A Nuclear Renaissance or a False Dawn?
In the previous instalment of Will Dufton’s series on Nuclear energy, he discussed a brief history of nuclear fission - and how we got to where we are today: from Marie Curie to the Manhattan Project. This time, he shares the state of play today and asks if we are living in a new renaissance or if this is a false dawn.
A Brief History of Nuclear Fission
“Are we living in a Nuclear Renaissance?” This question has occupied many a coffee chat at Giant House this past month, so much so that we decided to put pen to paper. Will Dufton has written a four-part series on nuclear energy, the first instalment of which we are sharing here: a brief history of nuclear fission.
AI is eating software (and creating a parallel labour force)
It is clear that AI is moving extremely quickly, so we humbly proffer any predictions, but one thing that is fast becoming clear that AI is not just a technology platform shift but a paradigmatic shift in how human labour relates to our economy. Here Cameron McLain offers his reflections.
It’s time to unleash British dynamism
Talent comes from anywhere, as long as it is cultivated. Tommy Stadlen wrote a piece for The Times about Britain's dynamic potential and how to stoke it: inspired by the tiny Welsh farming village of Llanfyllin. Far away from Silicon Valley, Llanfyllin is the birthplace of multi-milllion pound AI company CuspAI's CEO Chad Edwards and star football coach, Eric Ramsay. It is also the proof for the potential of British Dynamism.
Flexible Power - Why we Backed Flower to Build a More Resilient Grid
Last week our portfolio company Flower announced the closing of its €45m funding round. The round was led by Northzone with participation from Giant Ventures. Here Will shares more about why we invested.
How to hire, fire, and lead as a CEO (and what you’re doing wrong)
How do the best CEOs hire, fire and lead? And what are you doing wrong Eric Liaw is General Partner at IVP - one of Silicon Valley's oldest and best-regarded firms. Earlier this year, Eric had breakfast with our portfolio CEOs to share what he's seen and learnt over 13 years - from working with leading CEOs of companies including GitHub, RobinHood, Klarna, MasterClass, Supercell, UiPath, and WHOOP.
How Can UK University Founders Flourish?
Having spoken to many founders running university spin-outs worldwide, Madelene, Principal at Giant, sees a new founder profile emerging: "The Angry Scientist". In this piece, she explores how the UK spinout process can improve, the university equity myth and her top tips for scientist founders leaving university to start up a company.
Giant Ideas 2024
Giant Ideas is a unique gathering of leaders, bringing together founders, CEOs, heads of state and leading investors to rethink technology as a force for good, from climate to healthcare. Watch the wrap video here.
How Giant Will Invest Behind the AI Wave
AI is transforming the world. In this deep dive piece, Cameron McLain gives a unique insight on Giant's investments and lays out the AI areas we are excited about here at Giant. From AI for Discovery, to AI for Automation & Augmentation, to AI for Personalisation, as well as an insight into some of our investments in this space and our perspective on this new wave of technological progress.
Giant Ventures launches new funds to invest $250M into purpose-driven technology companies in Europe and the US
A $100 million seed fund will back 25 early-stage companies, while a $150 million climate-focused growth fund fills a major Series B climate funding gap, providing scale-up capital to the world’s leading climate technology companies. We have already made 10 investments from the two fresh funds, at a time when venture capital funding has dried up globally.
Giant Ideas: The Podcast
At Giant, we’re lucky that we often meet extraordinary people with giant ideas that are changing the world. So we’ve released a brand new podcast to bring these behind-the-scenes conversations on the giant ideas shaping the world, and the inspiring stories of the leaders behind them.
2023: A Giant Year In Review
This time last year we resolved that 2023 would be a year of bold, breakout growth for both the firm and our portfolio companies, however tough the macroeconomic conditions might be. Let’s look at some of the highlights from the past twelve months…
The power of soil: Building a regenerative agriculture business
Originally published by McKinsey in Learn to Leap: Green Business Building Edition: "With support from a like-minded investor, Agreena is building a farmer-centric, global ecosystem to propel adoption of regenerative agriculture practices and remove carbon from the atmosphere."
Food as medicine: in a world obsessed with pharma and weight loss
‘Food as medicine’ is now scientifically verified. But if the concept is simple and proven, why don’t more people change what they eat? Can we replace the need for a healthy diet with GLP-1s like Ozempic? How can applying technology to this ancient idea help prevent diseases and decrease the burden on health services?
Giant Ideas 2023
Giant Ideas is a unique gathering of leaders, bringing together founders, CEOs, heads of state and leading investors to rethink technology as a force for good, from climate to healthcare. Watch the wrap video here.