Mark Beeston, Founder @ Illuminate Financial

Happy Wednesday from James Pringle, Hector Mason and the Riding Unicorns team!

In this episode of Riding Unicorns, James Pringle and Hector Mason are joined by Mark Beeston, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Financial—a thesis-driven venture capital firm investing in B2B FinTech and enterprise technology companies that are redefining the future of financial services.

With offices in London, New York, and Singapore, Illuminate is deeply embedded in the global financial ecosystem. Its strategic LPs—ranging from major banks to market infrastructure providers—offer more than just capital; they provide meaningful insight, early validation, and go-to-market support for portfolio companies. For more, visit www.illuminatefinancial.com.

Mark takes us through his remarkable three-decade journey in financial markets—from trader at Deutsche Bank, to entrepreneur, to operator, and now VC. He shares how these experiences shaped the Illuminate model and its unique position at the intersection of venture and financial institutions.

We dive into:

💸 Mark’s journey from Deutsche Bank to launching Illuminate

🏦 The rise of institutional FinTech and why B2B was overlooked in 2014

🌍 The complexity of selling into financial institutions—and how to overcome it

🧠 How VCs stay relevant and avoid anchoring in past trends

🤖 Where AI fits (and doesn’t) in heavily regulated environments

🛡 Reality Defender and the arms race against deepfake fraud

🧩 The slow death of legacy infrastructure and promise of microservices

🦸 Sponsor - Cooley

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Check out CooleyGO.com for a range of free resources to propel your business at every stage, including legal document-generation tools, VC deal data and analysis, and other essential insights.

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Have a great Wednesday,
The Riding Unicorns team