VC10X · 2026-06-16 · 42 min
Duncan Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Northern Gritstone, joins VC10X to break down why the UK produces world-class science but struggles to turn it into globally significant companies. We dig into the £24 million vs. £980 million funding gap between the north of England and the Golden Triangle, why a US investor on your cap table can mean a 2x outperformance potential, and how Northern Gritstone's permanent capital structure lets it match the 15-year reality of deep-tech venture instead of forcing exits on a 10-year fund clock. Duncan also shares what UK institutional investors still get wrong about venture risk and portfolio construction, why concentrating capital in a handful of innovation clusters beats spreading it thin, where he believes the UK has a genuine right to win in applied and agentic AI, and the three qualities - ambition, aptitude, and attitude - that separate university spin-outs that become real businesses from the ones that stay great science projects.
VC10X - The AI Bottleneck Keeps Moving - Ashmeet Sidana, Founder & Managing Partner, Engineering Capital77 / 100VC10X Pulse - Is Meta Selling Excess Compute?VC10X Pulse - Micron's Blowout Earnings Report: What it means for the AI trade?Allocator10x - The $600Bn Perspective: What Institutions Get Wrong About Risk, Diversification & AI - Jeffrey Blazek, co-CIO of Multi-Asset, Neuberger Berman ($600B+ AUM)VC10X Pulse - Is SpaceX Pulling The Market Down?