Episode #445 - Bringing Real Passion and Accessible, Smarter Data to Real Estate - with Sebastian Boncu
Release Date: 01/13/2025
Episode #517 - Do You Need Passion or Grit to Build a Business That Lasts?
ScaleUp Radio
This week on ScaleUp Radio we explore two very different but equally inspiring founder journeys. On one side, Gail Walker, founder of Diverse Minds Events, a purpose-driven entrepreneur building belonging for neurodiverse families. On the other, Sam Jukes, founder of CACTO Drinks, a determined innovator taking on the global drinks market with a product most people had never even heard of. Their stories highlight a key question for every business owner: Is it passion or grit that truly scales a business? Meet the Guests Gail Walker – Purpose with a Mission Gail founded Diverse Minds...
info_outline
Episode #516 - Standing Out In A Very Busy Industry, Whilst Maintaining Integrity - with Sam Jukes
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Sam Jukes, the founder of CACTO Drinks – the UK’s first cactus water brand using real prickly pear puree. What started as a spark of inspiration from a TV programme turned into a multi-year journey of innovation, market education, and bold ambition. CACTO Drinks offers a sustainable, healthy alternative to coconut water and is on a mission to break into an industry dominated by big players – with an exotic but approachable drink that's already gaining nationwide traction. This conversation is packed with insight and inspiration,...
info_outline
Episode #515 - Creating Truly Inclusive Events – With Gail Walker
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Gail Walker, the inspirational founder of Diverse Minds Events Limited – a company dedicated to making events truly accessible and neuro-inclusive. Born out of Gail’s personal experience as the parent of an autistic child, the business has grown since its inception in 2019 into a recognised leader in inclusive event support, even in the face of the pandemic. From mobile sensory buses to pop-up sensory spaces like igloo domes and bell tents, Diverse Minds Events is reshaping how event organisers think about accessibility. Gail...
info_outline
Episode #514 - Turning Adversity into Innovation and Changing Lives One Sensory Product at a Time - with Andrew Western
ScaleUp Radio
Hi, I’m Granger Forson. You can always find me at or on LinkedIn. On this episode of ScaleUp Radio, I had the pleasure of speaking with Andy Western, founder of AJW Solutions and Sam Boards. Andy’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and remarkable innovation. From a five-million-pound management buyout falling through to starting AJW Solutions in 2007, he carved a niche in the defence and aerospace industry. Supplying the MOD within months of launching, Andy built a trusted reputation in engineering, project management, and ground support...
info_outline
Episode #513 - ScaleUp Club - Sales In, Sales Out – How to Build Funnels That Work - Mark Day
ScaleUp Radio
In this ScaleUp VIP Club session, we focused on the crucial topic of building high-performing sales funnels – and cutting through the noise to make your marketing really work. We kicked off with our new monthly segment, the AI Pulse, delivered by Paul Rhodes. Paul shared actionable insights on building an “AI Brain” – using custom GPTs to extract knowledge from the founder’s head, reduce team dependency, and supercharge productivity. A standout quote: "AI is not about replacing humans, it's about humans with AI versus humans without." Paul highlighted how combining good documentation...
info_outline
Episode #512 - ScaleUp Club - Leading with Specialism, Integrity and Authenticity in Recruitment - with Kelly Cartwright
ScaleUp Radio
This episode of ScaleUp Radio brings a fresh twist – a live Q&A from one of our ScaleUp Club sessions, featuring returning guest Kelly Cartwright, founder of Core Recruiter Ltd. Kelly joined us to share honest, down-to-earth insights on building a values-driven, specialist recruitment agency in the highly competitive construction sector. Kelly first appeared on ScaleUp Radio to share her business journey – and this time, she’s back to dive deeper into the practical realities of scaling, culture-fit hiring, navigating economic cycles, and maintaining a human touch in an often...
info_outline
Episode #511 - Democratising Data Science for Agencies – with Matias Carpio
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Matias Carpio, co-founder of Onlyscience – a soon-to-launch SaaS platform on a mission to make advanced marketing analytics accessible to agencies of all sizes. Onlyscience is building an AI-powered analytics tool that enables marketing agencies to quantify and optimise campaign performance – all without needing a technical background. The platform, which includes a storytelling layer for actionable insights, aims to help agencies move beyond spreadsheets and guesswork with a simplified yet powerful solution. Though the business is...
info_outline
Episode #510 - From Kitchen Experiments to Award-Winning Curry Kits - with Aliza Ratnayaka
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, host Kevin Brent sits down with Aliza Ratnayaka, co-founder of Little Big Flavour Kits — a business that grew from humble beginnings during the pandemic into a multi-award-winning food brand bringing authentic Sri Lankan curry kits to UK kitchens. Aliza shares how she transformed packaging spices for friends into a niche, sustainable product sourced directly from Sri Lankan farmers, including a long-standing partnership with SDS Spice, a family-run cinnamon plantation. Along the way, she’s tackled the challenges of educating customers on Sri Lankan...
info_outline
Episode #509 - Pixels with Purpose: Building a Purpose-Driven Creative Collective - with Wes Henstock
ScaleUp Radio
In this episode of ScaleUp Radio, Kevin Brent is joined by Wes Henstock, founder of Confid3ntial – a purpose-led design and brand strategy agency with a global reach and a truly distinctive structure. Launched in 2006 after an unexpected layoff, Confid3ntial began as a white-label service provider for creative agencies. It has since evolved into a remote-first collective of creatives, united by the mission of delivering "pixels with purpose" – where branding is driven by meaning, not just aesthetics. In their conversation, Wes shares his views on how purpose should infuse every part of a...
info_outline
Episode #508 - ScaleUp Club - Turning Customer Service into a Strategic Growth Lever - with Logan Naidu
ScaleUp Radio
This month’s special edition of ScaleUp Radio is a deep dive into what it really means to make customer service a powerful driver of business growth. Recorded live at our monthly ScaleUp Club session, we welcome back Logan Naidu, founder of Kernel Groups and a previous guest on the podcast, for an exclusive Q&A. Logan shares powerful insights from his journey scaling a business that’s not just growing in numbers but creating real impact in the market — particularly through customer service excellence. His firm, Kernel Groups, operates with over 280 employees across the globe and is...
info_outlineIn this episode of ScaleUp Radio, we dive into the exciting world of geospatial AI and its transformative potential in real estate with Sebastian Boncu, the CEO and founder of Voolu. Sebastian shares how his company is using cutting-edge technology to make data analysis more accessible, smarter, and impactful for decision-making in real estate and beyond.
We discuss:
- The Business and its Vision
Voolu is developing a geospatial AI platform that aggregates various datasets, including real estate, census, and crime data, making it interrogable using natural language AI. Their goal? To refine property valuation with unprecedented accuracy and eventually become a leading geospatial analysis tool across Europe. - The Scaleup Journey
Starting as a bootstrapped venture three years ago, Voolu has since raised £350k, led by SFC Capital, and is now laser-focused on securing larger contracts to de-risk future funding rounds. Sebastian talks about the challenges of navigating startup life, balancing a bold vision with lean methodology, and the critical role of the right team. - The Challenges and Lessons Learned
From assembling a motivated, equity-incentivised team to learning through small failures, Sebastian underscores the importance of passion, continuous action, and finding experienced advisors in driving growth. - The Road Ahead
With ambitious plans to scale operations across Europe in the next five years, Voolu is building out AI-powered tools to enhance property valuation accuracy, expanding datasets, and preparing to ramp up marketing once product-market fit is solidified.
Make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.
For now, continue listening for the full story from Sebastian.
Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for.
If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here:
https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin
You can get in touch with Kevin here:
Kevin's Latest Book Is Available!
Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up.
More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/
Sebastian can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sboncu/
https://www.instagram.com/sebastian.boncu/
Resources:
Y Combinator - https://www.ycombinator.com/
Diary of a CEO - https://stevenbartlett.com/doac/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/
Fathom - https://fathom.video/
ChatGPT - https://chatgpt.com/
Slack - https://slack.com/intl/en-gb
WhatsApp - https://www.whatsapp.com/