Fireside chat with Joel Perlman, Co-Founder of OakNorth, and E-Lab Co-founder Kamiar Mohaddes
OakNorth was built on the foundations of frustration. When the founders tried to get business finance for their data analytics company, the computer said no. The industry was too focused on financials from the past rather than potential in the future. So they built the bank they wished had existed: founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.
Since launch in September 2015, OakNorth has lent over $21bn to proven entrepreneur-led businesses in the lower-mid-market, who are too often overlooked by traditional banks.
Join us for a fireside chat with Joel Perlman, Co-Founder of OakNorth hosted by E-Lab Co-Founder Kamiar Mohaddes, when Joel shares what he has learned from both sides of the table: what the best-run scaling businesses get right, where they break, and what AI is genuinely changing in financial decision-making (beyond the hype), as well as how to raise over $1bn from world-renowned investors and much more!
Speaker Bio:
Joel Perlman is the Senior MD and Co-founder of OakNorth, the leading digital bank focused on serving and empowering the lower mid-market (businesses with £5m-£100m in revenue), that are seeking to scale but are routinely underserved or overlooked by traditional banks. To date, it has provided over $20bn to these businesses across a wide range of sectors, achieving performance metrics that place it amongst the top 1% of commercial banks globally.
Previously, Joel founded Copal Partners, a financial research company, in 2002 with just $60k. Over 12 years, he and his Co-founder, Rishi Khosla, scaled it to a 3,000-employee organization across 12 markets, before selling it to Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) and returning over 200x to seed investors.
Joel grew up in Bogota, Colombia. He began his career as a Consultant at McKinsey & Company and has degrees from the London School of Economics and Georgetown University
WHEN: Friday 28 August 2026, 13:30-14:30 - Fireside chat and Q&A
WHERE: Provost Drawing Room, King’s College
Tickets: Find tickets here!
Please note that there will be photography and recording at this event.
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