

Build at Giant: From Academia to Startup
Join us at Giant House in Notting Hill for an evening of pizza, drinks, and candid conversation with Douglas Brion, Founder & CEO of Matta.
Douglas is building industrial AI to enable factory sentience, and spun out of Cambridge University. Matta recently announced $14M in funding to accelerate its vision.
We’ll discuss the real journey from academia to company-building: unlocking ambition, pursuing bold ideas, finding the right co-founder, securing first capital, and navigating the messy early days of building something from nothing.
As former founders and operators, we know how ambiguous and nonlinear those first steps can be. This will be an open, informal session where no question is off limits.
Who is this for?
• Students and researchers considering entrepreneurship
• PhD candidates and recent graduates
• Aspiring founders exploring ideas
• Builders working on AI or deeptech spinouts
If you’re thinking about starting something, or simply curious about what it takes, we’d love to see you there.