Navigating the London Tech Start-up Scene Part I
The fact that London is the world’s third biggest startup hub, behind San Francisco and New York, comes hardly as a surprise for anyone. Its vibrant tech neighbourhoods and its reputation for creating unicorns make London an ideal place for anyone to launch his or her own idea. Here are some key resources that you will need to get started.
Silicon Valley of Europe
London is a massive city both in terms of spread and population. However, the undisputed epicentre of technology and innovation known as the Silicon Roundabout is located in East London in the Borough of Hackney. In 2010, UK Prime Minister David Cameron launched Tech City UK, a publicly funded programme, to help foster digital technology businesses in the Silicon Roundabout and has since grown to other cities in the UK. Tech City UK provides free resources to help you kick start your business, drives policy decisions to facilitate entrepreneurship in the UK, and builds local communities of entrepreneurs.
Top Sectors
Fin Tech
London is the world’s capital of fintech. Unsurprisingly, the proximity of fintech startups to large financial establishments has helped new financial innovations integrate into mainstream services. Level39 is Europe’s largest technology accelerator and home to some 100 companies focused on finance, retail, and cyber security. Techstars London and the Barclay Accelerator connects fintech startups with a powerful network of seasoned mentors in the financial services sector. A notable fintech unicorn born and raised in London is Transferwise.
Fashion/E-Commerce
London possesses some key qualities that make it one of the best places to launch a fashion tech business. London is not only the home of many prestigious design schools teeming with young talent, it also hosts two of the industry’s most important fashion weeks. Fashion tech companies also get plenty of support from venture funds like Balderton Capital, which has invested over $600 million in fashion tech over the past few years. E-commerce giants, Net-A-Porter and Asos, both grew out of London.
Travel
London & Partners and The Trampery launched the London TravelTech Lab last year which is an incubator space that brings together innovative travel tech start-ups in the world’s most travelled to destination. The incubator is supported by major corporations including the Hotelbeds Group and Gatwick Airport which have taken a keen interest in developments within the travel tech sector. Furthermore, travel tech firms can showcase at the annual World Travel Market in London which has a section devoted entirely to new technology.
In Part II of the series, we will be talking about talking about finding funding, co-working spaces, events, and networks.