Husayn Kassai, founder of Onfido and Quench.ai, suggests what the UK can do to attract more IPOs and build more scaleups, reflects on providing a 320x return on investment for the University of Oxford, and explains why people should be wary of the “excessive romanticisation” of unicorn success stories.
Kassai co-founded Onfido, a digital ID company, in 2012 straight out of studying at the University of Oxford. The startup, which uses AI to verify identities, has raised more than $200m and grown to over 500 people, generating more than £140m in revenue. Earlier this year, it was acquired by US-based payments company Entrust.
During this episode, Kassai shares what he learnt while building the business and explains why he thinks policy decisions are putting the brightest talent off from working in the UK.
“Should we be optimistic about the UK building the future of unicorns? In some ways, we absolutely have the potential but are we going to see that? I don’t think with the current regulation, the current policy and the current trajectory we will,” says Kassai.
He also shares ideas for how the UK could incentivise more companies to list on the London Stock Exchange amid a current dearth of tech IPOs.
“I don’t in any way see a world where anyone is going to prioritise listing in the UK over the US if they are able to list in the US,” says Kassai.
Since stepping down as CEO of Onfido, Kassai has launched Quench.ai, a startup developing an AI coach to help workers learn new skills. Kassai explains what’s next for the startup after raising £3.9m in pre-seed funding last year.
Listen to the full episode here, along with all previous episodes of the UKTN Podcast.
The UKTN Podcast is sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking, which offers flexible banking solutions for startups, scaleups, growth businesses, investors and those working towards IPO.
Throughout the series, the UKTN Podcast will be speaking to some of the key movers and shakers from UK tech. We’ll learn growth strategies from both seasoned and up-and-coming founders, hear market sentiments from investors, and question policymakers on the decisions impacting the country’s innovation economy.
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The post Podcast: How to ensure the UK lives up to its startup exit potential – Onfido’s Husayn Kassai appeared first on UKTN.
