New venture launches to connect corporates with latest ‘breakthrough’ technology

Form1 Partners, a new venture established by former Capita executives Matt Bunn and John Downes, has launched to be the ‘leading commercialisation partner’ for B2B tech scale-ups, helping established corporates adopt technologies that are critical to drive the digital future.

Operating at the heart of the global tech industry, the Form1 team brings a proven track record of helping corporates derive tangible commercial value by partnering with the very best tech scale-ups.

Co-Founders and Co-CEOs at Form1, Matt Bunn and John Downes, have a wealth of experience in facilitating deep strategic partnerships within the tech ecosystem, having founded and grown Capita’s corporate venture arm, Capita Scaling Partner. The pair provide extensive experience in M&A, joint venture and business development.

They have secured over £2.8bn in orders between them and have served as directors at over a dozen scale-up firms, helping them to triple their annual revenue on average, secure over 15 successful fund raises and manage two exits.

Matt Bunn, Co-founder and Co-CEO at Form1, commented: “This year, generative AI has created even more hype in what was already a very noisy market, compounding the challenge for companies to engage and validate the latest must-have technology.

“That’s why Form1 was born, to provide corporates with trusted access to the best emerging technology firms in the world, and to help both sides create commercially valuable partnerships.”

Since its foundation, Form1 has started working with a number of corporates and scale-ups to use technology to solve real world challenges, such as creating ‘amazing’ customer experiences, delivering material cost savings and efficiencies, reducing overheads and solving big back-office challenges.

Early clients include the British Standards Institute, the UK’s national standards body which has shaped best practice for over 100 years, and AI firms such as Forestreet, an AI market insights business helping global brands to become experts in any product or category in an instant.

Form1 has also partnered with the AIM-listed challenger consultancy, Elixirr, which provides businesses with a range of consulting services from strategy through to execution, including in data, analytics and AI.

John Downes, Co-founder and Co-CEO at Form1, added: “In 1958, the average life expectancy of a company was 61 years, whereas today it’s just 18. Partnering is an effective tool to address this challenge. It’s a low-risk way to stay relevant, it can generate quick value, and it enables experimentation before committing material capital investment.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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