The Disruptors | Founders outline the problem, solution and unique value proposition that led to the creation of their business


The idea of GuestReady started in Taiwan in 2016 when I was renting out a room in my flat on Airbnb. I quickly learned how difficult and time-consuming hosting was, especially since I was often away for work.

Read more

Leave a comment

Introducing Cordy Griffiths, CEO of Ballou | Building brand awareness and engaging with the press


For any start-up, building brand awareness is one of the highest priorities on the to-do list. After building a great product that solves a lucrative problem, along with a world-class team to keep the momentum galloping along, getting your story out there is a key component of driving growth.

Read more

Leave a comment

The energy sector is going through massive transition and Upside Energy are at the forefront of change. Devrim Celal, CEO of Upside Energy, explains!


Improvements in technology and the internet of things (IoT) are transforming the way energy is being generated, used and traded. With countries across the world committing to ambitious carbon reduction targets and the cost of renewable technologies reducing, we are seeing the energy landscape evolve at pace.

Read more

Leave a comment

The staffing crisis in Healthcare is a huge problem. Fresh from a £5m Series A Round, Charles Armitage CEO at Florence, has a cure!


We’re living through a time of unprecedented demand on the care workforce in the UK. Across the country, 10% of all healthcare shifts are filled by temporary workers and the way they are managed – by expensive and inefficient recruitment agencies – is bleeding billions of pounds out of the system.

Read more

Leave a comment

Briefing | Fitness to Scale is an accurate predictor of commercial outperformance! We catch up with Ed Lascelles, Head of Technology Investment, AlbionVC


A positive workplace culture is a vitally important feature of early stage businesses, conferring competitive advantage on those that prioritise its development and nourish it over time.Workplace culture starts to form when founders make their first hires and the dynamics within the executive team start to form. It is made up of a number of attributes: some tangible, others less so.

Certain characteristics are obviously positive, such as teamwork, just as some are clearly undesirable, like bullying. Many others, for example learning, purpose, authority, stability, results, risk, safety, fall somewhere in-between.

Read more

Leave a comment

The Disruptors | Founders outline the problem, solution and unique value proposition that led to the creation of their business


There was there no simple, chic and affordable way to buy flowers online.

I was buying my clothes on Net-a-Porter, my groceries on Ocado and everything else on Amazon, yet I was still schlepping to the Covent Garden flower market to buy flowers to avoid paying Chelsea florist prices.

Read more

Leave a comment

As both mainstream medicine and personalised therapeutics go through fundamental change, leading entrepreneurs provide their vision of the future


We’re at a crossroads when it comes to traditional healthcare across Europe. In a world of an ageing population and rising costs, healthcare systems are at a breaking point. Barriers are put in people’s way and stop them from getting the support they need, be that financial barriers, lack of knowledge or even time pressures.

Read more

Leave a comment

Introducing Joe Knowles, Principal at Smedvig Capital | Inside the mind of a VC : How we work and what we look for!


At Smedvig Capital we lead investments in tech and tech-enabled businesses at Series A and Series B. Our approach is to act with conviction, backing 2-3 business a year, becoming a long-term, supportive partner to a focussed family of companies.

Read more

Leave a comment

The Disruptors | Founders outline the problem, solution and unique value proposition that led to the creation of their business (3)


Life insurance normally makes people uncomfortable. Nobody wants to think about death, and especially not about the bureaucracy that comes with it. But life insurance wasn’t always like this: it used to be a force for good, a source of comfort.

Read more

Leave a comment

Q and A | Kjartan Rist, Founding Partner of Concentric


Is Andreesen Horwitz’s step of renouncing its VC status a sign of the future? (Forbes April 30.19)

A16Z, like much of the VC industry, is responding to the need for greater flexibility in the modern world. Investment opportunities are not homogeneous, rather they come in all shapes and structures. Meanwhile, private markets are growing, offering more opportunities and greater demand to try new things. The move by A16Z enables it to take these opportunities and attract the best deals, by attracting a broader range of talent, driving untraditional thinking and building a differentiated brand.

Read more

Leave a comment