Rishi Khosla is best known as the co-founder and chief executive of OakNorth, the British digital commercial bank built around the financing needs of established entrepreneurs and growing businesses. Before OakNorth, he co-founded financial research company Copal Partners with Joel Perlman, expanded it internationally and sold it to Moody’s Corporation. That experience helped shape the problem he later chose to tackle in business lending.
Today, Khosla sits at the intersection of fintech, entrepreneurship, investment and philanthropy. His career is notable because his second major venture was directly influenced by the financing difficulties he encountered while building the first.
Quick Bio
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Rishi Khosla |
| Known As | Rishi Khosla OBE |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, Investor, Banking Executive |
| Nationality | British |
| Known For | Co-founder and CEO of OakNorth |
| Other Major Venture | Co-founder of Copal Partners |
| Business Partner | Joel Perlman |
| Education | University College London; London School of Economics |
| Industry | Banking, Fintech, Investment |
| Honour | Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) |
| Philanthropy | Rishi and Milan Khosla Foundation |
| Current Role | Co-founder and CEO of OakNorth |
Why Rishi Khosla Became a Significant Name in British Fintech
A central theme in Khosla’s career is his focus on entrepreneurs who have already built viable businesses but can still struggle to secure suitable debt finance.
OakNorth was launched in 2015 with that gap in mind. The bank has concentrated on lower mid-market companies, a part of the economy Khosla and his co-founder believed was often underserved by traditional lenders. OakNorth describes its market as established entrepreneurial businesses needing customised lending rather than rigid, standardised products.
The strategy has made Khosla a prominent figure in UK fintech. OakNorth says it has provided more than $20 billion in lending across the UK and US, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and homes. Its current leadership information continues to list Khosla as co-founder and chief executive.
The First Business That Shaped His Approach
Khosla’s route into banking began with a very different company.
In 2002, he and Joel Perlman founded Copal Partners, later known as Copal Amba. The business provided financial research and analytics services and expanded into an international operation with around 3,000 employees across multiple markets.
Moody’s Corporation acquired the business in 2014, giving Khosla and Perlman a successful exit after more than a decade of building it. Public profiles also state that Copal produced a return of more than 200 times for seed investors.
What matters most for understanding Khosla’s later career is what happened while the founders were growing Copal. They encountered difficulty obtaining debt finance from traditional banks despite operating a profitable company.
That frustration led to a larger question: if a proven business could struggle to access appropriate funding, how many other companies faced the same problem?
Turning a Financing Problem Into OakNorth
After selling Copal, Khosla and Perlman moved into banking rather than simply launching another analytics company.
OakNorth was created as a commercial bank for entrepreneurial businesses that often fell between lending models built for small firms and those designed for major corporates. The founders wanted to combine banking with data-driven credit analysis and more tailored underwriting.
That positioning has remained central to the company.
OakNorth has expanded from the UK into the United States while keeping its focus on the lower mid-market. Its 2025 annual report said the business had granted more than £15 billion in credit since inception and increased total facilities during the year. The company has also highlighted strong growth in its US operations.
For Khosla, the expansion is significant because OakNorth was built around a problem he regarded as structural rather than uniquely British. Growth in America tests whether the same financing gap exists across major economies.
Education and the Partnership With Joel Perlman
Khosla studied Economics at University College London before completing a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance at the London School of Economics.
The LSE also played a part in one of the most important professional relationships of his career. He and Perlman met while studying there before becoming long-term business partners. Their collaboration later spanned both Copal and OakNorth.
His connection with the LSE has continued. OakNorth has worked with LSE Generate on entrepreneurship and mentoring initiatives, reflecting Khosla’s interest in encouraging students and founders to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
He has often presented entrepreneurship not only as company creation, but as a way of approaching problems, decisions and resilience.
Investing Beyond OakNorth
Khosla’s business interests extend beyond companies he directly operates.
He has been active as an early-stage investor. Profiles from major industry organisations identify him as an early investor in PayPal and Indiabulls, while also listing investments in About Energy, Spiracheck and Xometry. These businesses span battery technology, biotechnology and digital manufacturing.
The portfolio suggests an interest in technology-heavy businesses rather than a narrow concentration on financial services.
It also fits the wider pattern of his career. Through Copal, OakNorth and his investments, Khosla has repeatedly backed businesses built around specialist knowledge, data, technology or operational efficiency.
The OBE and Public Recognition
Khosla’s contribution to British business has received formal recognition.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to business, with the honour connected to the 2020 New Year Honours period.
The recognition is relevant because Khosla’s profile has developed largely through company building, investment, fintech leadership and entrepreneurship initiatives rather than celebrity or mainstream media exposure.
That helps explain why searches for Rishi Khosla frequently lead back to OakNorth, even though his entrepreneurial record began years before the bank existed.
Philanthropy and the Rishi and Milan Khosla Foundation
Khosla’s work outside business is closely associated with the Rishi and Milan Khosla Foundation.
The private family foundation supports work in medical research and health, early childhood development, female empowerment, entrepreneurship, and environmental or climate-related areas. Its stated approach is to support ideas capable of creating long-term social impact.
Several of those themes overlap with Khosla’s professional interests. Education, mentorship and entrepreneurship all connect with his broader belief that people benefit when they have the tools and opportunities to build independently.
He and his wife Milan Khosla are publicly associated with the foundation, while their wider family life remains relatively private.
What Is Rishi Khosla Doing Now?
As of 2026, Khosla remains the co-founder and chief executive of OakNorth.
The company is now in a more mature phase than many fintech businesses founded in the same period. It has operated for more than a decade, expanded internationally and continued developing its lending model in the UK and US.
Recent company reporting places increasing emphasis on scale, disciplined credit and American growth. Khosla is therefore leading an established financial institution while still positioning it as an alternative to traditional commercial banking.
His current influence comes from both OakNorth’s performance and the broader argument behind it: that established entrepreneurial businesses deserve faster, more specialised access to finance.
Rishi Khosla’s Net Worth
Rishi Khosla’s exact personal net worth has not been publicly verified by a reliable, authoritative source.
He has built significant business interests through the sale of Copal, his ownership interests in OakNorth and his investment activity. However, private shareholdings, changing company valuations and personal assets make it unreliable to turn those facts into a precise wealth figure.
Specific online net-worth claims should therefore be treated cautiously. A company’s valuation is not the same as the personal wealth of one of its founders.
Conclusion
Rishi Khosla’s career follows a consistent entrepreneurial theme: identifying a structural business problem and building a company to address it. Copal Partners established his credentials as a founder, but OakNorth transformed his own financing frustrations into a much broader banking proposition.
More than a decade after OakNorth’s launch, Khosla remains at its helm as the bank expands across the UK and US. Combined with his investment and philanthropic activity, that role continues to make him a notable figure in British fintech and in the wider debate over how growth businesses should be financed.
FAQs.
What is Rishi Khosla known for?
Rishi Khosla is best known as the co-founder and CEO of OakNorth, a digital commercial bank focused on entrepreneurial lower mid-market businesses. He previously co-founded Copal Partners, which was later acquired by Moody’s Corporation.
Who founded OakNorth with Rishi Khosla?
OakNorth was founded by Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman. The two had previously worked together as co-founders of Copal Partners and had known each other since their postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics.
What did Rishi Khosla do before OakNorth?
Before OakNorth, Khosla co-founded Copal Partners in 2002. The financial research and analytics business grew to around 3,000 employees across international markets before being sold to Moody’s Corporation in 2014.
Is Rishi Khosla an investor?
Yes. Public professional profiles identify Khosla as an early-stage investor in PayPal and Indiabulls and associate him with investments including About Energy, Spiracheck and Xometry.
Does Rishi Khosla have an OBE?
Yes. Khosla was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to business, with the honour associated with the 2020 New Year Honours period.
What is Rishi Khosla’s net worth?
There is no widely accepted, independently verified figure for his exact personal net worth. Although he has substantial business and investment interests, precise estimates should not be treated as confirmed without authoritative financial disclosures.
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