Economically empowering small businesses – Fi Sellick, Square

Fi Sellick, head of UK strategy at Square, discusses how macroeconomic challenges impact small businesses as well as their payment providers, how Square is implementing AI across different markets and cryptocurrency’s role in democratising finance. Square is a contactless payment system for businesses co-founded by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey. The company partners with firms offering support in payments and point-of-sale.

Karen McCormick, chief investment officer at Beringea, discusses the relationship between the business, technology and investment communities of the UK and the US, why the entrepreneurial spirit of the UK is catching up to Silicon Valley and why almost every business has become an AI business. Beringea is a transatlantic venture capital investment group jointly based in London and Michigan. McCormick discusses the challenges tech companies in Europe face when trying to emulate the success of US tech giants and what firms like Beringea look for in a portfolio company. 

Christoph Lippuner, co-founder and chief executive of Semble, discusses why healthcare professionals are far too often victims of extreme burnout, why that is a problem for everyone and the challenges he faced raising money for his business. Semble provides management software for healthcare providers. The platform helps clinicians and clinics manage everything from scheduling, billing, and prescribing to patient data and administrative workflows, aiming to reduce manual work and amplify time spent on patient care. 

Richard Jeffery, co-founder and chief executive officer of ActiveOps, discusses the challenges of managing work productivity in large organisations and the impact of AI on decision intelligence and operational efficiency.   ActiveOps is a workflow management software provider founded in 2005, now operating in 40 countries around the world.

Calum Chase, co-founder of Conscium, discusses why fears of an AI winter have been greatly exaggerated, why the industry has surpassed the hype phase and will continue to grow and the transformational impacts already happening and those yet to come. Conscium is a research organisation focused on applied AI consciousness. The group was founded to explore the questions of the nature of consciousness and how that can apply to AI technology. 

Lisa Haycox, chief executive of Explore Learning, discusses the technologies that should and should not be used in children’s education, how perceptions of digital learning changed after the pandemic and how AI represents the future of edtech. Explore Learning is a tuition provider for young students via its digital platform. Haycox discusses the shortfalls of traditional schooling structures and the pros and cons of supplementing education with technology. 

Jo Cox, chief executive officer of ImServ, discusses how smart tracking of energy use works for businesses, how AI can help collect and manage energy data and the myths around smart meters.   IMServ is a data collection and energy metering firm. Cox, who was appointed as the group’s CEO in 2024, discusses the importance of understanding baseline energy usage to improve efficiency and reduce carbon footprints. 

Caroline Seton, co-founder of Forest, discusses the cultural shift in perceptions of cycling brought in by bike hire services, the infrastructural barriers to encourage mass cycling and navigating the venture capital landscape. Forest, founded as Human Forest, is a London-based bicycle hiring service competing with the likes of Lime. The company was founded in 2020 and has become one of the UK capital's most used bike rental firms. 

Rob Whitehead, chief executive of MSquared and co-founder of Improbable discusses why despite a drop in the initial hype, companies in the space are still making exciting innovations in metaverse technology. Whitehead explains why different iterations of virtual space technology have struggled to take off and why focusing on the correct use cases that properly utilise the technology is the key for consumers to enjoy metaverse experiences. 

Dr Jane Jin, founder and chief operating officer of OXCCU, discusses the complexity of developing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the history of how it has been deployed in the past and just how impactful viable could be for the environment and the aviation industry.  OXCCU is a spinout from the University of Oxford developing technology to turn waste carbon into sustainable aviation fuel as well as climate friendly chemical products and biodegradable plastics.