Rishi Khosla

Rishi Khosla is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor. He is the CEO and co-founder of the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, OakNorth, which is focused on helping lower mid-market businesses ($5m-$100m turnover) achieve their growth ambitions. Rishi is a champion of entrepreneurs - who he feels are the drivers of innovation, social progress, and economic growth - and believes that everyone can prosper by adopting an entrepreneurial mindset. This vision led Rishi to build his first business, Copal Partners (which later became Copal Amba) in 2002 with his business partner, Joel Perlman. Together, they grew the business to 3,000 employees across 11 markets, before selling it to Moody’s Corporation in 2014, returning over 200x for seed investors.

In 2015, they launched OakNorth which over the last decade, has lent c.$20bn to businesses across the UK and US, directly supporting the creation of over 60,000 new jobs, and the development of almost 40,000 new social and affordable homes. OakNorth is backed by leading global investors, including: SoftBank, GIC, and Affinity Partners, the US investment firm led by Jared Kushner.

Through his family Foundation, he supports work to nurture agency, creativity, and curiosity in early childhood development that will enable people to unleash their potential later in life. The Foundation also supports medical research into rare diseases, as well as initiatives which support female empowerment and entrepreneurialism in underprivileged communities.