Adrian Johnston, ‘Startups, Y Combinator, and How to Raise £120m in Funding’
St Catherine’s College proudly presents the second talk in the Hilary Edition of ‘Catz in Conversation’ – our all-new webinar series by alumni, for everyone.
On Tuesday, 24th February, Adrian Johnston will reflect on the journey from St Catherine’s College to founding and scaling two venture-backed technology enterprises. Drawing on firsthand experience of raising over $120 million in combined funding, Adrian will explore what it really takes to turn an idea into a funded, growing business.
This webinar will cover key stages of the startup cycle, including identifying problems worth solving, assembling early teams, working with investors, navigating rapid growth, and managing the less visible challenges that accompany scale.
Aimed at students interested in entrepreneurship, business, and AI-driven ventures, this talk is designed to be practical and candid rather than theoretical. It will also touch on how skills developed during undergraduate study – often in unexpected ways – can transfer into startup life.
Adrian Johnston
Adrian Johnston (2005, Mathematics) is a successful two-times founder. His first business ‘Una Brands’ is a MarTech business based in Singapore. In three years, the company grew to $70m in revenue with 300 people across seven offices. Adrian raised $100m for the company across four funding rounds.
Adrian’s second business ‘Elyos AI’ is an AI business founded in London in 2023. Elyos went through the Y Combinator S23 batch and was initially focused on energy optimisation. The business pivoted into AI support agents for the field services in February 2025. Since February, the business has grown to $1.5m ARR in ten months with an 80% gross margin. The company recently closed a $14m series A, following its $3m seed round.
Prior to founding these businesses, Adrian spent three years at Boston Consulting Group, three years at Goldman Sachs and three years as a maths teacher with the Teach First programme. Adrian holds an MMath from Oxford (St Catz), an MBA from INSEAD business school, and an MPA from Harvard.
To secure your place at our full term of online talks, please see here. All talks in the series are scheduled for either a lunchtime (1-2pm) or an evening (6-7pm) slot. All are free to attend and open to all. Lasting 45 minutes and followed by an audience Q&A, these talks are the perfect chance to strengthen your professional network, to advance your knowledge, and to hear from past generations of Catz alumni working in future-forward fields.
All webinars are hosted on Zoom. Unless stated otherwise, they are recorded and uploaded to our YouTube channel.
Date
24 February, 2026
Time
6 - 7pm
Venue
Online, via Zoom