Brent Hoberman

Brent Hoberman is a serial technology entrepreneur and investor who transforms how businesses scale through innovation and founder networks. He co-founded lastminute.com in 1998, growing it from startup to a $1.1 billion sale to Sabre in 2005, and later co-founded Made.com, which reached unicorn status before his exit. As Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Founders Forum Group, Founders Factory and firstminute capital, he now supports entrepreneurs at every stage, having backed 12 unicorns at seed level whilst businesses he's co-founded have raised over $1.2 billion. His sessions equip leaders with practical strategies for building scalable ventures, navigating rapid growth and leveraging technology to drive commercial success.

When Brent Hoberman co-founded lastminute.com in April 1998, he helped define the early internet economy in Europe. As CEO from inception, he led the company through rapid growth during the dot-com era, building one of Britain's most recognised online travel and leisure platforms before selling it to Sabre for $1.1 billion in 2005. That landmark exit marked not the conclusion of his entrepreneurial journey but the foundation for a broader mission: creating the infrastructure to support the next generation of technology founders. He later co-founded Made.com in 2010, pioneering direct-from-factory online furniture retail, and departed before the company reached a valuation of $1.1 billion at its public listing in 2021.

Today, Brent serves as Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Founders Forum Group, Founders Factory, and firstminute capital, a $500 million seed fund backed by over 130 unicorn founders with a global remit. Through these interconnected ventures, he has built an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs at every stage of growth, from initial concept through to scale. His work spans venture studios, seed programmes, accelerator initiatives, and a global community connecting founders with corporates and investors. Technology businesses he has co-founded have collectively raised over $1.2 billion, and he has personally backed 12 unicorns at seed stage. As Co-Chair of Enterprise Britain, he mobilises entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors to drive forward the UK's economic future. His advisory and board roles include The Economist, The Oxford Foundry, and the Prime Minister's Business Sector Council for Small Businesses. Recognised with a CBE in 2015 for services to entrepreneurship, Brent also co-hosts London Tech Week and remains deeply engaged in shaping technology policy and practice.

Brent's sessions equip business leaders with practical frameworks for navigating rapid growth, building scalable ventures, and leveraging emerging technologies to create competitive advantage. Drawing from decades of experience founding, scaling, and exiting major companies, he offers actionable insight into what separates successful technology businesses from those that stall. Audiences gain clarity on investment strategy, founder networks, and the operational realities of turning innovation into commercial success. His approach combines hard-won entrepreneurial wisdom with a forward-looking perspective on artificial intelligence, automation, and the evolving relationship between startups and established enterprises, leaving leaders better prepared to make confident decisions in an increasingly complex marketplace.