Oli Johnson

📈 Private markets are entering a new phase of transformation, according to Barclays Private Bank’s latest Private Markets Annual Report 2025. The report takes a closer look at how wealthy investors are reshaping the private capital landscape, and how fund managers are adapting, identifying key findings for both LPs and GPs. 🔗Key takeaways and link to the full report in the comments: 🔹 79% of investors plan to increase their private market allocations 🔹 Co-investments, evergreen funds, and feeder structures are now mainstream tools for GPs 🔹 Digital platforms, education, and transparency are key to engaging a new generation of investors #PrivateMarkets #PrivateWealth #AssetManagement #InvestorExperience #WealthManagement

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How do you drive value when fundraising? In the absence of a clear guide, many founders and their boards will chart a steady and linear progression in value, supported by revenue or profit growth, starting at the implied valuation of the initial investment and heading towards a target valuation with valuation reference points to validate this approach. In determining the target value it is worth remembering that business values for scaling growing businesses are typically derived by considering three different methodologies - find out more in this article. https://lnkd.in/e4CH-HH7 #fundraising #valuecreation #investments #scaling #businessgrowth

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Series A is often the moment that defines whether a startup scales or stalls. So what are investors actually looking for at that stage?In this conversation with Stephen Johnson from Mercia Asset Management PLC, we cover why team conviction often outweighs product at Series A, what outsized returns really mean inside a VC portfolio and how it shapes every decision, how to build a credible fundraising narrative by being clear on what must be true, and why moments like AI are creating entirely new windows for founders who can move fast. Which part of the fundraising narrative do you think founders most commonly get wrong? (full episode link in comments) #VentureCapital #SeriesA

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💡 Investment Announcement At the Conduit EIS Impact Fund, our 100-Year Life thesis drives us to back ventures that help people healthier, and more fulfilling lives for longer. We are thrilled to announce Conduit Connect's latest investment in Gladys, an AI-powered home care platform on a mission to fix Britain’s broken care system. Founded by George Robinson and Alex Sorisi, Gladys combines smart technology, logistics know-how, and a relentless focus on better outcomes for both families and carers. The platform matches people in need of support with the UK’s best local carers — offering 5-star care at fairer prices, while helping carers earn up to 65% more than traditional agencies. As George Robinson puts it: “We all know that Britain’s care system is broken. Re-arranging deck-chairs on a sinking ship will not cut it. People are dying unnecessarily, and brilliant carers are undervalued and underpaid. Gladys is using this investment to supercharge its technology, and deliver the service that we would want for our loved ones.” Gladys has already supported tens of thousands of hours of independent living across a 20,000 km area. With this new funding — part of a £1.5m Seed round led by Cornerstone VC — Gladys aims to expand nationwide, delivering hundreds of thousands of hours of quality care by 2026. We believe technology can help rebuild trust and dignity in care — creating meaningful, well-paid work and ensuring that people receive the support they deserve long before they get sick. Rodney Appiah Paolo Pio Exceptional Ventures Gabrielle Morgan Gemma Lakin Conduit Connect The Conduit EIS Impact Fund The Conduit Adam Lawrence #ImpactInvesting #EIS #HealthTech #AIforGood #CareInnovation #ConduitImpactFund #FutureOfCare #StartupInvestment

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🚀 We launched (yet) another fundraising accelerator last week! 💰 This particular investment-ready programme supports under-represented founders in London, and is funded with the support of Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, delivered in partnership with Funding London. 📈 We covered a whole host of topics including types of investors available at different stage, how they think, building FOMO in a fundraise and what best-in-class investor documents look like. 👉 Our mission - to increase the number of funding rounds led by female or ethnic minority founders and have a material impact on the fundraising statistics over the next 12 months.

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Technology, AI and analytics is changing the way diligence is performed.   We discuss how this continues to evolve with technological advances and its impact on diligence and deal making. 

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Proud of Jenny Crinion and the incredible work being done at NeuroSpeechAI. NeuroSpeechAI is building a platform of 7 #AI-driven, #gamified apps for #homebased neuro- #rehabilitation, offering #clinically #validated therapy for people recovering from #stroke, #braininjury or living with #dementia. Jenny will be speaking at #GIANT2025 next week, sharing how this approach can help close the #therapy gap and make #rehabilitation more accessible, scalable and evidence-based. #healthtech #neurorehabilitation #AI #digitalhealth #innovation #NeuroSpeechAI #strokerecovery #braininjury #dementia #rehabilitation #GIANT2025

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Why does Hg Partner and Head of Hg Wealth Martina Sanow say "if you are only a public investor in software, you're missing out on 90% of that market"? Watch the entire conversation on Alt Goes Mainstream here: https://lnkd.in/erptXEuN

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I was pleased to speak to Real Deals for their latest Tech for Business report, which explores how technology continues to shape value creation and corporate operations.     At Keensight Capital, we focus on backing leading tech companies with clear use cases, strong recurring revenues and long-term resilience. In this market, deep sector expertise matter more than ever.     Access the full report: https://bit.ly/4lMInB6     #KeensightUpdates #GrowthBuyout #PrivateEquity #SaaS #Technology #ValueCreation 

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Welcome to Signals by Siana Capital for the week of 17th November 2025 Everything our team reads, learns, and debates, to share as signals from the outside world 1. 20VC chat with Everett Randle, Partner at Benchmark https://lnkd.in/dhHF7u5h AI companies can generate far higher gross-profit dollars per customer and tap labour-budget TAM rather than software budgets, which is why AI categories are now adding $4-5bn in new ARR per year versus the $1bn SaaS golden-category benchmark. This TAM expansion is breaking old metrics, accelerating category formation, and concentrating value in a handful of winners. As a result, multi-stage megafunds may never return 5x+ net again, but they will produce enormous absolute dollars by anchoring themselves to these outsized, AI-driven category explosions 2. China’s falling CO2 emmissions https://lnkd.in/dKd-qybS China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for the past 18 months, which is the strongest signal yet that its energy transition has crossed a structural inflection point. This stability is happening despite rising electricity demand, because China is adding renewables, storage, and transmission capacity at unprecedented speed. When emissions plateau while infrastructure accelerates, the bottleneck shifts from physical build-out to system intelligence. That’s a signal that AI in forecasting, grid balancing, asset optimisation, and distributed-energy orchestration will become a multi-billion-dollar golden category 3. AI cyber espionage https://lnkd.in/dbMd5U9J A Chinese group used a jailbroken frontier model to autonomously run an end to end cyber espionage operation, handling 80-90% of the workload with only minimal human oversight. The attack moved at machine speed, executing thousands of actions per second, and targeted major tech, financial, industrial, and government systems. This is the first signal that agentic AI is fully capable of performing the work of entire APT teams, collapsing the cost, talent, and time barriers that historically protected nations and enterprises. Cyber offense has been automated, and every institution now operates in a world where scalable, state level attacks can be launched by anyone with access to a frontier model Follow Siana Capital for more weekly Signals from India’s deeptech and frontier infrastructure ecosystem

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Preparing to raise VC funding? This is for you. Boardwave has launched a new Fundraising Fundamentals masterclass series - designed to help founders navigate the fundraising process with confidence. Across seven on-demand sessions, founders and investors share practical insights on how to: 💡 Build the foundations of a successful raise 🎯 Craft and deliver a compelling investor story 🤝 Negotiate and close the right deal We’re delighted to have collaborated with the Boardwave team for the first masterclass. Ian Merricks, FBCS FRSA, features in the opening episode alongside Mike Reid, Frog Capital, and Thuria Wenbar, Evaro - offering real-world advice from both sides of the table. Part 1: Ready to Raise is live now - watch it here: https://lnkd.in/eJy83rAZ

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We are excited to announce the launch of our latest thought-leadership piece: Private equity focus: A new process for CEO succession planning in a new normal.    Drawing on data gathered from Heidrick & Struggles surveys conducted in 2024 and 2025 of CEOs and board members around the world, this report explores current approaches to succession planning at PE-backed companies and what these leaders can do to best position their organizations for the future in the current environment. The paper finds that private equity (PE)-backed firms often neglect CEO succession planning despite high CEO turnover and longer hold periods. It calls for PE firms to adopt proactive, strategic, and portfolio-wide succession planning to protect value and ensure leadership continuity.    Key findings:    ·                    Only 16% of leaders at PE-backed firms view CEO succession as a top priority, compared with 26% globally.  ·                    28% of PE board members consider succession planning only in emergencies.  ·                    CEO turnover in PE portfolio companies exceeds 70% during typical hold periods (5.5–6 years).  ·                    PE firms show less alignment between succession planning and overall business strategy than public companies.  ·                    Open discussions about CEO and board succession occur far less frequently in PE firms.   ·                    Responsibility is unclear—boards, investors, and HR leaders often have overlapping or undefined roles.  ·                    45% of PE-backed companies have recently increased investment in succession planning, reflecting rising governance expectations.  ·                    The report recommends proactive, centralized, and continuous succession planning integrated into long-term talent strategy.    

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Secondaries are a critical part of a healthy venture ecosystem, liquidity for teams, recycling capital and supporting companies as they scale. They’ve also long been an important part of Molten’s strategy. Excited to see us doubling down with a dedicated team. Welcome Malcolm, Nick and Steven 👊

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Jack Altman Joins Benchmark as General Partner The addition of Jack Altman to Benchmark as a General Partner signifies the continuing evolution within the venture capital landscape. His wealth of experience in scaling startups and building sustainable businesses through innovative strategies will undoubtedly enrich Benchmark's investment philosophy. At ElevenX Capital, we recognize the importance of leadership transitions in venture firms and how they influence market trends and investor confidence. How do you think Altman's unique expertise will shape Benchmark's future investments? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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The EMK Way is about building stronger, more resilient businesses. Our Responsible Investment Report 2024 demonstrates how this approach creates lasting value for investors and positive outcomes across our portfolio. You can read the full report below.

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NEW: Open Equity episode with Callum Laing is live! Callum Laing is a partner at Unity Group, founder at Global Investment Leaders Directive (GILD) and Veblen Director Programme. He is globally renowned for his work on democratising access to public markets for SMEs, and supporting entrepreneurs to gain board experience and investment. In this episode, we unpack: → Why most struggle with fundraising - and how to do it well → How to go public without losing control → The power of partnerships - how to start and sustain them in a win-win way Plus much more… This is a good, grounded conversation about the ins and outs of the private and public markets for entrepreneurs and investors. Enjoy! → Watch the full episode now by searching 'Open Equity With Thomas Cornwall' on YouTube, Spotify - or click the links in the comments below.

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