment industries and how the government should be supporting small businesses and underrepresented entrepreneurs.    Jackson joined the Manchester-based venture capital firm in 2022 after years of managing investments in the city at GC Angels. Pra...

Suki Fuller, founder of Miribure, discusses the power of advocacy to improve gender and ethnic diversity in tech, unpacks the importance of storytelling in data, and explains why we should dispel the myth that tech is a “highfalutin career path”.  In this episode, Fuller shares her experience as a woman and person of colour working in tech and why it’s important to raise awareness “every single da...

Dr Angie Ma, co-founder of Faculty, explains how AI poses both a threat and an opportunity during an election year, explains why the company stopped doing political work post-Brexit referendum, and shares her top productivity tips for entrepreneurs.   Ma founded Faculty with Dr Marc Warner and Andy Brookes in 2014. The London-based firm began as a fellowship to help academics become commercial dat...

Euan Blair, CEO of Multiverse, discusses the role that apprenticeships can play in the future of work, the impact of AI on skills, and the challenges of breaking into the US market.   Blair founded Multiverse in 2016. The edtech company’s focus is on matching diverse talent from a range of backgrounds with upskilling opportunities. It has trained over 10,000 apprentices in partnership with more th...

Sunderland Software City CEO David Dunn explains how the North East can grow its tech sector, gives his assessment of the government’s tech department, and explains how increasing the number of regional startups can help the UK become a “tech powerhouse”.  From Newcastle to Middlesbrough, the North East of England is bursting with clusters of tech innovation. But Dunn believes that with the right...

Michelle Donelan, the tech secretary, discusses the government’s plan to make the UK a “scaleup powerhouse” and provides more detail on some of the policy support measures. The secretary of state answers questions about her goal to make the UK home to half of all European tech unicorns by 2030 and whether immigration policy is harming UK tech growth. Elsewhere, Donelan responds to concerns that sc...

Simon Bumfrey, head of technology and life sciences at HSBC Innovation Banking, shares how the lender rebranded from Silicon Valley Bank UK, what happened immediately after that "seismic” rescue weekend in March, and a look ahead to the big themes defining the tech ecosystem in 2024.  HSBC Innovation Banking offers flexible banking solutions for startups, scaleups, growth businesses, investors and...

Rory Cellan-Jones, former BBC technology correspondent, revisits career highlights interviewing the biggest names in tech, from Elon Musk to Bill Gates. The writer and author recalls the frenzy of the dot-com bubble in the UK – and explains the similarities and differences between the plummeting valuations of startups today.     Cellan-Jones left the BBC in 2021 after four decades at the broadcast...

Baroness Martha Lane Fox reflects on a challenging year for tech businesses, explains why we should be more concerned about a “profound shift in information flows” than destruction by robots, and unpacks why we shouldn’t be too pessimistic about startup funding. Elsewhere on the show, she looks ahead to a year of political uncertainty and explains why the first trillionaire in the world will “prob...

Dr Nicky Dee, founder and CEO of Carbon13, explains why climate tech innovation is cause for optimism despite a lack of progress from initiatives like COP, unpacks why carbon offsetting is still the “Wild West” and reveals which climate solutions provide the “best bang for buck”.     Carbon13 is a venture builder for the climate emergency. The Cambridge-based firm selects, supports and invests in...

Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO and co-founder of the Stemettes, discusses the power of role models for women in tech, how AI for good shouldn’t just focus on boosting productivity, and why a fixation on ‘wokeism’ is a roadblock to the government's science and tech superpower goals.     Imafidon is a British-Nigerian social entrepreneur and computer scientist. She founded Stemettes, a social enterpris...

Dom Hallas, executive director of the Startup Coalition, reveals his top policy wishes for UK tech in the upcoming Autumn Statement and shares his assessment of the tech legislation agenda for 2024, including the Automated Vehicles Bill. Elsewhere in this episode, Hallas explains why he thinks the UK’s AI Safety Summit was a success, why he’s optimistic about either a Labour or Conservative govern...

Amman Ahmed, founder of Music For Pets, discusses building a successful brand from nothing, how music can become an integral part of an animal's life, and the importance of being genuinely human in business. Ahmed explains how trusting yourself, your team and your product is essential and urges founders to consider their priorities when seeking lofty valuations.    Ahmed launched Music For Pets as...