Meet the Scalers: Growing a tech business in 2025

Harry Coath

Head of Talent & Skills Programmes, London & Partners

As Head of Talent & Skills Programmes, Harry leads London & Partners' work supporting businesses to access the right talent and skills from across the full diversity of London's boroughs and communities.

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Julian David OBE

CEO, techUK

Julian David is the CEO of techUK, the Digital Technology Trade Association. 

Julian leads techUK's 60 strong team in representing over 800 member companies, comprising global and national champions and more than 500 SMEs. He is a member of the UK Government and Industry Cyber Growth Partnership, the Digital Economy Council and the Department of International Trade’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group. He is also the Vice President for National Trade Associations, on the Executive Board of DIGITALEUROPE, Vice President representing Europe on the board of WITSA the Worldwide IT Association, and a member of the board of the Health innovation Network, the South London Academic Health Science Network. 

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Saranyah Douse

B2B Software Investor, Octopus Ventures

Saranyah is part of Octopus Ventures B2B Software team, with a focus on companies that have commercialised their product and are at the scale-up phase in their growth.

Saranyah joined Octopus Ventures in 2020. She previously spent two years in private equity, with a focus on portfolio value creation, and five years carrying out due diligence on M&A transactions.

She is a chartered accountant and holds an economics degree from the University of Cambridge.

Saranyah is passionate about coaching and mentorship and serves as a Trustee for Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a charity focused on the power of sport in supporting disadvantaged young people realise their full potential.

: https://octopusventures.com/

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Neil Shah

Head of Tech Sector, Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group

Neil joined The London Stock Exchange in July 2020 and leads business development for the Tech Sector within Primary Markets. Neil helps privately held UK and international tech and tech-enabled companies and their shareholders evaluate the merits and process of going public in London and helps founders and management teams connect with advisors and the wider ecosystem.

In the last 5 years, Neil has helped over 50 tech and tech-enabled companies go public including companies such as Darktrace, Wise and Raspberry Pi. He also works closely with the LSE's Issuer Services team to help clients get the support they need post IPO.

Neil started his career at Dresdner Kleinwort in the global technology group and co-founded the European technology group at Thomas Weisel Partners (now Stifel). During his 15 years in investment banking, Neil advised on and helped his clients execute M&A, private placements, IPOs and follow-on transactions across several exchanges and markets globally. He also supported several UK-listed tech companies as their corporate broker.

 

Neil graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc (Hon) degree in Economics.

: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/

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Maria Tsarkova

Co-founder, Solid Water Marketing Agency and Head of Growth, Ooredoo Fintech 

Maria Tsarkova is co-founder of Solid Water growth marketing firm and Head of Growth Ooredoo Fintech, subsidiary of Ooredoo Group, headquartered in Doha, Qatar.

: https://https//solidwateragency.com/
: maria-tsarkova

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James Uffindell

Founder & CEO, Bright Network

James is a technology entrepreneur and the UK's leading expert on Gen Z talent. James started his first business from his student bedroom in 1999 which he exited to a private investor. James founded Bright Network in 2013, a high-growth technology platform that uses 300M data points and insights to build the workforce of tomorrow. Bright Network employs ~150 people, supports over 1 million graduates and works with 300 of the world's largest employers including Google, Bloomberg Goldman Sachs, Accenture and PwC. In 2022 James launched Bright Network Technology Academy to train young people from diverse backgrounds in software engineering skills. James is a regular media commentator and ''been featured in The Economist, Management Today, The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph as well as on live on BBC (radio and TV), Sky News, Channel 4, CNN and on ITV. In his spare time James invests in other growth businesses and enjoys travelling, chess and endurance sports.

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