Ignoring the sceptics, Ahti Heinla, CEO, Starship Technologies
Ahti Heinla, CEO of Starship Technologies and one of the original creators of Skype discusses the surprising truth behind Estonia’s digital transformation over the past three decades, the massive and enduring impact of Skype and why whether its video calls or delivery robots, his businesses have always been the target of sceptics. Heinla helped create the iconic video conferencing software back in 2003. Today, the Estonian is focusing his efforts on Starship Technologies, which develops autonomous last mile delivery robots.
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28:06
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28:06
The UK doesn’t have to be Silicon Valley – Elena Pantazi, partner, Northzone
Elena Pantazi, a partner at Northzone, discusses the challenges founders have managing startups in a fluctuating industry, why the UK might not need to compare itself to Silicon Valley and how VCs can unfortunately treat male founders very differently to women. Northzone is a multi-stage venture capital fund based in London. It has backed some of Europe’s largest tech companies, including Spotify, Klarna and Kahoot. Pantazi talks the importance of mentorship and competing against tech giants in the war for talent.
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32:29
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32:29
Balancing regulation and innovation, Jessica Lennard, chief strategy officer, CMA
Jessica Lennard, chief strategy officer at the CMA, discusses how the regulator has to balance its work with the world’s largest tech companies with the vast startup market, how the CMA’s competition regulation is evolving to suit innovation and why the wider regulatory regime as a whole is changing in the era of the modern industrial strategy. The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK’s regulator for corporate competition. Overseeing areas such as mergers and acquisitions, ensuring companies meet pro-competition requirements and consumer protection.
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33:36
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33:36
Underinvestment in defence has left the UK vulnerable, Tanya Suarez, CEO, IoT Tribe
Tanya Suarez, chief executive of IoT Tribe and head of the JANUS consortium, discusses why UK defence underinvestment has left the country vulnerable, the rising danger from international actors and the surprisingly thriving startup ecosystem in the defence tech sector. IoT Tribe is an accelerator group that was appointed by the government’s Defence and Security Accelerator to run programmes for startups in the space. IoT Tribe leads the group of specialist organisations called JANUS, the UK participant in NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic.
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31:18
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31:18
Solving the greatest problem holding back UK tech – Ed Bussey, CEO, Oxford Science Enterprises
Ed Bussey, CEO of Oxford Science Enterprises, discusses why time is running out to solve British tech’s scaleup funding gap, why the potential for the UK tech industry is so much greater than its current performance and an out-there idea to improve the competitiveness of the London public markets. Oxford Science Enterprises is a venture capital firm managing assets worth more than £800m. The group operates in partnership with the University of Oxford and is a prominent backer of spinouts from the university.
Each week, Jane Wakefield sits down with some of the key movers and shakers from the UK tech ecosystem for the UKTN Podcast. Learn growth strategies from both seasoned and up-and-coming founders, hear market sentiments from investors, and understand the tech policy affecting businesses across the country.
The UKTN Podcast provides insight into the most influential people in the UK’s innovation economy, exploring their personal and professional journeys and hearing their views on the hottest tech topics of the day.
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