From Seed to Scale: Operator lessons from founders who have done it and active investors

Christopher Kenna is a British entrepreneur, military veteran, and Founder & CEO of Media Stream AI (MSAI), a UK-based sovereign AI company building large-scale AI infrastructure and proprietary models. He leads the development of the MOTHER AI ecosystem, including MOTHER LLM, MOTHER CORE, and IntuiTV, an AI-powered broadcast and content platform. Kenna is driving the rollout of next-generation AI data centres across the UK to support hyperscale GPU compute, positioning Media Stream AI at the forefront of sovereign, high-performance AI.

Giovanna Laudisio is the CEO and co-founder of Naturbeads, a UK-based company pioneering an innovative particles technology to offer sustainable ingredients to multiple industries, ranging from cosmetics, detergents to paint, coatings and biomedical devices. She holds a degree in Chemistry, a PhD in Materials Engineering, and an MBA. Before founding Naturbeads, she worked at DuPont as a scientist and technology manager, where her team received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2010. She is also co-inventor of multiple patents. Laudisio co-founded Naturbeads in 2018 as a spin-out from the University of Bath, helping scale the technology from academic research to industrial deployment and raising significant funding to support commercialization. The first product to be launched in 2026 is cellulose microsphere to prevent microplastics pollution. She has received several recognitions and awards for innovation, entrepreneurship, and climate impact the latest one being the Great British Entrepreneur Award 2025.

I'm a Partner at Haatch, one of the UK's most exciting early-stage investors. £100+m raised, 150+ portfolio companies and 2,000+ investors. My role is to drive the fund to £250m AUM within the next 3 years. 2025 Seed VC of the Year, Fund of the Year, Exit of the Year & Best EIS Manager (UKBAA, Seed Legals & GIA) Alongside my day-to-day role at Haatch, I founded edge, a growth consultancy that works with clients to deliver world-class crowdfunding rounds. I started edge to channel my passion for working with amazing founders and helping them create category-defining brands. I'm also a NED at WineFi - recently named Startup of The Year. Before Haatch, I was CGO at Crowdcube, where I spent nearly a decade supporting some of Europe's best founders and executing the biggest equity crowdfunding rounds of all time, raising £1bn+ for 1000+ companies. I have been a TEDx speaker twice, a featured guest on various podcasts, and a regular panelist and speaker at global events on topics such as growth, innovation, and crowdfunding.