Benevolent Disruptors

In this episode of the Benevolent Disruptors Interview Series, we welcome David Clark, CIO of VenCap International plc. Founded in 1987, VenCap is one of the longest-standing and most successful fund-of-funds investment firms in Venture Capital.    Having committed over $3 billion across 500+ VC funds, David reflects on how VenCap evolved from a traditional LP into a data-driven, conviction-led platform, focused on backing the top 5% of venture managers: the "unicorn hunters".   Today, their underlying portfolio reads like a who's who of the defining companies of our era, including groundbreaking companies like OpenAI, Spotify, NVIDIA and Stripe. The conversation explores why a small fraction of companies continue to generate the bulk of venture returns, how AI is poised to concentrate the power law even further, and what it means for LPs trying to position themselves on the right side of that divide.  David unpacks VenCap's core manager thesis, why operating from Oxford rather than Silicon Valley has been a strategic advantage, and how the firm's collaboration with BNVT Capital on our ‘Benevolent Disruption’ investment thesis is reshaping the conversation around “impact” in venture.  Key Takeaways: Why roughly 30 companies a year account for over 50% of all value generated by the global VC industry and how AI could make that concentration even more extreme How VenCap's shift to a data-driven "core manager" strategy in the mid-2000s dramatically improved performance while virtually eliminating left-tail risk David's take on whether mega-fund sizes are sustainable and how full-stack AI-native companies are becoming the vertical, not just selling software  What VenCap learned from 30+ years of manager selection: that LPs aren't the heroes, founders are  Why being based in Oxford, outside the Silicon Valley bubble, insulates VenCap from hype cycles and supports more rational, long-term allocation decisions How VenCap's collaboration with BNVT emerged from a shared belief that traditional ESG reporting doesn't fit the reality of early-stage venture 👉 Learn more at https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/ 

In this episode, Chris speaks with Sam Atkinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Swap: one of BNVT Capital's earliest investments and now a global agentic e-commerce platform powering over 1,000 brands like Paul Smith, Cubitts and Sirplus. Sam reflects on building Swap from a small London team focused on returns management into a full operating system for cross-border commerce, and why the company's boldest chapter is just beginning. The conversation explores how solving one of the hardest problems in e-commerce cross-border returns gave Swap the foundation to expand into payments, shipping, customs, demand forecasting, and tax compliance. Sam unpacks the launch of Swap's Agentic Storefront, why Shopify remains a partner even as Swap carves out its own lane, and what it took to scale a UK-born platform into a US-led growth story:  with $120M in projected annualized revenue and a $100M Series C from Iconic and DST to fuel what comes next. Key Takeaways: How starting with cross-border returns gave Swap the credibility and infrastructure to build a full e-commerce operating system What the Agentic Storefront is, why it's unlike anything else on the market, and how it opens up an entirely new customer base in North America Why Swap views Shopify as a long-term partner — and where the two diverge on the front-end experience How Sam's experience running his own e-commerce brand and working at McKinsey and Swedish neobank Juni shaped Swap's product vision What it took to scale from the UK to a global operation with nearly 50% of revenue now in the US Why hiring close friends as early employees was one of Sam's best decisions — and how his wife Jean keeps him grounded through it all Sam's take on the benevolent vs. disruptor question: "We need to do the disrupting first to be able to be benevolent" 👉 Learn more at https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/  

In this episode, Rory Mounsey-Heysham speaks with Nigel Morris, Managing Partner at QED Investors and co-founder of Capital One. Nigel reflects on four decades in financial services, his ambition to impact over one billion people through fintech, and why he believes innovation in finance is still in its early innings.The conversation explores how Capital One democratized credit through risk-based pricing, why fintech continues to take share from incumbents, and where the next decade of disruption may come from across stablecoins, open banking, AI, and digital-native banking models. Nigel also shares hard-won lessons from building QED into one of the world’s leading fintech venture firms.Key TakeawaysWhy Nigel’s goal to impact one billion lives shapes his investment philosophyHow Capital One used data and risk-based pricing to expand access to creditWhy fintech is still a small share of a $14 trillion market and growing faster than incumbentsWhere fintech already dominates, from remittances to earned wage access and neo-banksHow stablecoins and open banking could reshape deposits and cross-border paymentsWhy venture capital is about brand, power-law outcomes, and backing generational founders👉 Subscribe to Benevolent Disruptors for more conversations with founders building enduring companies by solving deep systemic problems👉 Learn more at https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/

In this episode, Rory speaks with Andrew L. Cohen, Executive Chairman of J.P. Morgan’s Global Private Bank and leader of 23 Wall, J.P. Morgan’s Institutional Wealth Management practice serving many of the world’s most influential families and institutions. Drawing on insights from J.P. Morgan’s Principals Report and decades at the heart of global finance, Andrew offers a rare perspective on how capital is allocated, how risk is understood, and how the world’s most powerful decision-makers think about the future.The conversation explores why geopolitics has become the defining risk for global families, the accelerating shift from public to private markets, and the rise of direct investing with governance involvement. Rory and Andrew also unpack the realities of AI adoption beyond the hype, the traits that distinguish resilient multi-generational families, the growing role of sport as an asset class, and why benevolent capital and disruption must work together to drive long-term progress in an increasingly complex world.Key TakeawaysHow global families are using capital to shape markets, not just access themWhy geopolitics is now the single biggest risk facing wealthy familiesWhat the shift from public to private markets means for founders and investorsWhy direct investing with governance involvement is acceleratingHow multi-generational operating experience adds unique value to growth companiesWhere AI adoption is creating real advantage and where it still lagsWhat differentiates resilient multi-generational familiesWhy governance, communication, and shared values matter as complexity growsHow sports has become a fast-growing global asset classWhy innovation is increasingly global, not geographically confinedHow benevolence and disruption can coexist as forces for good👉 Subscribe to Benevolent Disruptors for more conversations with founders, investors, and thinkers turning big problems into better business.👉 Check out more about Benevolent Disruption here: https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/

In this episode, Chris Corbishley speaks with Jodok Betschart, co-founder and CEO of Cloover, one of BNVT Capital’s earliest investments. Cloover has announced a $1.2B financing commitment to scale a new kind of software-led renewable energy infrastructure across Europe. The conversation covers Cloover’s breakout year, including around 8x revenue growth while remaining profitable, and why energy independence is becoming a critical consumer need as grids strain and household costs rise.Jodok explains Cloover’s mission to connect 1 billion people to renewable energy by making installations accessible through simple monthly payments and by empowering local SME installers, not replacing them. Chris and Jodok explore why climate and energy investing is regaining momentum, why many climate tech startups fail when software-style expectations collide with physical infrastructure, and how Cloover’s asset-light platform model reduces risk while accelerating adoption.Key TakeawaysWhy Cloover’s mission is energy independence at mass-market affordabilityHow local installers sit at the centre of the energy transitionWhat has shifted to unlock more institutional capital for clean energy in EuropeWhy many climate tech startups fail when venture logic meets infrastructure realityHow an asset-light platform model enables faster, lower-risk scalingWhy culture, commitment, and execution matter as much as technology👉 Subscribe to Benevolent Disruptors for more conversations with founders building enduring companies by solving deep systemic problems👉 Learn more at https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/

In this episode, Chris Corbishley speaks with Thomas Wolf, co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Hugging Face, the open-source AI platform now powering millions of models and researchers worldwide. Thomas shares the unlikely origins of the company from a teen chatbot to the central hub of the global machine learning community sparked by a research codebase for BERT and GPT-2 that unexpectedly went viral and reshaped the company’s trajectory.He discusses how Hugging Face now incubates internal “mini-startups” across open science, small on-device models, robotics and AI for science, and how this mirrors his work angel-investing in over 100 AI companies. The conversation explores the cultural differences between European and US founders, the importance of mission and openness, the limitations of today’s large language models, and why Thomas believes multiple research paths, not just those pursued by frontier labs, are essential for the field’s long-term progress.Key TakeawaysHow Hugging Face evolved from a teen chatbot into the backbone of the global open-source AI ecosystemWhy an open-sourced research codebase for BERT and GPT-2 became the catalyst for a full company pivotHow Hugging Face incubates internal “startups” such as BigScience, small on-device models, robotics, and AI for scienceWhy Thomas believes mission, culture, and long-term orientation are essential and how they emerged over time rather than being predeterminedHow European founders can overcome self-censorship and think bigger, and why Thomas encourages a more American-style approach to ambitionWhy he sees AI as a dual-use technology, the limitations of current LLMs, and the importance of multiple research paths beyond today’s frontier labsHow regulatory cycles swing between under- and over-correction, and why this matters for innovatorsWhere Thomas sits on the spectrum between benevolent and disruptor—and how that shapes his work today👉 Subscribe to Benevolent Disruptors for more conversations with the founders and thinkers turning big problems into better business.👉 Check out more about Benevolent Disruption here: https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/

In this episode, Rory Mounsey-Heysham speaks with Colin le Duc, Co-Founder and Partner at Generation Investment Management,  the sustainability-focused investment firm created alongside former US Vice President Al Gore and David Blood of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Generation was founded on a bold premise: that sustainability and long-term financial performance reinforce each other rather than compete. Two decades later, the firm manages more than $40 billion and has become one of the most respected voices in mission-driven investing.Colin shares Generation’s origin story, the serendipitous alignment that brought its founders together, and how the firm set out to integrate sustainability into every stage of investing. He reflects on building both public and private market strategies, the moments of luck and timing that accelerated their success, and what it means to stay mission-driven while scaling a global investment platform.The pair also discuss the advantages mission-driven companies have, why founders with genuine purpose outperform, and how political headwinds shape (and fail to derail) climate and sustainability investing. Colin explains why resilient, long-term fundamentals still guide Generation’s approach and why this is an unusually compelling time to invest in sustainable solutions.Key TakeawaysHow Generation Investment Management was founded on integrating sustainability into capital marketsWhy timing, luck, and early market conditions accelerated their first decadeHow mission and investment performance reinforce each other, not competeWhy sustainability became a source of alpha long before the market recognised itHow being mission-driven helps attract the best entrepreneurs, teams, and shareholdersWhy short-term political shifts don’t change long-term sustainable investing fundamentalsHow climate and sustainability cycles create opportunities for specialist investorsWhy Generation focuses on returning capital, not just raising it👉 Subscribe to Benevolent Disruptors for more conversations with the founders and thinkers turning big problems into better business.👉 Checkout more about Benevolent Disruption here https://www.benevolentdisruptors.com/

In this episode, Chris Corbishley speaks with Matt Oppenheimer, Co-Founder and CEO of Remitly - the global payments company reshaping how money moves across borders.Matt shares how his time in Kenya sparked the idea for Remitly and how the company grew from a small startup in Seattle into a platform now trusted by millions. What began as a response to an unfair, outdated system of money transfers became a mission to make financial services more affordable, transparent, and human.The pair talk about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship from the early “nerve-sited” days to running a listed company and what it means to stay mission-driven while scaling globally. Matt also reflects on why purpose has been Remitly’s biggest advantage, how regulation can build trust, and why AI and stablecoins could open up the next chapter of financial inclusion.Key TakeawaysHow a frustrating personal experience in Kenya inspired Remitly’s founding ideaThe emotional rollercoaster of building a fintech from scratchWhy being “too mission-driven” once scared investors, and why that’s now a strengthHow purpose creates resilience, attracts great teams, and builds better businessesWhat really allowed Remitly to challenge giants like Western UnionWhy regulation can be a competitive advantage, not a roadblockThe opportunities AI and stablecoins bring to global financeMatt’s vision for serving the 300 million people still left out of fair financial systems👉 Subscribe to Benevolent Disruptors for more conversations with the founders and thinkers turning big problems into better business.

To open this conversation, Rory Mounsey-Heysham sits down with Greg Jackson - founder and CEO of Octopus Energy - one of Europe’s most successful tech companies and a driving force in the energy transition. Greg shares how Octopus grew from humble beginnings into a global energy and technology leader, serving millions of customers and managing billions in renewable assets. From challenging incumbents to redefining regulation, Greg embodies the spirit of “benevolent disruption”: building big businesses that make the world better.In this wide-ranging discussion, Greg reflects on his journey from Halifax to leading a multi-billion-dollar company, the philosophy behind Kraken (Octopus’s proprietary tech platform), the importance of capital and agility, and why he believes clean energy must be cheap, fast, and fair.Key TakeawaysEnergy as a tech problem: Octopus was founded on the belief that modern software could transform an outdated, inefficient energy industry.Capital and resilience: Greg emphasizes raising funds before you need them - “no one ever went bust because they had too much cash.”Agility as a superpower: Proprietary technology allows Octopus to innovate faster and outpace incumbents in integrating renewables and new products.Purpose with pragmatism: Energy should be fairer, cheaper, cleaner but it must also deliver returns to scale impact.Regulation reform: Greg advocates for “refactoring” outdated regulation halving timelines and simplifying systems to unlock innovation.Energy transition politics: Clean energy must be reframed as a cost-reducing, prosperity-driving movement, not a cultural wedge issue.The benevolent disruptor mindset: “The Good Samaritan couldn’t have helped anyone if he didn’t have the cash.” Scale and success are prerequisites for meaningful good.

To open the series, Rory Mounsey-Heysham and Chris Corbishley are joined by Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. Shopify is often seen as an e-commerce platform, but Harley describes it as something bigger: an entrepreneurship company. By lowering the barriers to starting and scaling a business, Shopify has helped millions of people turn ambition into independence.In this conversation, Harley reflects on Shopify’s journey, why more entrepreneurs make the world stronger and more colourful, and how technology is reshaping what’s possible for founders. From lessons learned from iconic business leaders, to the right role for government, to the promise and pitfalls of artificial intelligence - this episode is full of ideas on how “big problems” can become “big business.”Key TakeawaysWhy Shopify thinks of itself as an entrepreneurship company, not just a tech platformHow reducing barriers to entry has changed who gets to build businessesWhy small businesses, not large corporations, are the true drivers of economiesThe two forces behind entrepreneurship: passion and survivalWhat Harley has learned from great founders across industriesWhy government should set “guardrails, not gates” for businessHow AI is giving entrepreneurs new tools and levelling the playing field

In this short teaser, hear the vision behind Benevolent Disruptors - a new podcast from BNVT Capital exploring how solving the world’s biggest problems can also deliver the biggest financial returns.Hosted by managing partners Rory Mounsey-Heysham and Chris Corbishley, the series features candid conversations with founders, executives, and investors from leading companies, funds, and endowments. Together, they reveal how tackling systemic global challenges with lasting technological innovation transforms big problems into big business.Subscribe now and be the first to hear full episodes when they drop.