Inside Level39: July in Review

July brought together many of the themes at the heart of the Level39 ecosystem: AI, founder support, international collaboration and meaningful connections across our community.
From discussions on AI agents, stablecoins and alternative funding, to investor-founder networking and insights into London’s future AI economy, it was another month of learning, collaboration and momentum.

Opening doors to global perspectives

We welcomed students from Singapore Management University and UCL to Level39 as part of an annual visit exploring London’s innovation ecosystem. The session included a tour of the space and insights into scaling businesses globally.

Level39 member, Amanda Yeung from dtcpay, shared the company’s growth journey and ambitions for Europe, with discussion covering crypto payments, stablecoins and the importance of trust in driving technology adoption. It was a valuable opportunity for future founders to learn from a company operating at the intersection of payments, digital assets and international growth.

Exploring the next wave of AI in finance

AI remained a major focus throughout July, starting with our latest AI Series event, Brace for Impact: How the Tsunami of AI Agents Will Rewrite Finance. Building on previous discussions around enterprise AI, the session looked ahead to what happens when AI evolves from supporting decisions to taking autonomous action.

Moderated by Farshad Nowshadi, the panel brought together Adizah Tejani (Venture Capital and Board Advisor) Arnav Khare (Principal Technologist, Resilience AI at AWS) and Erkin Oksel (CEO and Founder, EyesClear) to explore how agentic AI could reshape financial services over the next decade.

Some of the key themes discussed included:

• The shift from AI assistance to AI autonomy, with organisations already seeing AI move from supporting decisions to executing workflows and taking action.
• Automation across financial services, including onboarding, customer service, compliance and fund administration, while recognising the ongoing importance of human judgement.
• The future of payments, including AI agents transacting autonomously, stablecoins, blockchain infrastructure and machine-to-machine payment protocols.
• Governance and cybersecurity, with a focus on regulation, responsible AI development and collaboration between technologists, policymakers and regulators.
• Creativity and entrepreneurship, highlighting that curiosity, imagination and original thinking remain essential in an AI-driven future.

The discussion reinforced a clear message: while AI is advancing rapidly, trust, governance and human expertise will remain fundamental to successful adoption.

Supporting founders with practical funding insight

July also brought practical support for founders through the Grow London Alternative Funding Workshop. Designed for tech scaleups exploring routes beyond traditional venture equity, the session featured insights from

• Kweku Ackom-Mensah, Commercial Director at GrantTree
• Ross Goodwin, Partner, Venture Debt at Salica Investments
• Freddie Lavender, Vice President, Relationship Manager at HSBC Innovation Banking.

Together, they explored grants, venture debt and other non-dilutive funding options, helping founders better understand the funding landscape beyond traditional equity investment.

Members including Rehub Studio, Eversend and Luminus Ventures joined the discussion and left with practical insights and actionable guidance to support future fundraising decisions.

Bringing the community together

Members also had the opportunity to reconnect socially at our summer Members’ Meet Up at The Alchemist in Canary Wharf. The creative cocktail bar overlooks sunny Eden Dock, a waterfront oasis in the heart of Canary Wharf, providing the perfect backdrop to enjoy the buzz of the area.

With food, drinks and exclusive use of the terrace, the evening offered a relaxed setting to catch up with familiar faces and build new connections across the community outside of the office.

Peer-led conversations on AI adoption

The conversation around AI continued through an exclusive CEO Club session, chaired by Akber Datoo of D2 Legal Technology and Adi Ben-Ari of Applied Blockchain. Founders and senior leaders openly shared experiences of AI adoption, exploring how deployment differs between startups and enterprises, where AI is delivering value today, and how organisations can approach governance and regulation.

Connecting innovation across sectors

July also highlighted the breadth of industries engaging with the Level39 ecosystem. The Global Dementia Innovation Mixer, hosted by Alzheimer’s Society and CABHI, brought together leaders in dementia, ageing and brain health to share ideas, research and scalable solutions.

We also hosted Investor/Founder Link with Deloitte, welcoming 100 founders and 100 investors for a reverse-pitch event. Investors shared their investment focus and startup criteria, while Syrena’s AI-powered matchmaking facilitated meaningful connections and networking opportunities.

Together, these events demonstrated the range of conversations happening across Level39, from health innovation and investment to AI-enabled growth and entrepreneurship.

London’s future AI office demand

Hosted at Level39, the CBRE x CWG event on London’s Future AI Office Demand explored how AI is reshaping office demand, talent ecosystems and workplace strategy. A key takeaway from CBRE’s research was that AI companies have taken approximately 1.5 million sq ft of Central London office space since 2015, accounting for 34% of technology office take-up in 2025, with demand projected to reach 4 million sq ft by 2033. The discussion also highlighted London’s continued strengths in talent, universities, capital and corporate demand as drivers of future AI growth.

What we’re looking forward to next

Across each event and conversation, one theme came through clearly: innovation is moving quickly, but growth still depends on trust, collaboration and the right networks.
Whether discussing AI agents, stablecoins, fundraising, dementia innovation or London’s future office demand, July demonstrated the value of bringing people together to explore what comes next.

As the summer continues, the momentum across the ecosystem shows no sign of slowing. We look forward to building on the conversations, connections and opportunities created this month, and continuing to support the founders, partners and innovators shaping the future from inside Level39.