Investor Ready - The Funding Podcast

Episode 4: Priti Padhy from Cognino.ai

Starting from scratch at raising investment?  Join me as I interview Priti Padhy and find out how he ‘learnt on the job’ to successfully raise funding for Cognino.ai. Priti Padhy Bio Priti Padhy is one of the Co-founders and CEO at Cognino.ai.  Priti has worked across emerging technology for 25 years working in Japan, UK and USA. An entrepreneurial technologist at heart, Priti has been building products, incubating high-value complex and disruptive technology innovation with global engineering talents over the past 26 years. Priti has led one of the data and AI research groups at Microsoft for over a decade. This is where Priti started to see the value of AI and data. His vision for a more intelligent AI proposition was developed during this time. Social Media Links: Website: www.cognino.ai [http://www.cognino.ai/] LinkedIn: Cognino - https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognino-ai [https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognino-ai] Twitter: @cogninoai Cognino.ai Links: https://www.cognino.ai/cognino-ai-is-thrilled-to-be-mentioned-in-the-latest-forbes-article-top-machine-learning-startups-to-watch-in-2021/ [https://www.cognino.ai/cognino-ai-is-thrilled-to-be-mentioned-in-the-latest-forbes-article-top-machine-learning-startups-to-watch-in-2021/] https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognino-ai/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true [https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognino-ai/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true] Julie Barber Bio CEO of Spark! Consulting, a boutique business consultancy, Julie is also  an author, Non-Exec Director, Mentor and Speaker. Julie’s background is working with large financial corporates such as  KPMG and HSBC, and quasi-regulators like the Financial Services  Compensation Scheme.  At Spark! she now works with clients focused on growth, innovation and  transformation, from early stage startups to global corporates. Julie developed The Investor Ready Roadmap, a 6-step methodology to  ensure confidence and credibility when raising investment – this  methodology forms the basis of her No.1 best-selling book, Investor  Ready. Alongside Spark! Julie mentors business owners and founders through  roles with FinTech Wales and Dent Global. https://spark-consulting.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieabarber/ Is your Startup Investor ready? Benchmark your credibility with Investors and uncover opportunities to strengthen your investment case. Take a free scorecard here: https://investorready.scoreapp.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/investorreadypodcast/message

Episode 3: Marcus Love from Love Ventures

Join me as I speak to Marcus Love, Founding Partner at Love Ventures, about diversity, founder/market fit and the importance of scenario modelling.  Love Ventures invest at Seed and Late Seed, in Fintech and Proptech startups with large market opportunities. Marcus Love Bio Marcus has over 14 years of experience as an FCA approved financial professional in London. He worked most recently at William O’Neil+Co, the US headquartered equity research firm between 2011-2019. He has a strong track record of delivering global equity idea generation to investment managers, which enabled his clients to increase their portfolio performance. Over the last six years he has invested in 20 early-stage businesses and successfully built an angel syndicate. He progressed this syndicate into Love Ventures Fund I and is now further advancing the Love Ventures venture capital franchise with the launch of Fund II. https://loveventures.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/love-ventures/ Julie Barber Bio CEO of Spark! Consulting, a boutique business consultancy, Julie is also  an author, Non-Exec Director, Mentor and Speaker. Julie’s background is working with large financial corporates such as  KPMG and HSBC, and quasi-regulators like the Financial Services  Compensation Scheme.  At Spark! she now works with clients focused on growth, innovation and  transformation, from early stage startups to global corporates. Julie developed The Investor Ready Roadmap, a 6-step methodology to  ensure confidence and credibility when raising investment – this  methodology forms the basis of her No.1 best-selling book, Investor  Ready. Alongside Spark! Julie mentors business owners and founders through  roles with FinTech Wales and Dent Global. https://spark-consulting.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieabarber/ Is your Startup Investor ready? Benchmark your credibility with Investors and uncover opportunities to strengthen your investment case. Take a free scorecard here: https://investorready.scoreapp.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/investorreadypodcast/message

Episode 2: Chris Hyland from The Happiness Index

In this episode of the podcast, Chris talks us through the fundraises they’ve done so far at The Happiness Index, and what they’ve got planned next, sharing real ‘behind-the-scenes’ perspectives on what worked, what didn’t and what they’d do differently next time! Chris Hyland Bio At the age of 26, I started my first business, a digital marketing agency 4Ps Marketing with my friend and business partner Matthew Phelan in the height of the 2008 global recession. We went on a fantastic journey of growth which led to us being acquired by a French PLC called NetBooster in September 2016. Two amazing years followed and on our 10th anniversary, we decided it was time for a change and left the business with 160 people in the UK & 1,000 globally. In 2014 I co-founded The Happiness Index with friends Matt Phelan & Tony Latter with a belief that if you give employees a voice, organisations will become a happier place and this will have a huge knock-on effect on peoples personal lives. I am now full time at The Happiness Index where my role focuses on two key aspects, keeping our employees and customers happy! I have also invested in two early-stage tech businesses in Guild & beBettor which I am super excited about their potential, and I am a Board Advisor for a brilliant up and coming agency called Ecrubox Digital. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjhyland/ https://twitter.com/chrisjhyland Julie Barber Bio CEO of Spark! Consulting, a boutique business consultancy, Julie is also  an author, Non-Exec Director, Mentor and Speaker. Julie’s background is working with large financial corporates such as  KPMG and HSBC, and quasi-regulators like the Financial Services  Compensation Scheme.  At Spark! she now works with clients focused on growth, innovation and  transformation, from early stage startups to global corporates. Julie developed The Investor Ready Roadmap, a 6-step methodology to  ensure confidence and credibility when raising investment – this  methodology forms the basis of her No.1 best-selling book, Investor  Ready. Alongside Spark! Julie mentors business owners and founders through  roles with FinTech Wales and Dent Global. https://spark-consulting.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieabarber/ Is your Startup Investor ready? Benchmark your credibility with Investors and uncover opportunities to strengthen your investment case. Take a free scorecard here: https://investorready.scoreapp.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/investorreadypodcast/message

Episode 1: Mathew Cushen from Worth Capital

In this episode, I spoke to Matthew Cushen, Founding Partner at Worth Capital, to find out what it takes to get investment from a VC like his.  Worth Capital is a non-typical VC, as they run a monthly competition with a very structured approach, so it was a great opportunity to understand how that differentiates them, and what impact that has on how they invest.  We discussed everything from trends in investment, diversity, and how he finds investment opportunities to valuations, what causes an immediate ‘no’ and what makes a great pitch deck. Mathew Cushen Bio Matthew is Founding Partner of Worth Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on businesses with the potential to build loved B2C or B2B brands. Also an innovation consultant & adviser to the leadership teams of large global businesses such as IKEA, ABInbev & the Coca-Cola Group. Previously Director of ?WhatIf! (the global innovation consultancy, now part of Accenture), following senior operational roles in Woolworths and the John Lewis Partnership. Julie Barber Bio CEO of Spark! Consulting, a boutique business consultancy, Julie is also  an author, Non-Exec Director, Mentor and Speaker. Julie’s background is working with large financial corporates such as  KPMG and HSBC, and quasi-regulators like the Financial Services  Compensation Scheme.  At Spark! she now works with clients focused on growth, innovation and  transformation, from early stage startups to global corporates. Julie developed The Investor Ready Roadmap, a 6-step methodology to  ensure confidence and credibility when raising investment – this  methodology forms the basis of her No.1 best-selling book, Investor  Ready. Alongside Spark! Julie mentors business owners and founders through  roles with FinTech Wales and Dent Global. https://spark-consulting.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieabarber/ Is your Startup Investor ready? Benchmark your credibility with Investors and uncover opportunities to strengthen your investment case. Take a free scorecard here: https://investorready.scoreapp.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/investorreadypodcast/message