Startup founders go to war with UK government over its moves to appoint bank into key ecosystem role • TechCrunch
Nothing more than a battle has broken out between an influential group in the UK tech start-up community and the UK government, after the UK government allegedly sought to empower management and advertising. promote UK startups – both inside and outside the UK – to a single person. Bank of England.
As we mentioned before, technology country – one ‘QUANG‘ for years tasked with being a ‘startup champion’ backed by the UK government – has been bidding for an ongoing £12m contract, starting in March 2023. But the thing is. This has been put up for tender by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports and, the sources allege, a contract has already been granted to banking giant Barclays Bank to fulfill the role. The move has been called “crazy” and “crazy” by some key UK industry players – TechCrunch talk to.
The current, an open letter, signed by more than 60 startup founders and other key playerswas published by Alliance for a Digital Economy (Coadec), an independent nonprofit that advocates for policies that support digital startups in the UK.
The letter calls on the Government to commit to retaining Tech Nation in its role, a role it has performed under various guise. since September 2011.
If the move goes through, the 60+ group claims, Barclays will be in charge of a number of key services for startups, such as visa funding and applications for employees hired from abroad. as well as promoting outside of the UK’s startup ecosystem globally. Coadec argues that this could put it into a conflict of interest on a number of fronts.
The signatories of the letter are highly influential in the UK technology sector. They include Brent Hoberman (Co-Founder and President of Founders Forum), Taavet Hinrikus (Co-Founder and President of Wise), Tessa Clarke (Co-Founder and CEO of OLIO), Aron Gelbard (Co-Founder of OLIO), Founder and CEO of Bloom & Wild), Alex Depledge (Founder and CEO of Resi) and Ali Parsa (Co-Founder and CEO of Babylon Health).
Given the alleged moves to transfer contracts to Barclays, the group argues that this could pose a risk to existing services for startups in general (including the visa system and the public sector). advertising); will give an important aspect of government support to a bank whose bot has Tech Nation’s long history in the ecosystem; and argued that any new deal should “add support to the startup ecosystem, not eliminate it”.
In a statement, Dom Hallas, Coadec CEO, said the government’s move meant it would “retreat” from the tech startup ecosystem rather than withholding close interest. This would also be in stark contrast to the ruling Conservative Party’s often repeated phrase that it is ‘pro-business’.
“Amid economic uncertainty, startup founders need help more than ever. This means more Government support for the ecosystem – not retreat. We want to make sure that if support changes happen, the things startups value most, including the special visa system for tech, are protected.” Hallas said in a statement.
TechCrunch has reached out to DCMS for comment and will update this story with their feedback.
• Statement of Interest: Coadec was founded in 2010 by Jeff Lynn, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of online investment platform Seedrs, and I (Mike Butcher, Editor-in-Chief of TechCrunch, although I am no longer there. have any formal or informal involvement).
