From Foundation to Future

We're excited to announce the next Future of Technology Series at 10 York Road in London. This event will delve into the complexities of scaling a business, shedding light on both the triumphs and challenges of growth.

How do you overcome the challenges of scaling up?

Key topics will include:

  • Navigating the ups and downs of scaling a business
  • Learning from others’ mistakes: Key lessons in the scaling journey
  • What makes a company irresistible to investors: Insights into what attracts investment
  • Building a two-way relationship with investors: How to forge lasting, mutually beneficial partnerships
Agenda
TIME TITLE SPEAKER TITLE
10:00 Arrival, refreshments and networking

Arrival, refreshments and networking
10:25 Opening remarks

Roderick Beer

Managing Director of UKBAA

Opening remarks

Roderick Beer

Managing Director of UKBAA
10:30 Session 1: 'Growth at all costs? Mastering the challenges of scaling up'

Josh Robson

Head of Public Affairs and External Relations, ScaleUp Institute

Doug Cross

Co-Founder, Flybrid Automotive

Greg Harris

CCO, Intelligent Energy

Sean Joseph

Finance Director, Altilium

Session 1: 'Growth at all costs? Mastering the challenges of scaling up'

Josh Robson

Head of Public Affairs and External Relations, ScaleUp Institute

Doug Cross

Co-Founder, Flybrid Automotive

Greg Harris

CCO, Intelligent Energy

Sean Joseph

Finance Director, Altilium
12:00 Lunch and networking

Lunch and networking
13:00 Session 2: ‘What’s the winning formula? How to capture investors’ attention at the scale-up stage’

Suzanna Hinson

Energy Specialist, House of Commons Library

Ashwin Kumaraswamy

Deputy Fund Principal, Mercia Ventures

Rebecca Rosser

Ventures Associate, Plug & Play Tech Centre

Session 2: ‘What’s the winning formula? How to capture investors’ attention at the scale-up stage’

Suzanna Hinson

Energy Specialist, House of Commons Library

Ashwin Kumaraswamy

Deputy Fund Principal, Mercia Ventures

Rebecca Rosser

Ventures Associate, Plug & Play Tech Centre
14:45 Refreshments and networking

Refreshments and networking
17:00 Event ends

Event ends
Read our speaker bios below.

Read our speaker bios below.

Benefits of the event

The Future of Technology Series aims to illuminate the challenges and opportunities facing the global automotive industry. Each event brings together key industry figures and leading academics to discuss, debate and challenge the way we think about a wide range of innovations.
Join us for an insightful discussion that promises to be both educational and inspiring, whether you’re a business owner, investor, or aspiring entrepreneur.

Roderick Beer

Managing Director, UKBAA

Roderick’s career spans over 15 years of managing, founding and growing angel groups and investment platforms that have collectively deployed over £100m of equity investment in more than 500 startup and scaleup businesses. He started his career at Beer & Partners, one of the first and largest angel groups in the UK, and later helped form and grow a corporate finance firm as their COO. He is now the Managing Director of the UK Business Angels Association, the trade body for angel and early-stage investing, representing over 200 organisations and 18,000 investors around the UK that collectively deploy over £1bn p.a. in early-stage businesses.

Doug Cross

Co-Founder, Flybrid Automotive

With more than 30 years experience in the automotive market, Doug is renowned for his venture building skills alongside his expertise in automotive powertrain. With historic positions such as Chief Designer of the 20,000 rpm V8 engine for Renault F1, Co-founder of Flybrid Automotive – a KERS company – resulting in a £30M headline exit, Chief Technical Officer for Torotrak Plc – a transmissions / superchargers company, Managing Director of Balance Batteries – A battery design consultancy and Senior Associate at Prospedia Capital – an investment company, he is well placed to offer strategic advice with technical foundations, due diligence and fund-raising expertise.

Visit Doug’s LinkedIn

Greg Harris

CCO, Intelligent Energy

Greg Harris is the Chief Commercial Officer for Intelligent Energy, leading the strategy and sales for Intelligent Energy’s range of hydrogen fuel cells.   Intelligent Energy is the UK’s leading manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells for automotive applications, now delivering their second-generation of fuel cells for bus, trucks and passenger vehicles.

Greg has more than 20 years of experience in senior commercial roles with engineering companies including GKN, Prodrive, Ricardo & HORIBA MIRA; for the past 9 years has focused on low emission technology including electric powertrains, battery systems and now fuel cells.

Greg is a passionate supporter of the widescale adoption of zero emissions technology, speaking regularly at industry conferences and presenting webinars, chairing the IMechE’s EV battery conference in 2019 and 2020, and working with his local community to help them prepare for a zero emissions future.

Sean Joseph

Finance Director, Altilium

With over 23 years’ experience as an investment banking professional, Sean co-founded Altilium and is responsible for the financing and funding arrangements for Altililium’s large scale infrastructure projects. He was previously Head of Investment Banking EMEA at ANZ Bank, where he was responsible for leveraged finance, M&A, project finance, export finance and asset finance. Sean sat on the international leadership team, reporting to the CEO of International Banking.

Suzanna Hinson

Energy Specialist, House of Commons Library

Suzanna Hinson is the Energy Specialist for the House of Commons Library. Her role involves advising Parliamentarians on policy, legislation, debates, and constituency issues across all energy sector topics.

In addition to her policy work, Suzanna also has a background in green finance. She recently left the Green Finance Institute where she was the Head of Emerging Sectors and Battery workstreams and worked to mobilise finance for net zero infrastructure and innovation.

Previously Suzanna has also worked with various Parliamentary Select Committees, with the Committee on Climate Change, and for think tanks and charities on energy policy across the UK and EU.

Ashwin Kumaraswamy

Deputy Fund Principal, Mercia Ventures.

Ashwin has been with Mercia for 16+yrs exclusively focussing on Climate Change and DeepTech investments. He has been involved in all aspects of creating venture-backed businesses, including sourcing new opportunities, working with founders and management teams to build valuable propositions. He is responsible for a number of technology investments including Faradion (Sold to Reliance Industries), Suiso, Uniphy, AssetCool, TheLogically etc. Ashwin previously worked at IP Group plc, commercialising intellectual property from UK universities, and at ITI Scotland, analysing technology markets. He started his career as a technology entrepreneur in Semiconductor industry. Ashwin holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication from Bangalore University, an MSc in System Level Integration from Edinburgh University, and was a Chevening Technology Enterprise Fellow in 2004/05. During his Chevening fellowship he was part of a business training programme, jointly run by London Business School, Cambridge University and Imperial College, focusing on taking early-stage technologies to market.

Rebecca Rosser

Ventures Associate, Plug & Play Tech Centre

Rebecca Rosser currently serves as Ventures Associate at Plug and Play UK, where she helps multibillion companies (e.g. Jaguar Land Rover, International Airlines Group, or Associated British Ports) in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. In addition, she leads the UK’s scouting and investing efforts in CliamateTech early-stage startups. 

Previously, Rebecca worked at the European Investment Fund (Luxembourg) on communication and marketing activities related to the organization’s initiatives, programmes, and investments. She also worked at Social Finance (Netherlands) where she was involved in conducting research, data analysis, and financial modelling related to Social Impact Bonds. 

Rebecca studied Politics and Economic & Social History at The University of Edinburgh and holds a Master in Business Analytics and Big Data from IE University.