How to ensure the UK lives up to its startup exit potential – Husayn Kassai, co-founder, Onfido

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5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. 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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	So our return for them is 320 times their investment.
0:09.3	So they put in 12,000 pounds and they received 4 million pounds.
0:14.0	And that means based on that return.
0:15.8	So they could have afforded to spend that 12,000 pounds 320 times. And as long as one of us succeeds, we pay and make up for it.
0:26.6	I don't in any way see a world where though anyone is going to prioritize listening in the UK over the US if they're able to listen to the US.
0:39.3	Should we be optimistic about the UK building the future unicorns?
0:42.3	In some ways, we absolutely have the potential, but are we going to see that?
0:46.3	I don't think with the current regulation, the current policies and the current trajectory, we will.
0:54.6	From the first time founders to the funds that backs them, innovation needs different.
1:00.3	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and
1:06.1	life science businesses, creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity for entrepreneurs
1:12.2	and investors alike. Discover more at www.h.hsbc InnovationBanking.com slash EN-GB.
1:26.3	Hello and welcome to the UKTN podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and shakers of the UK tech industry and the destination for all things UK tech related.
1:37.9	I'm your host, Jane Wakefield, and joining me this week is Hussein Kasai, a serial entrepreneur, founder of AI-based digital identity firm, OnFido, and EdTech Startup Quench AI. Welcome, Hussein.
1:51.7	It's great to be on.
1:52.7	Now, I want to talk about Onfido first, because it's been a huge success story for the UK, for yourself, and actually for Oxford University.
2:02.8	And I was reading about how you came up with the idea for this when you were very young and you moved to the UK from Iran and your
2:07.8	parents struggled to get bank accounts. So just talk me through that. Because I think it's always good
2:12.2	to hear a little bit of the sort of inspiration for these companies before we drill into
2:16.9	talking about what they do now.
2:18.3	It's as you say, I was 10 years old. I just remember it was hard for them to be able to open
2:24.1	a bank account and rent in their own name. And that was at the time I understood it to be because
	...

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