CP’s Tech & High Growth team recently attended Capsule’s third annual Scale-Up 50 event, bringing together a powerhouse community of founders, senior leaders and investors to celebrate the UK’s fastest-growing scale-ups.
As proud partners and supporters of the Scale-Up 50 programme, it was inspiring to hear more about the innovation, grit and collaboration driving the next generation of breakout success stories.
It’s days like this that cement our passion for supporting ambitious businesses on their scale-up journeys, giving founders all the support they need to go further, faster. And we’ve wrapped up some of the key talking points below.
SCALING SMART IN 2025
This year’s event featured an exceptional panel discussion with leaders from four category-defining scale-ups: PolyAI, Carmoola, Flo Health and Xampla.
Hosted by James Pringle, VC and co-host of the Riding Unicorns Podcast, the panel explored what it takes to scale successfully in 2025, across funding, product-market fit, culture, AI and much more.
Nikola Mrkšić, CEO of PolyAI, shared how he and his co-founders spun the business out of Cambridge University after working on deep learning before it hit the mainstream. Their previous company had been acquired by Apple to make Siri more conversational, but after seeing the limitations of existing voice assistants and plenty of choice comments from friends about Siri, they set out to build voice agents that genuinely work.
Fast forward to today, and PolyAI has raised over $115M to transform enterprise customer service using conversational AI.
Aidan Rushby, Founder of Carmoola, talked about the opportunity he spotted after reading Cazoo’s IPO. Consumers – particularly younger ones – were seeking more transparency and control when financing a vehicle, and traditional dealerships weren’t meeting that need. Carmoola’s customer-first approach and seamless digital experience are shaking up a legacy industry, with growth that speaks for itself.
Over at Xampla, CEO Alexandra French discussed building a world-leading climate tech business by tackling microplastics using plant protein technology. As they scale, team culture is core to the company’s ongoing journey, and she highlighted the Xampla’s feedback-driven culture and the role that clearly defined values play in hiring, onboarding, and performance.
Tamara Orlova, CFO of Flo Health, a unicorn with over 76 million monthly active users, added valuable insight on board dynamics and the importance of investor alignment. With investors ranging from hands-on to more passive, clarity of roles, open communication, and managing expectations were all identified as essential for healthy governance and scaling.
CULTURE, CAPITAL & COMPETITIVE EDGE
A recurring theme across the panel was the importance of company culture – particularly in the early stages. From Aidan at Carmoola emphasising performance and accountability, to Alexandra at Xampla advocating for structured hiring and feedback loops, the consensus was clear: getting culture right early prevents challenges down the road.
When the conversation turned to capital raising, the panellists agreed: investment should serve a strategic purpose, not simply fuel growth for growth’s sake. Aidan shared how he bootstrapped early on before seeking VC support. The panel also highlighted that understanding unit economics and the true cost of capital is critical before pursuing external funding.
AI, unsurprisingly, also dominated the discussion. From improving workflows to transforming customer service and sales enablement, tools like ChatGPT, Gong and Clari are increasingly embedded in scale-ups’ day-to-day operations. But as Nikola from PolyAI pointed out, the competitive edge lies in the application, not just access to the tech.
To listen to the fascinating panel session in its entirety, head here.
CELEBRATING SCALE-UP SUCCESS
Scale-up success in 2025 will be driven by purposeful innovation, aligned culture, smart capital and a relentless focus on customer needs.
Capsule’s Scale-Up 50 captured so much of that, and if you’d like to find out how our Tech & High Growth team can support your scale-up journey, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
