Partner @Balderton. Investing in AI, health and energy. Chair of UK Sovereign AI. Author of Start-Up Century. Mostly Generative.
United Kingdom
- Tweets 642
- Following 4,078
- Followers 18,092
- Likes 3,227
How have we ended up, as a country, more pro-bat than we are pro-human?
Buckinghamshire Council approve cuts of £95M to social services, while demanding a £100M bat shed over HS2.
68
191
1,587
601,725
Natural England states no bat death is acceptable.
At a cost of £360K per bat protected, this decision costs us, PER BAT the equivalent of 10 years of state-funded social care for an elderly person.
PER BAT.
16
72
561
27,642
The American legal system imprisoned the founder of Silkroad to life, chased Mike Lynch around the world through extradition ( only to be found innocent ) and hounded Aaron Swartz to his death, amongst other things.
I don’t no the details for Pavel, but the US is no haven.
15
24
352
26,821
Given the incredible advances in technology, there's surprisingly little discussion of the positive impact it can have on our health, wealth and planet.
Introducing What's Next, an interview series with some of the leading founders and investors behind the technological breakthroughs shaping our world.
In the first episode I interviewed @alexgkendall, the founder of @wayve_ai, an embodied AI company that just announced that it has raised the largest ever round for a European AI company.
In this episode we discuss:
- Wayve's unique approach to building safe, assisted & autonomous vehicle 🚗
- How he see's the next decade of robotics developing 🤖
- Wayve's relationship with automakers & big tech companies
- His path from academics to starting a company 👨🎓
- How he raised over $1B from VCs and strategics 💸
Check it out on the links below, and subscribe to catch the rest of the series as it comes out over the coming weeks!
6
8
176
26,613
Great to see people who were willing to take a risk and back a small British tech company get rewarded for it.
A few more outcomes like this and we may have to actually be optimistic about UK tech!
14
19
175
9,165
We @balderton have raised $1.3B in new venture & growth funds to continue investing in the UK & Europe’s leading technology companies.
It’s obviously important if you’re building a company, so if you’re raising from seed -> IPO get in touch!
But it’s also important for much bigger reasons. When done well, venture capital is one of the most transformative asset classes there is. We have a mandate to provide patient, active capital to high risk, high impact companies at the cutting edge of innovation. We need more of it!
There’s been plenty of venture-backed failures highlighted in the last few years. But this is the 8th (!) venture fund I’ve been part of raising and when it works, it really, really works.
You can read more about it from us at Balderton here:
balderton.com/news/balderton…
68
12
173
14,878
Celebrating Father’s Day by becoming a new one!
Cara Evelyn Kay Wise was born on 13th June to two overjoyed parents in @LizziePaton & I.
Thrilled & exhausted.
37
1
168
9,583
Amazing to think Revolut didn’t exist a decade ago. This year alone it will save its users £1Bs, create 1000s of jobs & generate £100Ms in corporate & income taxes for HMRC.
Now we just need to create dozens of Revoluts. It’s the only way Britain grows.
Revolut has swung to an annual profit and nearly doubled its revenue for 2023 as the fintech filed its first timely set of results in years.
cityam.com/revolut-books-hug…
10
7
147
24,430
Ahead of the budget tomorrow, I gave evidence to Parliament on the opportunities and challenges facing the UK tech sector, alongside @alexgkendall, @Erin_Platts & @scalespace.
Despite a lot of good news, we can't underestimate the scale of the challenge. NVIDIA is worth more than the FTSE 100 combined. Amazon's R&D budget is bigger than the entire UK private sector. X.ai built a datacenter in 19 days, which in the UK could have taken >19 months. The list goes on.
If we want to be anything other than an also ran in AI, the UK needs more entrepreneurs, and the resources to help them scale. Hopefully the budget will do that & at the very least recognise our founders, engineers, SME owners and the self-employed as 'working people'..
11
12
143
12,269
My book, Start-Up Century, comes out in the USA today! If you're interested in why record numbers of people are starting businesses, why the traditional firm is shrinking and why entrepreneurship is becoming one of the most popular ways of working - check it out.
With record numbers of Americans starting businesses in 2023, it's clear we need to rethink the educational, financial and cultural support we offer to people starting-up.
I've been fortunate to receive endorsements from incredible entrepreneurs including @Marthalanefox , Sir James Dyson, @scottbelsky, @mustafasuleyman, @samchaudhary_ & many others.
If you're interested in learning more, check out startup-century.com, where you can chat to the book, or order from your local bookstore or Amazon.
4
11
105
23,385
If we want to improve our health, we first need to know what's going on in our bodies.
For this week's episode of 'What's Next' I sat down with @RENCIRCI of @Savahealth to discuss their breakthrough sensor which provides realtime data on our many different molecules & hormones, starting with glucose.
We discuss:
- why so many glucose-focussed device companies have failed, and what Sava's done differently
- how tracking multiple molecules can help us identify and even prevent chronic diseases
- what it's really like spinning-out a deep tech company from a University like @imperialcollege
- how we could make health regulators more pro-innovation
If you're interested in the future of preventative health and data-driven medicine, check out the interview below.
5
7
86
14,021
Following the news of their £35M funding round, I sat down with James Field, CEO and founder of @labgeni_us for the latest episode of What's Next.
LabGenius is on a mission to not only find novel therapeutics, but to use AI to augment the scientific method itself.
In this episode we discuss:
- how he went from academic lab to CEO & founder 👨🎓
- the critical role grants, angels and investors have played 💰
- the breakthroughs in AI that have accelerated LabGenius's progress to find novel therapeutics 🧬
- how AI will augment scientists, and change the way science is done 🔬
Check it out on Youtube and your favourite podcasting platforms below:
1
6
61
7,127
AI can not only build SaaS apps, it can now recreate your favourite one and port all your data over too!
In <5 minutes Proxy from @convergence_ai_ was able to log in to my to-do list app, understand the user interface and content, provide a complete breakdown of how the the app worked and then copy this into @lovable which rebuilt the app, with all my data ready to go.
Absolutely transformational for small businesses who can't afford expensive CRMs, or for anyone locked into old systems or record.
There is no moat!
(video sped up 4x)
8
9
74
12,754
My book, Start-Up Century, comes out in the USA and Canada on February 14th. If you're interested in why record numbers of people are starting businesses, why the traditional firm is shrinking and why entrepreneurship is becoming one of the most popular ways of working - check it out!
Described as '@pmarca 's TechnoOptimist manifesto with a roadmap to get us there' - I've been fortunate to receive endorsements from entrepreneurs including Martha Lane Fox, Sir James Dyson,@scottbelsky, @mustafasuleyman and many others.
If you're interested in learning more, check out startup-century.com, where you can chat to the book, or order it ahead from your local bookstore or Amazon.
3
8
52
14,123
An exceptional write up in the @thetimes on @wayve_ai’s technology and the experience of riding in an autonomous vehicle through Kings Cross.
Huge congratulations to @alexgkendall and the team on their $1B funding round - the largest ever for an AI company in Europe. Balderton backed and supported from dorm room to global leader:
3
10
51
6,264
The British Business Bank is behind more British Unicorns than any other institutional fund I’m aware of.
Congrats @BPatientCap !
the only UK VC fund to invest in ElevenLabs' pre-seed, before they were a $3bn company, was @ConceptVC_
it was Concept's first deal (iirc) of its first institutional fund
the anchor LP who made that possible?
the @BritishBBank, as part of its ECF programme
4
2
49
4,300
I know it’s a few weeks ago now but the @justpark story deserved a lot more coverage.
- An incredible entrepreneurial journey of effort over a decade
- More international investment into UK tech companies
- A great outcome for both the taxpayer ( through the Future Fund ) and crowd investors (via @crowdcube )
Britain needs to be less allergic to celebrating success.
businesswire.com/news/home/2…
6
3
41
5,393
‘Wise is single minded in what he wants: policies that will turn the UK into a country that nurtures & promotes entrepreneurship’
My interview in @CityAM on how the UK can utilise one of our least appreciated national assets - ambition.
cityam.com/why-london-should…
5
6
41
5,989
The American mind can’t comprehend this.
NEW: European VC returns are better than North American VC returns over 10 and 15 year horizons, finds a new report from @InvestEuropeEU & Cambridge Associates.
sifted.eu/articles/european-…
2
5
34
8,560
Steve was a great journalist and great guy. Incredibly sad to hear, but @Siftedeu have covered his inspiring career here, it’s worth reading:
sifted.eu/articles/steve-ohe…
2
1
37
1,851
Agency > Intelligence, as @karpathy says.
The real value AI offers isn’t just generating content, it’s in taking action for us. The team @convergence_ai_ have just released an open source version of their model so you can use AI to do just that. With your data, on your servers.
Free the models 🦾
5
36
4,883
The paperback of my book, Start-Up Century - is out!
It focuses on how AI, and in particular AI agents, will change the way people build companies, and why millions more people will choose to become entrepreneurs as a result.
Given what’s happened in the last week, it couldn’t have come at a better time!
You can buy it on Amazon or @BloomsburyBooks site. And you can even chat to an AI agent about the book on What’s App (see links below)
5
2
31
2,188
Want to know what we might be eating in the future?
Our latest episode of What’s Next is out with Benjamina Bollag of @uncommonbio. We discuss:
- why lab-grown meat can be better for our health, pockets & the planet 🥓
- how breakthroughs in cell research are changing the way we develop cures as well as food 🧬
- how she found her scientific partner and raised funding for a deep tech startup 👩🔬
- why the UK is a great place to build a deep tech company 🇬🇧
If you’re interested in deep tech, cell research or the future of food, check it out below and on the usual podcast channels! Links below.
1
29
3,644
Following the ‘AI safety summit’ last year, we should be hosting an even bigger ‘AI success summit’ this year:
- showcase recent breakthroughs across the NHS, schools & gov where advances in AI are making a real difference
- demonstrate the capabilities of the latest tools and share best practices of how to adopt them
- highlight British entrepreneurs and technologists leading their fields
- encourage more people to build
The biggest threat AI poses is that it’s owned and used by too few, not too many.
3
7
32
7,744
We’re backing @convergence_ai_ .
The team have built the most incredible product I’ve seen in years. A web agent that you can teach to do tasks exactly as you would. The ability to learn is the missing link between dumb software & generalised, productive agents. And while they are still in beta, it’s already a mind-blowing experience.
Try out the product here:
convergence.ai/sign-up?refer…
5
3
30
5,869
Bored of the negative narrative around new technologies? So am I.
Introducing "What's Next?" - a new video series aimed at improving the conversation around emerging tech.
We've interviewed the founders of companies behind breakthroughs in fields as diverse as self-driving vehicles, robotics, drones, biohacking and clean energy. We want to highlight the positive impact they can have on our health, wealth and planet, and how we mitigate the risks. If you're interested in hard tech, the people building them and the potential impact on our lives, this will be for you.
Let's get excited about What's Next. Follow @balderton & I for alerts, the first episode is out next week and it's a global exclusive! 🚀
4
1
28
3,560
I'm very time-poor right now (new father, work, Oasis ticket queue) and I haven't used HTML/CSS since Dreamweaver 3.
But I managed to spin-up a new and interactive version of the website for my book (Start-Up Century) in 15 minutes with gptengineer.app. I can't recommend it enough. Congratulations on the launch @antonosika.
See what I built with just a few natural language prompts here: book-launcher-palooza.gpteng…
3
1
28
4,817
Just like with nuclear power - some countries have rushed to regulate a new technology based on imagined risks, costing them very real & immediate benefits.
Can only hope UK avoids the same fate.
1
1
25
5,321
The important point here is that venture as a whole has come back incredibly strong in 2024 - and in the UK in particular.
It’s a great time to start a business.
British firms have received nearly a third of European venture capital tech funding so far this year, new data shows, as investors flock back to London and Cambridge bolsters its credentials as an international hub.
VC investment in the UK tech sector came in at £7.4bn for the first half of 2024, up 16 per cent from the same period last year and representing 32 per cent of the European total, according to figures from Dealroom.
Britain sailed past its continental rivals, raising more than France and Germany combined (£6.8bn) and five times Switzerland’s total (£1.25bn).
The increase was driven by a rebound for London, which saw a 30 per cent jump in investment to £5.3bn. This figure was ahead of Paris (£2.4bn) and Stockholm (£940m).
Continue reading here 👇
cityam.com/uk-sweeps-a-third…
1
27
1,951
The UK & EU should follow the US lead here. Non-competes stifle innovation, and make hiring harder for employer and employees.
BREAKING: The Biden administration's ban on noncompete clauses has been upheld in court, per MorePerfectUnion.
As of now, virtually all noncompete agreements with bosses will be banned and voided beginning September 4.
Community note
This is factually wrong. Although one judge in Pennsylvania has denied a preliminary injunction against the rule's enforcement, a federal court in Texas enjoined enforcement of the rule against many employers.
jw.com/news/insights-…
ogletree.com/insights-resou…
hrdive.com/news/courts-sp
6
27
2,946
Impressive that less than 24 hours since @jonno_evans and I released a podcast calling for a department for AI success, @matthewclifford and DSIT have launched it!
Congrats!
A new plan led by @matthewclifford will use AI to boost growth and improve our public services.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan will identify how to boost uptake of AI across the public and private sectors to increase productivity.
(1/2)
ALT Matt Clifford, with text on a futuristic background reading: Matt Clifford CBE appointed to deliver the AI Opportunities Action Plan
2
27
2,323
I asked Proxy about the impact of tariffs on the UK today.
Watching the model spin up 6 different agents, navigate the web seamlessly and create a PDF report was 🤯
3
2
32
5,561
I have incredible friends running in this election for all the main parties. The sacrifices they are making to their personal & professional lives are immense. This is a great article capturing why we should recognise the demands we place on our politicians more if we want good ones.
I wrote this about why we should be nicer to politicians
thetimes.com/comment/columni…
4
2
26
9,863
Nowhere in the world does meeting rooms like Paris.
Discussing how AI breakthroughs can help build a new gilded age this morning. Thanks to @jpmorgan for hosting our breakfast.
@MistralAI @OwkinScience @finsterai @deepset_ai @giskard_ai, AdaptiveML, Holistic.
1
5
24
2,598
I shared some data in @TechCrunch today on why the negative narrative around the EU & UK AI sector isn’t supported by the data.
Start-Ups started here have raised $100Ms & $1B rounds this year to grow globally.
Some of the fastest growing companies in terms of $ per FTE are started here
And the adoption rates, and impact of SOTA tech is best in class here.
My thoughts on what has been a defining year for European AI in @TechCrunch today (link below)
1
4
25
2,425
Well, AI agents just got even more meta.
I asked Proxy from @convergence_ai_ to summarise the companies' new product release, turn it into a script, upload that script to my @HeyGen_Official account & create this video. Took a few attempts - but in a line of text you can now have fully automated, instant YouTube-style reactions on demand!
Check out the video to learn more about Proxy's agent platform, and try it out for free today.
2
1
24
5,356
Kicking off London Tech Week with @peterkyle and @Dom_Hallas of Start Up Coalition.
We hope all manifestos will focus on how the UK can become an even better place to start and scale technology companies.
1
23
1,616
Have been asked for a reference on a fund whose single GP is pitching themselves as an AI & deep tech expert.
Two years ago they had a kitty NFT as their profile pic & their largest cheque was into a now defunct snack delivery company.
I guess you have to admire the hustle?
5
1
19
4,087
When the Times’s Rich List came out in 1989, they said ‘the surest way to a fortune was to be a landowner, preferably with a title’
Today they lead with ‘the list is a celebration of aspiration….(with) stories of extraordinary entrepreneurship’
Britains transformation into a more entrepreneurial society has a long way to go - but it’s happening and we should be celebrating it.
‘Start a business: it’s the way to reach the Sunday Times Rich List’
thetimes.co.uk/article/97240…
1
5
21
5,110
The @photoroom_app team have built one of the world's most popular AI products.
Over 150 million people have used it to improve images - whether it's for their small business, online shop, event promotion, social media or just for fun.
It's a beautiful experience, and we're happy to announce that @balderton are doubling down on the company today, raising a further $43M at a $500M valuation.
I spoke with @matthieurouif in November last year @BAFTA . If you're interested in the art of building big products with small teams, the future of AI images & video, how we determine what is real, and my Sake side hustle check it out.
3
22
2,176
Plenty of great recommendations in this plan, in particular scaling access to domestic compute & speeding up the deployment of SMRs.
The important point is that this does not require taxpayer funding - it needs Govt to change tact & look to support not continue to stifle engineers who want to build and scale companies here.
1/ Today the Prime Minister published my AI Opportunities Action Plan for the UK and committed to implement all its recommendations. A quick thread on why this is important, what we need to do now - and how you can help
1
21
2,157
Following the announcement of our new funds, I've pulled together some thoughts on:
- why venture capital matters
- how fundraising in Europe has changed
- our commitment to both our LPs and founders
Too long for an X thread, but worth a read I promise:
jameswise.com/baldertons-1-3…
9
1
21
1,812
The UK & Europe are home to world leading logistics companies - space logistics should be no different.
Great to be working with Helene and the team at The Exploration Company to make it safer and cheaper to get more things in and out of orbit.
The Exploration Company raises $160M to build Europe’s answer to SpaceX Dragon tcrn.ch/3YQnbjP
4
4
27
14,883
I spoke at an event with some quantum experts in major banks and tech firms two weeks ago and they broadly agreed this was >3 years away….
5
20
2,969
The interest in Proxy from @convergence_ai_ which launched yesterday was overwhelming.
If you want to see what it can do even in the hands of a novice like me, check out the video below. And you can still sign up or enquire about an enterprise account on the website.
Generalisable agents are incredible.
2
2
19
3,922
While we are overwhelmed with the stories of sportspeople and celebrities, there's nowhere near enough content for people on the motivation, challenges and learnings from entrepreneurship. Especially British ones.
This is great to see from Tom and well worth the watch. With over 2/3rds of under 25 yr olds saying they want to start a business, I hope we'll see many more founders share their stories.
Before I was 30 years old, I’d started 2 companies that are each now worth over a billion dollars. And it almost broke me.
Here’s my story.
piped.video/QKPgBAnbc10
1
2
18
5,271
The new gold standard for building a $100M revenue software business is 100 FTE, and shrinking.
3
2
17
2,753
Great to have the Economic Sec to the Treasury @BimAfolami address fintech founders @balderton last night.
The UK really is a global leader when it comes to fintech, but there’s a lot of work to be done if we want to stay there.
1
1
17
1,637
I'll be speaking at the House of Lords today alongside @kevinhollinrake & @jogideon about my book, Start-Up Century as part of @TenThinkTank's work to make Britain one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business.
If you're starting a company, a freelancer or working in the gig-economy, do follow @TenThinkTank who are doing exceptional work on pro-entreprenuership policy in this critical election year.
1
15
2,319
The latest episode of What's Next was an incredible deep dive into drone delivery with @realBobbyHealy, founder of @MannaAero.
We discuss:
- why he sees drone delivery as 'the biggest opportunity imaginable'
- how Manna does drone deliveries today everywhere from Ireland to Texas
- what the sweet spot is for drones, and when more of us might be using them to get our packages & even hot coffees
- how drones can lower the cost & dangers of delivery to unlock a generation of entrepreneurs
He's also just a huge amount of fun to chat with. Check it out in the links below.
3
1
16
5,455
In Start-Up Century I wrote about how automating code with AI was going to result in millions more people starting businesses.
@Replit are making that happen today:
1
15
7,800
We won’t, because we’re British. But the regeneration of Manchester from the 1980s - 2010s should celebrated & shared as a blueprint to other post-industrial cities. Much of that success was down to Sir Howard Bernstein.
May his memory be a blessing.
manchestereveningnews.co.uk/…
2
16
1,209
Let’s go 🚀
🇬🇧FASTER THAN CONCORDE! British aerospace manufacturer Reaction Engines is celebrating a major hypersonic propulsion system milestone.
The Abingdon-based firm has successfully demonstrated the integration of its innovative precooler technology with existing jet-engine architecture, achieving sustained Mach 3.5 operating conditions and demonstrating the viability of a key element for its innovative propulsion system concept for high-Mach/hypersonic aircraft.
In the current ground-based testing programme, Reaction Engines’ innovative precooler has been integrated and close-coupled with a modified Rolls-Royce jet engine to simulate a propulsion system for an unpiloted, reusable high-Mach air vehicle concept.
The test programme initially achieved sustained Mach 2.3 operating conditions, representing speeds faster than Concorde’s maximum operating speed, before operating at Mach 3.5 pressures and temperatures, matching the maximum known airspeed record of the SR-71, the world’s fastest aircraft powered by an air-breathing engine.
In addition to developing precooler technology, Reaction Engines is developing and testing novel high-Mach intake designs and technology for hypersonics capabilities.
Hardware is currently being manufactured and assembled for a full-scale ground-based high-Mach thermomechanical test while sub-scale aerodynamic wind-tunnel testing is already underway to assess intake performance over a range of supersonic conditions. #UKmfg🇬🇧
14
1,580
Adding @danielsusskind’s new book to the Balderton library.
I’m only a few chapters in - but it’s a powerful read on the most important economic and political question of our time: growth.
2
2
16
2,510
This is my first year of having a child old enough for World Book Day and can I just say are you all completely mad?
You do this every year?
Do we parents not have enough on than competing over who can hand weave the most authentic Gruffalo costume?
3
15
1,718
Spreadsheets are about to have their ChatGPT moment.
The team @prior_labs have just released their model, TabPFN, which outperforms every other ML method for tabular data. With a single API call you can bring state of the art prediction to your datasets.
Try it out now!
1
2
15
1,346
It's a good piece. But there are already >10k freelancers on Upwork who list ChatGPT as a skill, presumably to respond to work that wasn't there a year ago.
Treating skills as static will always lead you to conclude jobs are in decline.
1
12
3,104
Hundreds of people turning up ( and tuning in ) to our Gen AI builder events here @balderton. Some great demos from @deepset_ai, @JinaAI_ & TitanML.
If you’re interested in joining in future sign up to our newsletter!
5
12
1,745
Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) are considered by some to be the most important clean energy breakthrough of this decade.
Loved speaking to Jake, the co-founder of BlueEnergy about:
- why SMRs can be a cheaper, more elegant & safer solution to many of our energy needs
- the tech breakthroughs they've had recently
- the timeline to mass SMR roll-out
- why the UK is a great place to build SMRs (and the remaining challenges )
- how he found raising capital from VCs for nuclear power....
And much more below.
1
2
16
2,639
What gets measured gets managed.
Great to announce our investment in Sava Health - a breakthrough British biosensor company which can track dozens of molecules from glucose to cortisol through a micropatch on your skin.
Read more about it and their clinical trials below:
Balderton backed the startup as it looks to take its device through clinical trials and scale manufacturing capabilities. sifted.eu/articles/sava-rais…
1
1
14
1,460
We are so back 🇬🇧
BBC News - Mechanic builds record-breaking 50mph wheelbarrow
bbc.com/news/articles/ce9961…
1
11
1,454
I'm delighted to be giving a keynote address at this year's Start-Up Show, the biggest event of it's kind, at King’s College London on 27 Jan.
I'll be talking about my book, Start-Up Century, with The Times' @jameshurley and discussing why and how more of us than ever are becoming self-employed and starting a business.
@e_nation have organised an incredible day with over 100 speakers across 13 entrepreneurial zones, covering everything from advanced manufacturing to the latest in social media.
You can get a ticket here: lnkd.in/e4AR2WtN or follow along online with their digital pass.
2
4
13
1,833
"There's still some scepticism in the UK that we can really be home to a business of this scale and level of ambition"
Great piece from @jilltreanor in the Sunday Times today on what Revolut's UK banking license may mean featuring @balderton @wanderingvc & myself.
thetimes.com/business-money/…
1
11
2,660
This was certainly true over the last decade. However the data suggests there’s been a significant shift.
Interest in starting a business, especially from people under the age of 25, is at record highs in the UK. As is the number of people who have already sold something online.
Met a British startup founder today who'd studied engineering at Oxford. He said the majority of his fellow students had since gone into finance or consulting. In effect there is a brain drain *within* the UK, as engineers emigrate to fields where they don't build anything.
2
2
13
3,525