December 21, 2020
In November 2020 we welcomed Dana Tobak, CEO of Hyperoptic, for a fireside exploring what she has learned from being a true industry disruptor. Hyperoptic was the first company to offer 1000mbps download speeds in the UK and Dana’s vision of hyperfast full fibre broadband shook up the entire sector. In this 'refreshing', 'grounded' and 'inspiring' chat she covers how they ensured safety of hundreds of employees during the COVID pandemic, the importance of your people & a very clear purpose when scaling, and her path to becoming a CEO.
November 4, 2020
Over the summer we welcomed Mark Sanders, Executive Chair of Scale Space, for a fireside exploring the key ingredients needed to scale a business successfully. An incredibly down-to-earth entrepreneur with an eye for both detail and strategy, Mark is an expert in scaling businesses with over 20 years of experience. As CEO of TDX Group, he sold it for a whopping £200m in 2016. We explore how he achieved this, the key to success as a COO vs. CEO, the importance of a clear path to profitability, and the pioneering work he is doing to support more scale-ups through the newly-opened Scale Space in White City.
May 20, 2020
Upstream’s Prema Gurunathan meets Nate Macabuag, Founder of Koalaa (formerly Mitt Wearables,) a White City- based startup disrupting the world of prosthetic arms by making them affordable, accessible and comfortable. Nate delves in to the origins of Mitt, how they design prosthetics in a similar way to clothing - being breathable, adjustable and avoiding rigid structures, and even the addition of a lightsaber attachment for their children's market!
April 9, 2020
Upstream’s Prema Gurunathan meets Kieron Heath, Head of Customer Operations at iPLATO, a Hammersmith-based health-tech business that enables the NHS to interact with patients in a digital-first manner. Recorded in February, Kieron discusses iPLATO's entrepreneurial journey and digital first approach, the challenges of scaling-up, and their role in ensuring successful cervical screening across London.
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, iPLATO have further developed their myGP remote consultation functionality to help the NHS. Read how it has helped from iPLATO CEO Tobias.
March 12, 2020
Upstream's Prema Gurunathan meets Alessio D'Antino, Founder and CEO of Forward Fooding, the world's first collaborative platform for the food and beverage industry. Alessio discusses creating a community of food and tech professionals, sustainability in food production, and exciting innovations in food tech such as targeted weed killing with electrical discharges and high protein powders produced from CO2. Interested in food/ tech collaboration? Check out their Food Tech Data Navigator.
January 24, 2020
In December 2019 we were lucky to welcome author, entrepreneur, and all- round good egg Sophie Devonshire to talk to our community about leadership in a fast paced environment. Sophie is the CEO of the Caffeine Partnership, a growth consultancy, and has also written the book ‘Superfast: Lead at Speed’ which has had great success and been shortlisted for a Business Book Award. We have pulled out some highlights from her talk which explore the importance Energy, Empathy, and Editing to be an effective leader.
December 11, 2019
Prema Gurunathan interviews Greg Jackson, founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, the first guest on our ‘My Entrepreneurial Journey’ series. Despite technical difficulties, we managed to salvage the Q&A session from the evening (woohoo!). Hear Greg's take on having courage to 'go for it', maintaining company culture, and finding the right talent in this inspiring session.
October 30, 2019
Upstream's Prema Gurunathan meets Michelle 'Mimi' Moyo, Junior Chemical Engineer at Puraffinity, an advanced materials startup, aiming to tackle water pollution, which recently secured £2.8million investment in an oversubscribed seed round from leading sustainability investors.
October 30, 2019
Upstream's Prema Gurunathan meets Anna Anderson, co-founder and director of Kindred, West London's first conscious co-working and members space. Anna talks about her journey to set up the club and her desire to find a solution to growing isolation and disconnection in London.
October 7, 2019
Upstream's Prema Gurunathan meets Oliver Bolton, Founder and CEO of Almond, a soon-to-launch free app that rewards consumers for buying responsible brands and helps them understand and reduce carbon emissions.
