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0:00
Uh, Chris, thanks very much for coming
0:01
in. Could you first of all tell us a bit
0:03
about the company, uh, when you founded
0:06
it, why you founded it, and how how
0:07
you've grown up?
0:08
>> Yeah, of course. Um, well, thank you so
0:09
much for having me here. I'm Chris,
0:11
co-founder and CEO of Corvera. So, at
0:13
Corvera, we are building the AI agent
0:16
workforce for consumer packaged goods
0:18
companies. Essentially, walk into a
0:20
Tesco, everything on the shelves of a
0:22
Tesco store is a consumer packaged
0:25
goods. Um, and uh, how we how we got
0:28
started was that, um, you know, straight
0:30
out of university, I started a brand
0:32
called Better Nature. And over the
0:34
course of 7 years, um, alongside my
0:36
co-founder, scaled it into Europe's
0:38
number one tempeh brand. When I was sold
0:40
in major retailers all across Europe,
0:42
uh, including Tesco, Asda, Ocado, and a
0:45
number of other major retailers here in
0:47
the UK. Um, during that time as CEO,
0:50
though I was mainly involved in sales
0:51
and business development, I was, of
0:53
course, you know, very intimately
0:54
involved in all parts of the business,
0:56
um, including supply chain operations.
0:59
And one of my greatest frustrations
1:01
during my time as a CEO was, um, seeing
1:03
how much time my my my supply chain team
1:06
was spending on I thought really
1:08
repetitive, menial, and manual
1:10
workflows. Um, when they should
1:12
otherwise be spending that time, you
1:14
know, adding value to the business, you
1:15
know, speaking to our suppliers,
1:17
speaking to our customers, developing
1:19
new products, doing things that are far
1:20
more exciting for them as well, rather
1:22
than effectively just moving data from
1:24
one place to the next, from emails to
1:26
ERP solutions and and whatnot. Um, my
1:29
big aha moment with AI came about when
1:32
GPT-2 came out, um, in 2023, and I
1:35
thought this was going to completely
1:36
radicalize and transform the way work is
1:39
being done across all industries. And I
1:41
waited patiently uh, for that innovation
1:43
to come to the consumer packaged goods
1:46
industry. Uh, but 2 years later,
1:48
nothing happened. Uh, so around this
1:50
time last year, uh, around April time 20
1:52
um, 2025, I made the decision to hand
1:56
over the reins of BetterNature to my
1:58
co-founders uh, and start Corvera. I was
2:01
very fortunate to meet my two
2:03
co-founders of Corvera, Dirk Brewer and
2:06
Matthew Collins, and together we started
2:08
Corvera around October time, 2025.
2:11
We were very fortunate to be the first
2:13
company accepted into Y Combinator in
2:16
their most recent batch, their winter
2:17
2026 batch. So, for those who don't
2:19
know, Y Combinator is the most
2:21
prestigious tech accelerator in the
2:22
world, producing businesses like Stripe,
2:25
Dropbox, Airbnb, and and many, many
2:27
others um based in San Francisco. So, we
2:29
went off to San Francisco and just fell
2:31
in love with the city and yeah, have
2:33
come an extremely long way since.
2:35
>> So, since then you've raised a
2:36
multi-million pound funding round and
2:39
you've also um set up operations in San
2:42
Francisco. So, what prompted the move
2:45
from the UK over to the US?
2:47
>> Yeah, I think um when I first started
2:50
Corvera, um the I had the US in mind in
2:53
sight. That was where I knew that we
2:55
were going to start the business.
2:57
Um the reason why was that I think from
2:59
a personal standpoint, I was always
3:01
fascinated about the US. Um but I think
3:04
more practically speaking, um
3:07
I think there's a stat that 91% of the
3:10
most recent unicorns globally are all
3:12
located in the Bay Area. So, that's in
3:15
the San Francisco Bay Area. Um and
3:17
having gone there during what the Y
3:20
Combinator program, which is the world's
3:22
most prestigious tech accelerator,
3:24
there's there's there's a reason why. Uh
3:26
it was very evident why. Um you know,
3:28
the concentration of talent is
3:31
incredible there.
3:33
Um the the concentration of operators
3:35
who are I mean perhaps building similar
3:37
solutions but to adjacent industries or
3:39
perhaps completely unrelated industries
3:42
all there. Um and the capital required
3:45
to to build tech uh you know, a a
3:48
generational tech company is there, too.
3:51
Uh those three things are unfortunately
3:53
are not in the same supply here in the
3:55
UK. So, that's why we decided to set up
3:57
shop over there.
3:58
>> There definitely has been uh endless
4:01
conversations in in London about the
4:03
fact that it as a city we're we're very
4:06
good at um
4:08
fostering or incubating startups.
4:10
Um
4:11
you know, in terms of unicorn creation,
4:13
comfortably ahead of any other city in
4:16
Europe. But, when companies reach a
4:18
certain size, they start to look at the
4:21
US and and many of them move their
4:22
operations to the US.
4:23
Do you Do you see that as a um a sort of
4:27
permanent challenge for London? Is that
4:28
something it could ever overcome? Or
4:30
will it Is it just a sort of almost a a
4:33
natural trajectory now for most
4:35
companies once they reach a certain
4:37
size, then they've got San Francisco in
4:39
their sights?
4:40
>> Yeah.
4:41
I'd like to think that, you know, I you
4:43
know, I'm I'm I'm a I'm an internal
4:45
optimist, right? I I I I think that
4:47
London absolutely punches above its
4:49
weight uh in many many things. And I
4:52
don't see any reason why it can't in the
4:54
future potentially compete against the
4:56
likes of, you know, Silicon Valley.
4:58
However, um
5:00
like with many things, I think the
5:03
compounding nature of venture capital
5:07
and the startup ecosystem is such that
5:10
the ecosystem out there is just so far
5:12
along, I feel, that it'll be a very long
5:14
time before London can catch up. Um
5:17
I I I think it's not just the the
5:19
startup ecosystem. I think um a lot of
5:22
potentially the I don't know if malaise
5:25
too strong a word, but a lot of that is
5:28
uh from from the UK consumer. You know,
5:30
we uh we are very proud to be serving a
5:34
handful of UK brands alongside a handful
5:37
of American brands. Um but, the I guess
5:40
the appetite for risk uh in in these two
5:44
different markets is is different. I
5:46
feel in the US a lot of the brands that
5:48
we work with just look at the upside.
5:50
You know, they think about all the
5:51
endless possibilities that they could,
5:54
um, you know, derive from letting these
5:56
AI agents do all the heavy lifting. In
5:58
the UK, on the other hand, and I think
6:00
much like many parts of Europe, perhaps
6:02
even worse in other parts of Europe, um,
6:06
everyone thinks about the risks, uh, and
6:07
only the risks, and not not a lot about
6:10
the upside. And, uh, it's it's
6:12
exhausting, I think, as an operator to
6:15
have to, you know, to to to and and also
6:17
very stark, right, as an operator, to go
6:19
into two conversations with the exact
6:22
same pitch, right, with the exact same,
6:24
perhaps, price point,
6:26
and receive two completely different
6:27
responses, and those responses only
6:30
being, um, those responses being
6:32
different purely because of the
6:33
geographies which these brands are based
6:34
in. So, I think the consumer mindset has
6:37
also, um, impacted, I think, the the the
6:41
the the reason why a lot of these brands
6:43
or a lot of these businesses get in
6:45
businesses are moving across the pond.
6:46
>> Mhm.
6:47
>> And what what do you put that sort of
6:48
risk aversion to in the UK? Is it a a
6:51
cultural phenomenon? Is there something
6:53
deeper at play here? What what what do
6:54
you think it's down to?
6:56
>> Yeah, I I I think it is very deep. Um,
7:00
I think
7:01
there's there's there's no there's
7:03
a lot of the generational type
7:05
businesses that you find today in the US
7:07
were founded by immigrants, you know,
7:09
people that had to fight their way to
7:11
the top, people that came from overseas,
7:13
that, you know, had no safety net, and
7:15
the only way was up for them. Whereas I
7:17
So, so, whereas I think in the UK, um,
7:21
perhaps people have had it more
7:22
comfortably, you know, and, um, there's
7:25
a bit more of a safety net, and
7:26
therefore there's more to lose, right,
7:28
and and perhaps not too much to gain.
7:30
Whereas the US is completely opposite.
7:31
You have everything potentially to lose,
7:33
but also everything to potentially gain,
7:35
and I think, uh, people are surrounded
7:37
by success stories in the US. Like
7:40
everywhere you look in the Bay, right?
7:43
Um every road sign, every bus stop,
7:46
every bus, right? It's just plastered by
7:48
a success story in the world of tech.
7:51
Whereas
7:52
the same can't be said of of London. Um
7:55
and that constant reminder of success in
7:58
the US, I think
8:00
obviously, right? Motivates people to
8:02
strive for that success.
8:04
Um and and I think every and and that
8:06
sort of trickles down, not just in the
8:08
in the in the tech companies and the
8:09
entrepreneurs, but all the way down to
8:11
every strata of society. I think
8:13
everyone is now, as a result, more
8:15
risk-forward. Um because they see that
8:17
success and they see how these tech
8:19
companies have become so successful and
8:21
they want to be part of that journey,
8:23
even if they are just an early customer.
8:25
The same can't be said in in London.
8:28
>> Um with all that being said, it is a bit
8:30
of a a two-way street in that we do see
8:31
some um US firms come to the UK. There's
8:34
certainly been plenty of stories about
8:36
the amount of
8:38
uh office space that's been bought up by
8:41
uh US AI firms in London who are looking
8:43
to set up, recruit hundreds of people
8:45
here. Um there's also it was also
8:47
reported that last year was a a record
8:50
year for uh American visa applications
8:52
in the UK. So, what what what do you
8:55
think what do you put that down to? Is
8:57
that a a
8:58
political thing? Do people don't like
8:59
the US administration? Or is there
9:00
something else going on there?
9:01
>> Yeah, potentially, right? Like um
9:04
you know, I I I think the political
9:06
administration in the US is, you know,
9:08
perhaps not to everyone's taste. Um
9:11
but I think it's, you know, I'm not
9:13
saying that the UK in general and Europe
9:15
in general is a bad market to grow in. I
9:18
just don't think it's as good of a
9:19
market to patch potentially start in,
9:21
right? So, you may find these big tech
9:23
companies sort of come back, right? Once
9:26
they sort of set up shop in the US and
9:28
found early success, they look to use
9:29
London, rightly so, as the launchpad for
9:32
greater European expansion. I don't
9:34
think there's any city in Europe that
9:36
can can I can top London uh when it
9:39
comes to the quality of the talent,
9:41
capital, etc.
9:43
And not to say that, you know, you know,
9:45
companies and and consumers in in the UK
9:49
are not, you know, not excited by AI. I
9:52
think many many of them are. It just
9:54
takes a little bit more convincing for
9:56
them to get across the line. So,
9:59
yeah, I I think it's a fantastic
10:01
representation, fantastic reflection of
10:03
the position that London has. And long
10:06
may that continue. But
10:08
I I do still also believe that it's
10:11
harder to get started.
10:13
>> Lastly, as an AI startup founder, what
10:17
are your feelings about the AI market in
10:18
general at the moment? Because I've
10:20
definitely spoken to
10:22
AI founders who
10:24
do look at the sort of huge dominance of
10:27
the small number of massive AI
10:29
companies, the hundreds of billions of
10:31
funding that they're getting, and there
10:33
is maybe a
10:35
perhaps an anxiety that they could
10:37
develop
10:38
application-specific tools that could
10:40
use up, you know, the whole business
10:42
case for certain startups or whatever.
10:43
So, how do you how do you navigate that,
10:46
you know, growing something from scratch
10:47
when you've got these hundred billion
10:49
companies sitting above you?
10:51
>> Yeah, I I think with increased scale
10:53
comes with, you know, perhaps just
10:56
slower slower movement, right? Like
10:59
um
11:00
Sorry, what's the word? Just perhaps
11:02
they're they're more entrenched in their
11:03
ways, they're less dynamic, perhaps
11:05
they're less adaptable, right? And I
11:06
think the the keyword in in today,
11:09
right, in tech is just to be adaptable.
11:11
It's just to move faster.
11:13
And perhaps be far more specific about
11:15
exactly which customers you're looking
11:17
to serve, rather than sort of be this
11:20
really horizontal player and look to
11:22
serve everyone, cuz I don't think
11:24
there's space there anymore.
11:26
I think what consumers are looking for
11:28
are for solutions designed for them. And
11:30
one of the beautiful things about the
11:32
age of AI is that we can now start
11:34
developing solu- we can now start to
11:36
develop solutions
11:37
like extremely bespoke solutions um for
11:40
specific like categories or specific
11:42
industries that previously was just not
11:46
you know it was not capable it was not
11:47
you know um an option given how costly
11:49
it used to be to develop software
11:51
whereas now it's almost free.
11:53
Um so I mean to the people that are
11:55
anxious like they have every right to
11:57
be. Like of course it's something that
11:58
we think about too. Right? But we think
12:00
that as long as we stay close to the
12:02
customer as long as we look to you know
12:04
stay adaptive um and and we stay you
12:06
know at least one or two steps ahead of
12:08
the big labs then we have every right to
12:10
win in the market as well. Um I think
12:13
that just the market in general is of
12:16
course you know quite frothy I'd say
12:19
right now. Um but that said people are
12:21
saying it was quite frothy you know five
12:22
months ago. And all of that all all
12:24
that's happened evaluations is just that
12:26
they've doubled. And um there seems to
12:29
be no end in sight. And um I think that
12:31
is also somewhat justified if you think
12:33
about the underlying I guess um
12:37
underlying assumptions that that AI you
12:39
know or the underlying promise that AI
12:41
has in revolutionizing the way the work
12:43
is is done. When before you know
12:47
tech would just be a line item in your
12:49
in your in your balance sheet and you
12:51
sort of just you know account for maybe
12:53
1% or 2% of your revenues towards that
12:55
tech budget now the entire labor
12:57
budget's open for disruption by tech.
13:00
And traditionally in love white collar
13:02
jobs that labor budget is
13:04
is basically it. Is all that businesses
13:06
pay for.
13:07
Um so that has expanded basically the
13:09
scope of um or at least the size of the
13:13
budgets now that can be applied to
13:15
technology companies. You know you you
13:18
may be afraid oh no like you know is AI
13:20
coming for my job? I don't think so. I
13:22
don't think so. Like I think
13:24
our primary belief here at Cerveau is
13:25
that we want to equip the next
13:27
generation of CPG operators and founders
13:30
with the tools to be able to leverage
13:32
this technology such that anyone can
13:34
effectively be a CPG brand operator and
13:37
everyone can be a CPG brand owner.
13:40
Um, so I I do believe that this
13:41
technology has actually democratized the
13:43
ability for anyone to pretty much, you
13:46
know, to to to to move faster and create
13:48
more. Um, and so I don't think I think
13:51
what's going to happen is that the
13:53
monopolies would be challenged. Right?
13:55
The monopolies in all industries would
13:56
be challenged as every person now
13:58
becomes equipped with effectively
14:00
infinite intelligence to be able to to
14:03
create um and to unleash their
14:04
creativity on the world. So, yeah, I
14:06
think it's actually very, very exciting
14:08
time. Uh, of course, if you are
14:11
AI forward and you are excited about
14:14
these technologies and you adapt and you
14:16
learn um to use these technologies.
14:18
>> All right, well, we'll leave it there.
14:19
Thanks very much, Chris, for coming in
14:21
and congratulations on the funding
14:22
round.
14:23
>> All right, thank you so much. Appreciate
14:24
it.
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