Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology
Riding Unicorns 254 episodes Nov 11, 2026
Riding Unicorns is hosted by investors James Pringle and Hector Mason and explores the companies, ideas, and decisions shaping the future of technology. Each episode features candid conversations with founders, operators, and investors about building and backing category-defining companies. Topics include product-market fit, raising capital, hiring exceptional teams, scaling globally, and navigating make-or-break moments. It offers practical lessons rarely found in playbooks for anyone building, investing, or interested in how great technology companies are created.
Episodes
Adam Turaev, Co-Founder of Praktika: $55M ARR, 30 Million Learners and the Future of AI Education
In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Adam Turaev, Co-Founder & CEO of Praktika, an AI-powered language learning platform that has grown to $55 million ARR, more than 30 million learners and almost 500,000 paying subscribers since launching in 2024.Adam shares his journey from growing up in Chechnya, where access to education helped shape his ambitions, to building
Shah Ramezani, Founder of Noah: Hiring Exceptional Talent, Stablecoins and Building Ahead of the Market
Shah Ramezani, Founder & CEO of Noah, a global payments infrastructure company using stablecoin technology to make international payments faster and more efficient. Following a $38 million seed round, Noah now supports 60+ currencies across 150+ markets, with payouts to 60+ countries. The company holds 40+ licences and serves over 200 clients, including Western Union, Checkout.com and Opera.Sh
Yaron Valler, Founder of Target Global: Backing 15+ Unicorns, Why Outsiders Win and the Future of AI
Yaron Valler, Founder of Target Global, a European venture capital firm managing more than €3 billion. With over three decades of experience as an engineer, entrepreneur and investor, Yaron has backed more than 15 unicorns, including companies such as Delivery Hero and DocPlanner.Yaron shares the lessons he's learnt from decades of investing, why understanding people is the most important ski
Building Satellites Closer to Earth: Anatolii Papulov, CEO of NewOrbit, on VLEO, SpaceTech and the Future of Space Infrastructure
In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Anatolii Papulov, Co-Founder & CEO of NewOrbit, the UK SpaceTech company developing satellites designed to operate much closer to Earth than conventional satellite constellations. The company recently raised an $18.5 million Series A to bring its technology to market.Most satellites operate around 500–600km above Earth. NewOrbi
6 Years, 250+ Episodes: James & Hector on Venture, AI, Investing and the Lessons We’ve Learned
For this special episode of Riding Unicorns, there is no guest. James Pringle and Hector Mason sit down together to look back at six years of the podcast, what they've learned along the way and how much the technology and venture landscape has changed since the first episode in 2020.They discuss how Riding Unicorns has shaped their careers, from Hector going from Associate to General Partner
Powering the AI Era: Karl Bach, CEO of Axle Energy on Virtual Power Plants and Building in the Physical World
AI is creating extraordinary new demand for electricity. But what happens when the grid can't keep up?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Karl Bach, Co-Founder & CEO of Axle Energy, the energy technology company building a virtual power plant from hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles, batteries and heat pumps.Rather than relying solely on large power s
Building the Data Brain for AI Agents: Toby Mather, Co-Founder of Rig, on Data Infrastructure, Enterprise Sales and the Agentic Future
What happens when companies deploy AI agents before fixing the data those agents rely on?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Toby Mather, Co-Founder of Rig, the AI-native data infrastructure company building the data layer that allows humans and AI agents to work from the same trusted context.Rig started as a "data brain" sitting on top of platforms like Sn
Building AI Workers for the Physical Economy: Robin Van Aeken, CEO of Magentic, on Agents, Manufacturing and Supply Chains
What happens when AI moves beyond the digital world and starts transforming the companies that manufacture the things around us?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Robin Van Aeken, Co-Founder & CEO of Magentic, the AI company building digital workers for some of the world's largest manufacturers.Magentic's AI agents, or "mages", work alongside
Scaling a Unicorn at Machine Speed: Mirko Novakovic, CEO of Dash0, on AI-Native Engineering and Growth
What happens to software engineering when almost every line of code is written by AI?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James sits down with Mirko Novakovic, Founder & CEO of Dash0, the AI-native observability company helping engineering teams understand, monitor and fix problems in increasingly complex software systems.Dash0 has grown at remarkable speed, 4x-ing ARR in six months and recentl
Building a Profitable AI Company: Krish Ramineni, CEO of Fireflies.ai, on Virality, AI Agents and Scaling
How do you build a global AI company without burning hundreds of millions of dollars?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James sits down with Krish Ramineni, Co-Founder & CEO of Fireflies.ai, the AI meeting assistant used by millions of people around the world.Fireflies started building with AI long before the current boom. After struggling to raise capital, Krish and his co-founder became obs
Building a Breakout Consumer Brand: Gyve Safavi, Co-Founder & CEO of SURI, on Product, Margins and Scaling
How do you build a consumer product that people genuinely love, while still making the economics work?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James sits down with Gyve Safavi, Co-Founder & CEO of SURI, the award-winning electric toothbrush company combining design, performance and sustainability.Before founding SURI, Gyve spent eight years at Procter & Gamble, ultimately leading brand manageme
Fixing Music Royalties: Ryan Edwards, CEO of Audoo, on Data, Hardware and Building the Industry Standard
What happens when you hear your own hit song playing in public, but never receive the royalty?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James sits down with Ryan Edwards, Founder & CEO of Audoo, the music technology company rebuilding how public performance royalties are measured and distributed.The idea for Audoo came from Ryan’s own experience as a musician. After hearing one of his songs playing
Building Sovereign AI: Yang Li, CEO of Cosine on AI Models, Coding Agents and the UK's Frontier AI Future
What does it take to build a frontier AI model lab in a world dominated by OpenAI, Anthropic and Google?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Yang Li, Co-Founder & CEO of Cosine, one of the UK's leading frontier AI companies building sovereign AI models for enterprise and government.Cosine began by fine-tuning foundation models for software engineering before
Ashley Montanaro, CEO of Phasecraft on Quantum Advantage, Deep Tech, and the Future of Computing
What happens when computing reaches the limits of classical physics?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Ashley Montanaro, Co-Founder & CEO of Phasecraft, one of Europe's leading quantum computing companies.Backed by Episode 1, Phasecraft is building the software and algorithms that will unlock the commercial potential of quantum computers. While much of the
Kate Jarvis, CEO of Fifth Dimension on PropTech, Vertical AI and Building the Bloomberg Terminal for Real Estate
How do you build AI for one of the world's largest, most valuable, and least digitised industries?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Dr. Kate Jarvis, CEO & Co-Founder of Fifth Dimension, the AI company transforming how institutional real estate investors make decisions.With a PhD from Stanford in machine learning and linguistics, Kate has spent her career a
Laura Modiano, Head of Founder Experience @ OpenAI on Building in the AI Era, and Why Anyone Can Now Create a Company
Laura Modiano leads Founder Experience at OpenAI, a newly created function designed to help startups build, grow, and scale on the world's leading AI platform.Having previously worked with startups at AWS and now at OpenAI, Laura sits at the intersection of founders, technology, and the future of company building.In this episode, Laura shares how AI is fundamentally changing the startup journ
How Cleo Reached $400M ARR: Barney Hussey-Yeo on AI, Growth, and Building a Consumer Fintech Unicorn
What does it take to build an AI company a decade before the world realises AI is the future?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Barney Hussey-Yeo, Founder & CEO of Cleo, the AI financial assistant helping millions of consumers make smarter money decisions.Barney started building Cleo years before ChatGPT brought AI into the mainstream. Today, Cleo has grown into
The Future of Finance is AI-Native: Jonathan Sanders, CEO of Light, on Organic Software, AI Agents, and Rebuilding Business Finance
What happens when software adapts to humans, rather than humans adapting to software?In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Jonathan Sanders, Founder & CEO of Light, the AI-native finance platform redefining how businesses manage money.Jonathan's journey spans investment banking, consulting, Pleo, founding Juni, and now building Light. Along the way, he has dev
Steve Domin, Founder & CEO @ Duffel – Rebuilding Travel Infrastructure, Surviving COVID, and the Future of API-First Companies
Steve Domin, Founder & CEO of Duffel, the company rebuilding the infrastructure layer of the global travel industry.Duffel is taking on one of the most complex and outdated sectors, creating modern, developer-first APIs for flights, hotels, and more. Backed by investors including Index Ventures and Benchmark, the company has raised over $50M to transform how travel is bought and sold.Steve sha
Building the backbone of AI with Mahdi Yahya, Co-Founder @ Radiant on Compute, Power and the Future of Infrastructure
Mahdi Yahya, Founder and CEO of Ori, is now part of Radiant following its partnership with Brookfield.Mahdi is building at the centre of one of the most important shifts in technology: the global race to scale AI infrastructure.We cover: From telecoms to data centres: lessons from building infrastructure businesses from age 20 Why Ori chose the harder path of building for a future that did not ye
Charlotte Palmer, VP of Venture Capital at Integra Global Advisors on Backing Emerging Managers, Access, and Venture Fundraising
This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Charlotte Palmer, Vice President of Venture Capital at Integra Global Advisors.Charlotte sits on the other side of the table as an LP, backing emerging venture funds globally. In this episode, she lifts the lid on how LPs actually evaluate VCs, what really matters beyond headline performance, and why many GPs still get fundraising wrong.We cover:• How
Inside Fuse Energy: Alan Chang on Building a $5B Energy Giant and Chasing £1B ARR
This week on Riding Unicorns, we welcome back Alan Chang, Founder and CEO of Fuse Energy.Since his last appearance, Fuse has scaled rapidly, reaching a $5B valuation and setting its sights on £1B ARR. In this episode, Alan breaks down what it really takes to build a full-stack energy company from scratch, and why solving energy is one of the hardest and most important challenges of our time.We cov
What Makes a Top VC Fund Today? Dave Neumann at Schroders Capital on LP Thinking, DPI and Venture Returns
What does a genuinely great VC fund look like today, from an LP’s perspective?In this episode, James and Hector are joined by Dave Neumann, Investment Manager at Schroders Capital, one of the most experienced institutional investors in venture. With a career spanning decades and exposure to top-tier global funds, Dave shares how leading LPs actually evaluate venture firms, and where many GPs get i
Tony Jamous & Hadi Moussa at Oyster HR on leadership transition, CEO succession and unlocking global talent
Tony Jamous first joined Riding Unicorns in January 2023, just after Oyster became a unicorn. Since then, the company has raised its Series D, Tony has moved into the Executive Chairman role, and Hadi Moussa has stepped in as CEO.In this episode, James sits down with both Tony and Hadi to unpack what really happens when a founder hands over the CEO role in a high-growth company. They discuss why T
Nikola Mrkšić, Co-Founder & CEO at PolyAI on Building One of the World’s Leading Voice AI Companies
Nikola Mrkšić is the Co-Founder and CEO of PolyAI, one of the world’s leading voice AI companies, helping enterprises automate customer service through conversational AI at massive scale.Before PolyAI, Nikola was a machine learning researcher and part of the team behind Siri. In this episode, he joins James to unpack what the world is only now starting to understand about voice AI, why most automa
Matt Wilson, Co-Founder & CEO at Jack and Jill, on AI Career Agents, Talent Density, and Building the Next Network-Effect Marketplace
This week on Riding Unicorns, Matt Wilson returns to the podcast. Matt previously joined us in September 2022 to talk about Omnipresent, which has since been acquired by Deel. He is now back building Jack and Jill, one of the most talked-about venture-backed companies in Europe right now.Jack and Jill is bringing conversational AI to job hunting and hiring, with two agents built for two audiences:
Nicolò Frisiani, Co-Founder & CEO at Lupa, on Building the AI Operating System for Vets, Enterprise Sales, and Scaling at Speed
Nicolò Frisiani is Co-Founder & CEO of Lupa, the world’s first enterprise-ready AI operating system for veterinary clinics.Lupa has raised over $25m from investors including Singular and Firstminute Capital, and is on a mission to modernise a sector still running on 1980s technology.In this episode, Nicolò shares:Why Lupa started as a consumer app and quickly pivoted to a full-stack operating
George Davis, Founder & CEO at Lorum on Rebuilding Global Clearing, Why Dollars Are Broken, and Building a Payments Only Bank
George Davis, Founder and CEO of Lorum.George has been deep in payments for years: Head of Product at TrueLayer, then co-founder of BVNK, and now building Lorum to tackle the hardest layer of the stack: global clearing.We get into:Why payments becomes an obsession if you look closely enoughWhat “rebuilding clearing from the ground up” actually means, in plain EnglishVirtual accounts, ledgering, Sw
David von Rosen, Founder of Lottoland on Majority Stake Investing, Loving Risk, Dubai’s Energy, and the Steve Jobs Turtleneck Story
James sits down with Dr. David von Rosen, the serial founder behind Lottoland and 25 Degrees, and the Principal of the VONROSEN family office, through which he invests globally and pan-sector in fast-growth pre-IPO startups.David does not pretend to have one neat playbook. He prefers volatility, backs ideas that feel genuinely new, and invests like an operator, often taking a significant stake so
Harrison Rose, Co-Founder at GoodFit on Mapping Your Market, Modern Go To Market, and Lessons from Building Paddle
Harrison Rose co-founded Paddle, one of the UK’s standout B2B billing and payments companies. Now he is building GoodFit, a go to market platform helping teams prioritise the right accounts, at the right time, with the right data.In this episode, Harrison breaks down a simple idea most teams still get wrong: before you buy another shiny GTM tool, make sure you are actually selling to qualified cus
Ben Freeman, Co-Founder & CEO at Omnea on Building an AI Native Procurement Platform, Talent Density, and Founder Paranoia
Ben Freeman is the Co-founder and CEO of Omnea, an AI native procurement and supplier management platform used by companies from the mid-market through to enterprise, including Synthesia, Typeform, Spotify, Monzo, Albertsons, and The Adecco Group.Ben’s path to procurement was not obvious. From running a bootstrapped events business in Manchester (and dropping out of uni), to a stint in investment
Why "AI Visibility" is critical for your brand with James Cadwallader, Co-Founder & CEO at Profound
James and Hector sit down with James Cadwallader, CEO and Co Founder of Profound, to unpack how AI is reshaping the internet and what that means for every brand on the planet.James explains why large language models are not just a new interface, but a fundamental platform shift in how people retrieve information. Instead of humans clicking blue links, user agents now visit the web on our behalf, r
From Formula 3 to AI Accountants: Ariel Harmoko, Co-Founder & CEO @ Artifact
Ariel Harmoko is the Co Founder and CEO of Artifact AI. Ariel joined James and Hector for a conversation that moves from race tracks to reconciliation engines.Ariel grew up in Jakarta, was thrown into Go Karts at eight, and went on to race professionally all the way to Formula 3 alongside the likes of Lando Norris and George Russell. That early immersion in high performance teams, engineering and
Building the AI Super Connector with Andrew D’Souza, Founder of Boardy and Clearco
Andrew D’Souza is the Founder of Boardy, the Creandum backed AI super connector reshaping how founders and investors meet and build trust.Before Boardy, Andrew co-founded Clearco, one of the first revenue based financing companies. Clearco deployed over $5bn to thousands of businesses, scaled to six hundred employees, and passed one hundred million dollars in revenue. Andrew is one of the few foun
Inside SVB's dramatic acquisition and the Future of UK Venture with Erin Platts, CEO of Octopus Ventures
Erin Platts is the CEO of Octopus Ventures and former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank UK & Europe — one of the most pivotal figures in the UK tech ecosystem.In this conversation, Erin opens up in remarkable detail about her personal journey from two decades inside SVB to leading one of Europe’s most active venture firms. She shares the inside story of the SVB collapse — the all-nighters, the adrena
How SuperAwesome Built the World’s Biggest Kid Tech Platform with Co-founder Lee Veitch
Lee Veitch is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of SuperAwesome, the world’s leading kid-tech and youth marketing platform.SuperAwesome powers billions of kid-safe digital transactions every month — helping brands like LEGO, Disney, and Nickelodeon connect with young audiences responsibly and safely.Lee takes us behind the scenes of a remarkable 13-year journey — from the early days of fear, fr
Pioneering the AI-rollup model in the property management space with Dan Lifshits, Co-Founder @ Dwelly
The AI rollup transforming property managementThis week on Riding Unicorns, we sit down with Dan Lifshits, Co-Founder & COO of Dwelly — the AI-first lettings and property management platform reinventing how landlords, tenants, and agents interact.Dwelly is on a mission to modernise the UK rental market by acquiring traditional letting agencies and rebuilding them with technology at their core.
Building the "Spotify of Textbooks" with Gauthier Van Malderen, Founder @ Perlego
Hector is joined by Gauthier van Malderen, Founder and CEO of Perlego, the “Spotify for textbooks” and one of Europe’s leading edtech scale-ups.Gauthier shares the remarkable journey of building Perlego from a personal frustration with expensive university textbooks into a global subscription platform transforming access to educational content. He reflects on early failures, the turning points tha
Building the capital operating system for fast-growing tech companies with Paul Becker, Co-Founder & CEO of re:cap
This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Paul Becker, Co-Founder & CEO of re:cap, a fintech platform helping digital businesses unlock capital and understand their financial position through intelligent forecasting, real-time data insights, and flexible financing.In this wide-ranging conversation, Paul walks us through re:cap’s journey from an idea for automated due diligence software to
What happened to Babylon Health after reaching $1bn+ revenue? And how Ali Parsa is continuing his mission to fix healthcare for all with AI startup Quadrivia.
Ali first joined us in January 2022, when Babylon was still one of the most ambitious healthtech companies in the world. Today, he returns with a new mission, building Quadrivia and its clinical AI assistant, “Qu”, designed to automate millions of repetitive healthcare workflows and rebalance the global shortage of clinical labour.In this episode, Ali reflects candidly on the rise and fall of Baby
The future of Social Commerce with Sam Jacobs, Co-Founder @ Go Places
Sam Jacobs is the Co-Founder of Go Places, the operating system for social commerce.In just 18 months, Go Places has become a trusted partner to some of the world’s biggest brands including Samsung, Mars, The Body Shop, and Trip. Backed by deep experience from Amazon and Coca-Cola, Sam and his co-founder Jack are building the infrastructure layer for TikTok Shop, combining performance, content, li
AI, Infra vs Apps & Spotting Red Herrings with Akash Bajwa, Principal @ Earlybird
Akash Bajwa, Principal at Earlybird VC, one of Europe’s longest-standing early-stage funds.Akash shares his journey into venture and how he helped launch Earlybird’s London office, now a core hub for the firm. We dive into the state of AI investing, how to distinguish enduring companies from short-term hype, and what traits define the next wave of outlier founders.With experience backing companies
Investing in Africa's Digital Future, Lexi Novitske, GP @ Norrsken22
Lexi Novitske, General Partner at Norrsken22, a $205m growth-stage fund backing transformative tech companies across Africa.Lexi has spent over a decade living and investing in Nigeria, backing breakout African startups like Paystack, Flutterwave, and Smile Identity. As one of the continent’s most respected VCs, she shares how her team is building a truly Pan-African platform — with partners on th
Growth Equity, VCTs and Exits with Rupert West, Managing Director @ Puma Growth Partners
Please note: The topics covered in this episode should not be taken as investment advice.This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Rupert West, the founder and Managing Director of Puma Growth Partners, a UK-based growth equity investor backing companies at Series A with cheque sizes of £4–10m. Puma invests across consumer brands, B2B SaaS, and scalable business services, with a hands-on appro
Building Outreach to a $4bn unicorn and helping AI agents get paid with Paid.ai - Manny Medina, Co-Founder & CEO @ Paid.ai
This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Manny Medina, the visionary founder behind Outreach — the $4B sales engagement unicorn — and now co-founder & CEO of Paid.ai, a startup pioneering how AI agents get priced, paid, and scaled.We dive into Manny’s remarkable journey from zero to $250M+ ARR with Outreach, the gritty early days of selling door-to-door with no cash, and how he turned tha
Building, Backing & Scaling in an AI-Native World with Kenneth Auchenberg, Partner @ AlleyCorp
In this episode we are joined by Kenneth Auchenberg, Partner at AlleyCorp — one of New York’s most prolific early-stage funds known for incubating companies like MongoDB, Business Insider, and Radical AI.Kenneth’s journey from coding at 16 in Copenhagen to shaping global developer ecosystems at Stripe and Microsoft gives him a unique lens into the next generation of software businesses — and the r
Inside the Quantum Infrastructure Revolution with Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder & CEO @ Nu Quantum
This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Founder and CEO of Nu Quantum, a pioneering company building the networking layer for the quantum computing era.Carmen’s journey started in academia, researching quantum photonics, before she spun out Nu Quantum from the University of Cambridge. Now backed by top deep tech investors, the company is on a mission to connect qu
Building the "Lovable of Marketing" with Patrick Haede, Co-Founder & CEO @ Superscale AI
In this episode, we're joined by Patrick Haede, the founder of Superscale AI, a breakout new startup transforming how digital products are marketed. 🚀Inspired by Lovable’s success in democratising product-building, Patrick saw the next major frontier: distribution. In a world where anyone can now build a product, how do you market it effectively? Superscale AI is the answer — a platform that
Scaling from startup to £70M+ funding in 16 months with Paul Anthony, Co-founder of Primer & Colossal
Paul Anthony is the co-founder of Primer, a rapidly growing payment orchestration platform with over 200 employees and more than £70 million in funding from top-tier investors including Seed Camp, Balderton, Accel, and Iconic. His journey began as the first employee at a FinTech startup (now called Depay), followed by a stint at PayPal's Braintree division, before founding Primer to solve the
Simone Maini, CEO @ Elliptic, on Leading Through Crypto Winters and Building Elliptic into a Blockchain Analytics Leader
In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James and Hector sit down with Simone Maini, CEO of Elliptic, the world’s leading blockchain analytics company. Simone’s career path is anything but conventional — from a history degree and Deutsche Bank to leading a $100M+ funded crypto intelligence powerhouse.🧠 After 8 years in banking and a stint in anti-money laundering consulting, Simone joined Elliptic as
Pattern recognition and backing Europe's next unicorns with Andrei Brasoveanu, Partner @ Accel
From international math olympiads to high-frequency trading to leading deals at Accel, Andrei Brasoveanu has carved one of the most impressive careers in European tech. After a decade on Wall Street as a quant, he joined Accel’s London office and quickly became one of their top investors—backing breakout companies like Celonis and, more recently, Polar.In this episode, we explore the mindset, meth
Building Europe’s Investment Rails with Martin Kassing, Founder & CEO @ Upvest
This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Martin Kassing, founder and CEO of Upvest, one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech infrastructure companies.Martin’s journey spans private equity, Rocket Internet, multiple startups, and now leading a company that powers investment products for the likes of Revolut and N26. In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore what it really takes to buil
RU Summit 2025 with Yoann Pavy and Oana Jinga, in Partnership with Cooley LLP
In this special Riding Unicorns episode, recorded live during London Tech Week and hosted at Cooley’s London HQ, we bring you two candid conversations from the frontline of startup building.🚀 First up: Yoann Pavy, a growth marketing veteran (ex-Deliveroo, Depop, Perkbox), shares why distribution-first thinking is flipping product development on its head. From testing product ideas with viral TikTo
From Founder Failure to Building a €100M+ European VC Fund with Apostolos Apostolakis, Managing Partner @ VentureFriends
In this episode, we’re joined by Apostolos Apostolakis, the founder-turned-VC behind VentureFriends, a pan-European pre-seed and seed fund known for backing consumer and fintech breakouts like Plum, Blueground, Huspy, Carmoola and Instashop.Apostolos shares a remarkable story of resilience — from scaling a startup to €100M+ in revenue and 500 employees, to facing bankruptcy and rebuilding his care
Investing as a multi-stage fund into Europe's top startups with Deepka Rana, Principal @ Northzone
In this episode, we’re joined by Deepka Rana, Principal at leading venture fund Northzone, early backers of Klarna, Truelayer, Spotify, iZettle, Kahoot, and Personio. Deepka shares her journey from physics at Imperial and investment banking to investing in some of Europe’s most exciting startups.We unpack:💸 What it’s like to operate a billion-dollar multi-stage VC fund🧠 How founders should assess
Building voice-AI infrastructure and scaling go-to-market globally with Carles Reina, GTM @ ElevenLabs & Angel Investor
In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Carles Reina, Go-to-Market Lead at ElevenLabs, an AI Audio research and deployment company that tripled it's valuation to $3.3BN in January, after confirming a new $180M funding round. From starting out as a banker in Barcelona to scaling Uber’s first European team, and now investing in over 70 startups, Carles shares the hard-won lessons th
Building the universal integration layer for modern products and raising a Series A from GV with Romain Sestier & Guillaume Lebedel, Co-Founders @ StackOne
In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Romain Sestier and Guillaume Lebedel, the co-founders of StackOne, a rapidly growing startup that’s building the universal integration layer for modern SaaS and AI products. Hot off the back of their $20M Series A led by GV, the duo joins us to share their journey, insights, and lessons from the trenches.Romain and Guillaume have known each
Capsule Scale-Up 50 Panel with Poly AI, Flo Health, Carmoola, & Xampla
Recorded live at the Capsule Scale-Up 50 event in London on 30th April 2025, this episode features a standout panel discussion moderated by our co-host James Pringle.The Scale-Up 50 is Capsule’s flagship celebration of the UK’s fastest-growing, most exciting scale-ups, recognising the founders, leaders, and investors driving the next generation of breakout success stories. Supported by Cooper Parr
Building the Future of Marketing with Raffi Salama, CEO & Co-Founder @ Passionfruit
In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle is joined by Raffi Salama, Co-Founder & CEO of Passionfruit, a fast-growing marketing OS used by the world’s most ambitious brands to orchestrate campaigns across resourcing, planning, execution, and tracking.Raffi shares his journey from launching David Beckham’s Inter Miami football club to scaling Passionfruit across London, Lisbon, and now
Building the premium venture studio and fund for consumer brands with Mike Jones, Founding Partner @ Science
Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here.Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here.In this episode we're joined by Mike Jones, Managing Partner at Science Inc., a trailblazing venture studio behind breakout brands like Dollar Shave Club, Liquid Death, and DogVacay (merged with Rover).Mike is one of LA’s most prolific entrepreneurs a
Investing in the future of KidsTech, Gaming and Media with Dylan Collins, Founder @ SuperAwesome (acq. Epic Games)
Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here.Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here.In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by legendary repeat founder Dylan Collins, known for building and exiting three companies—including SuperAwesome, acquired by Epic Games.Dylan takes us on a fascinating journey from founding middleware for C
Investing in the B2B Fintech sector with Mark Beeston, Founder @ Illuminate Financial
Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here.Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here.In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle and Hector Mason are joined by Mark Beeston, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Financial—a thesis-driven venture capital firm investing in B2B FinTech and enterprise technology companies that are r
The firm with a 1-in-6 unicorn investment rate. Staffan Helgesson, General Partner @ Creandum
Subscribe to the Reading Unicorns newsletter here.Follow Riding Unicorns on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to the Riding Unicorns YouTube channel here.This episode sees James Pringle and Hector Mason sit down with Staffan Helgesson, General Partner of Creandum. Creandum is one of Europe's top early stage investors focused on Seed and Series A across a range of sectors from fintech to SaaS to devtool
Doing data driven VC differently with Joseph Pizzolato, Managing Partner @ Defiant VC
Subscribe to our newsletter here. Follow us on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to our YouTube channel here.Joseph Pizzolato is the Founder & General Partner at Defiant VC, a newly launched venture fund bringing a tech-first approach to investing.Joseph shares his journey from engineering to venture capital, his experiences at Vitruvian Partners and Felix Capital, and what led him to take the leap and
The future of car finance with Aidan Rushby, Co-founder & CEO @ Carmoola
Subscribe to our newsletter here.Follow us on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Aidan Rushby, Founder & CEO of Carmoola, a fintech company reinventing the way people buy used cars through a seamless, mobile-first car finance experience.Aidan shares his journey from running a property rental marketplace to identifying a mass
What is Corporate Venture Capital and how to do it well with Mike Smeed, Managing Director @ InMotion Ventures
Subscribe to our newsletter here.Follow us on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to our YouTube channel here. Mike Smeed, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s corporate venture capital arm.Mike shares his journey from a career in finance to leading one of the most active CVCs in the UK. He provides unique insights into the role of corporate venture capital in driving strategic innovati
Scooter regulation, supporting Lando to be a F1 driver, going all-in and reinventing Pensions with Adam Norris, Founder & CEO @ Pure Electric
Subscribe to our newsletter here.Follow us on LinkedIn here.Subscribe to our YouTube channel here.This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Adam Norris, Founder & CEO of Pure Electric, one of the leading premium electric scooter brands. Adam is also well known for playing a key role in managing the career of his son, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 driver.From building the UK’s largest pension bu
The next wave of Open Banking and what it means for customers with Stefano Vaccino, Founder and CEO @ Yapily
Stefano Vaccino is the Founder and CEO of Yapily, a leading open banking infrastructure provider.Stefano shares his unique journey from a career in nanotransistor research and investment banking to discovering his passion for technology and founding Yapily. We explore how open banking regulations like PSD2 inspired him to create a mission-driven company and the challenges he faced as a solo founde
Markeplaces, hard truths and angel investing with Mandeep Singh, ex-Founder @ Trouva (acq by Made.com).
Mandeep Singh is an angel investor and co-founder and former CEO of Trouva, a marketplace for independent boutiques that was acquired by Made.com.Mandeep takes us through his journey from founding Trouva, navigating its growth, and the eventual exit, to his current role as an active angel investor with a portfolio of over 80 companies.In this episode, we dive into:The story behind Trouva’s evoluti
The operational side of building a credit card rocketship with Tim Chong, Co-Founder & CEO @ Yonder
Tim Chong is the Co-Founder and CEO of Yonder, a modern lifestyle rewards credit card designed for young city adventurers.Tim shares his journey from growing up in Australia and a career in consulting to working at ClearScore and ultimately founding Yonder. We delve into the evolution of the Yonder product and brand, from solving credit challenges for expats to becoming a lifestyle companion for u
Going Public, democratising Pensions and scaling to the USA with Romi Savova, Founder & CEO @ PensionBee
This week on Riding Unicorns, we’re joined by Romina Savova, Founder & CEO of PensionBee, the platform transforming how people manage their pensions. With over 260,000 customers and £5.5 billion in assets under management, PensionBee has become a household name in the UK. Romina shares the journey of building a public company that empowers consumers to take control of their retirement savings.
Implementing change for startups and talent at a the government level with Dom Hallas, Executive Director @ Startup Coalition
This week on Riding Unicorns, we're joined by Dom Hallas, Executive Director at the Startup Coalition, the policy voice for UK tech startups and scaleups. Dom brings a wealth of insight into the intersection of tech, venture, and public policy, offering a fascinating look into the state of the UK ecosystem during a time of governmental and economic change.Dom discusses the Startup Coalition&a
The USA's most active investor with Ron Levin, Managing Partner @ Alumni Ventures
Ron Levin is the Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures, the most active venture capital firm in the US. Hector spoke to Ron to discuss his journey from entrepreneur to investor and his insights on scaling ventures and building impactful companies.Ron shares his fascinating career story, from organising trading card shows as a teenager to founding the travel-tech unicorn TravelPerk and eventually joi
The talent flywheel, product management and more with Martin Sokk, Co-Founder & CEO @ Lightyear
Martin Sokk is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lightyear. He joined Hector to discuss his journey from product management at Wise (formerly TransferWise) to building a company revolutionising retail investing in Europe.Martin shares how his product-driven mindset and relentless curiosity have shaped his career, offering insights into creating 10x products, scaling startups, and understanding customer ne
Matt Chandler, Principal @ Octopus Ventures
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
Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner @ Creator Ventures
Sasha Kaletsky, Managing Partner at Creator Ventures, joins James Pringle on Riding Unicorns to discuss his journey into venture capital, the evolution of Creator Ventures, and the unique insights creators bring to consumer internet investing.In this episode, Sasha dives into:The transition from an investment club to a $20M fundBacking transformative startups like beehiiv, Praktika.ai, & Eleve
Marketing Icon: Rory Sutherland (audio only)
Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, joins James Pringle and Hector Mason on Riding Unicorns to delve into the fascinating intersection of behavioural science, marketing, and business strategy. With a career dedicated to understanding human decision-making, Rory shares his unique perspective on how psychological insights can unlock growth and create competitive advantages in today's b
Vidu Shanmugarajah, Partner @ GV
Vidu Shanmugarajah is a Partner at GV (formerly Google Ventures), where he invests in transformative tech companies across Europe. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, Vidu joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to share his journey from corporate law to venture capital, highlighting how his unique background has shaped his approach to investing.Vidu discusses his atypical career path, starting as an
Edwina Johnson, GM @ MoneyGram International
Edwina Johnson is the General Manager of MoneyGram Online International, responsible for overseeing the company’s digital consumer business outside of North America. In this episode of Riding Unicorns, Edwina joins James Pringle and Hector Mason to talk about her diverse career, ranging from working with startups to corporate roles, as well as her experience as an angel investor and startup adviso
Paul Yacoubian, Founder & CEO @ Copy.ai
Paul Yacoubian is the Founder and CEO of Copy.ai, a company revolutionising the way businesses create marketing and sales copy by automating workflows with AI. Founded in 2020, Copy.ai initially helped distribute the value of GPT-3, but has since expanded to build an enterprise product streamlining go-to-market efforts for companies globally. In this episode, Paul joins hosts James Pringle and Hec
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