startup ecosystem in the uk (guy levin - bitspiration 2015)
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Startup Ecosystem in the UKBitspiration Festival
June 2015 Guy Levin
@guy_levin
Me• Former policy wonk in UK
government: advisor to George Osborne, Conservative Party, DCMS and DFID
• Now tech policy - relaunched and run Coadec.
• Also write for The Memo and Tech City News.
@guy_levin
Coadec
• Set up by tech entrepreneurs in 2010 to be the ‘policy voice of digital startups’
• Last year published ‘The Startup Manifesto’, backed by over 200 founders and VCs
@coadec www.coadec.com
THE STARTUP
MANIFESTOHow the next government should support digital startups in the UK
Guy Levin – September 2014
#StartupManifesto
www.coadec.com/ the-startup-manifesto
UK’s startup scene is thriving17 UK ‘unicorns’ created since 2000 according to GP Bullhound
Household names
Why?Many ways to cut it, but I like UP Global’s 5 elements:
1. Talent
2. Density
3. Culture
4. Capital
5. Regulatory Environment
Politics matters across all of these
George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer Speech at launch of Google Campus London, March 2012
“We want nothing less than to make the UK the technology centre of Europe”
“I want this to be the startup nation in Europe and one of the great startup nations of the world”
David Cameron MP, Prime Minister Campaign speech, May 2015
Politics matters
Talent
• World-class universities
• Increasing number of training programmes
• Coding on the school curriculum
Density
• 382,000 workers in London’s tech sector (in 2014)
• (At least) 21 clusters around the UK
It’s not just London74% of digital companies based outside of London and 21 Clusters identified by TechCityUK in their recent Tech Nation report
Culture
• Role models and entrepreneurship celebrated
• Meetups, drinks, conferences
• Political leadership - trade missions, speeches, pitching competitions
Capital• VC investment on the rise ($781m in
Q1 2015)
• More US investors (eg Google Ventures, a16z)
• Crowdfunding taking off
• Generous tax reliefs for angel investors (SEIS, EIS)
Equity crowdfunding
Source: Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance
Funding on the rise
Regulatory environment• Significant engagement right from
the top of government
• Examples:
• ‘Tech City breakfasts’ in Downing Street
• Review into the sharing economy
• Financial regulator (FCA) set up an ‘Innovation Hub’
Challenges
• Scale-ups
• Diversity
• Policy (immigration, EU)
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