Rishi Khosla is a British-Indian entrepreneur and the co-founder and chief executive officer of OakNorth Bank. He studied economics at University College London and earned a master’s in accounting and finance at the London School of Economics. Early in his career, Khosla worked at ABN AMRO and then at GE Capital, before moving into venture investing and private equity for the family office of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.

In 2002, he co-founded Copal Partners (later Copal Amba) with Joel Perlman, growing the business to around 3,000 employees across 11 markets, and selling it to Moody’s Corporation in 2014. In 2015, Khosla and Perlman founded OakNorth Bank, aiming to serve companies that had outgrown small-business financing but did not yet fit the needs of large corporates — the so-called “missing middle”. The bank developed a data-driven lending platform and has extended into the US market, licensing its software and growing its global footprint.

Khosla remains actively involved in promoting entrepreneurship, including through mentorship programmes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and initiatives to nurture entrepreneurial mindsets in education. Through his career, Khosla has combined financial markets experience, technology innovation and a focus on scaling businesses — shaping OakNorth Bank into a significant player in entrepreneurial finance and business growth.