Fireside Chat with Adrian Johnston: Building and Scaling Venture-Backed Startups
Interested in what it really takes to build and scale venture-backed companies, from idea to Series A and beyond?
Join Oxford Founders Society for an evening with Adrian Johnston, Oxford alum (St Catz College) and two-time venture-backed founder.
Adrian has built and scaled companies across Singapore and London, raising over $120m in venture funding. His first company, Una Brands, grew to $70m in revenue with 300 employees across 7 offices. His current company, Elyos AI, went through Y Combinator (S23), pivoted in early 2025, and has since grown to $1.5m ARR in under a year, recently closing a $14m Series A.
This fireside chat will go beyond surface-level advice and dive into the real decisions, trade-offs, and pivots behind building high-growth startups.
What we’ll cover:
🚀 The Founder’s Journey: From Oxford to Goldman Sachs, BCG, and ultimately building venture-backed companies from scratch.
💰 Fundraising Reality: What raising $100m+ actually looks like: from seed to Series A, investor dynamics, and common founder mistakes.
🎯 Career & Risk: When to take the leap into entrepreneurship, and how to think about risk, timing, and ambition as a student or early-career professional.
Q&A & Networking
Following the fireside chat, there will be an open Q&A and informal networking session. Come prepared with questions on fundraising, YC, AI startups, or breaking into the startup ecosystem.
🥂 Light refreshments will be provided.
📍 Location: CreditEase Classroom, Said Business School
📅 Date: 12th February 2026
⏰ Time: 18:00-20:00
Organised by Oxford Founders Society, co-hosted with OxAI.
Sponsored by EnSpire Oxford