How to ensure the UK lives up to its startup exit potential – Husayn Kassai, co-founder, Onfido

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 through programmes on topics such as investor readiness and exports. Tramshed is supported by strategic partners in the UK and Europe, including Google for Startups, Microsoft, Barclays Eagle Labs and SQY. Harris is also a member of the Welsh Government International Strategy Board and UK Tech Cluster Group.  

Oxa 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 raised more than £150m in funding, including from Google parent company Alphabet. The Oxford-headquartered company recently announced a commercial partnership with a passenger shuttle service in Florida, US. Oxa has been sharing industry input into the UK’s Automated Vehicles Bill, which is currently progressing through parliament. Jackson, who previously held senior leadership positions at Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, was appointed CEO of Oxa in December 2021. 

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 to PISCES. He explains why DSIT and the Treasury need to revamp their spending processes to ensure investments keep pace with the tech sector, particularly in areas like compute infrastructure. Elsewhere, Nixon shares suggestions for Whitehall to cut "bureaucratic red tape" that could support the UK's science and tech sector. Prior to joining Onward, Nixon served in various special advisor roles for the UK government – including to the prime minister, security minister and health secretary. He has also worked in Parliament.