UK really can grow Unicorns

Following on from Andrew’s comments yesterday, a piece from The Times:

Britain is creating more $1 billion technology companies than any other country apart from the United States and China, a study has found.
Over the past two decades UK-based entrepreneurs have built 72 companies, including 13 in the past year, that have topped the ten-figure threshold — known as “unicorns” in the tech industry.
That compares with 29 in Germany, Britain’s closest European rival, and India with 26. Over that period, the US and China have created 703 and 206 respectively, according to research for the government’s digital economy council published today.
Investors have poured about $5 billion into British tech start-ups since January, reinforcing the country’s status as Europe’s leading high-tech nation, the research said. More than a third of Europe’s fastest-growing tech companies…


For once, we are getting it right – far more by luck than judgement. The UK is doing very well with tech start-up’s. There was a time at the start of Brexit when it looked like Amsterdam and Berlin would clean-up (Paris as ever talks a good game but really…let alone now in Gillets Jaunes land).

But no, the UK and London have powered on. Powered by a few key things, as ever hard to emulate. One is the ease of working in the UK compared to the rest of the EU. Another is the ability to keep your money when you sell through generous EIS schemes, another is the ease of language and living in the UK and London, also that our economy is post-industrial and this suits the new tech start-ups. Finally and the killer is the ease of access to Finance. Only Silicon Valley, New York and London can cope with global Venture Capital needs. As such, the flow to the EU stopped and reversed.

Now we have a nascent industry in Fintech, Legaltech, Martech – you name it the UK is developing it in the professional services space but also healthcare. Brexit will have zero impact on this and luckily the Government is too pre-occupied to think about taxing or regulating it to death yet. So for now, happy days!