Zoe Kinn
17 Oct 2025etn. Episode 2
Zoe Kinn: naming The Engine Room & the House of Lords award
Zoe Kinn confirms 'The Engine Room' came straight from her head at 1–2 a.m., and credits Jameson's husband Carl with the original 'AI Engine' name. She explains how the House of Lords celebration came about: AI Engine's builder-focused hackathons and mini-hacks were extended to bridge building with enterprise adoption, launching the first Next Wave Entrepreneurs Award recognizing 25 corporate innovators pushing change inside large organizations. She thanks Laura Kirkhope and UKAI for helping host and recalls the great mix of builders and investors in the room.
Dawn Capital's community playbook & Zoe's Goldman path
Zoe introduces Dawn Capital as Europe's largest dedicated B2B software investor with around three billion in AUM and roughly 180 events hosted this year at its Ilona Rose House space. She explains how community feeds the fund's investing — sourcing founders, hearing generative-media user needs firsthand, engaging the broader ecosystem, and adding value for portfolio companies like Enforcer's quick hire and Medusa's upcoming Warsaw build event. She then traces her path from Goldman Sachs, where she built subscription data products and fixed API calls over Bloomberg chat, to VC, noting portfolio company Flatpay just crossed the 100 million revenue run-rate mark.
AI Engine's roadmap: Warsaw, House of Lords access & Discord
Zoe maps out AI Engine's next six months: The Engine Room will run at Dawn's office, the first non-London event heads to Warsaw this weekend, and more dedicated events with tech leaders are coming via their Luma calendar and newsletter. She reveals the House of Lords booking came through trade association UKAI and suggests liaising with trade bodies for ETN's next launch party. She also teases the 'how do you like your tea' interview segment — including Ronan's clip — points viewers to AI Engine's Instagram, TikTok, and new Discord, and closes on her mission to build representation in the UK tech ecosystem since arriving at 18.