The Lord Mayor of London, Alastair King, launched a ‘Scale Up Showcase’ at Mansion House on 30 June that was designed to increase investment into the UK’s rapidly expanding tech start-ups. In collaboration with the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (WCIT), the event connected some of the country’s leading scale-up tech firms with prominent UK investors.
The showcase featured 21 of the UK’s most promising high-growth technology prospects, pitching to an audience of 300. They presented their businesses to major UK financial service companies, aiming to help investors better understand the opportunities available from supporting high-growth potential tech businesses in the UK. This comes amid recent efforts to free up investment capital from pension schemes to support innovation. The showcase served as a vital platform to accelerate collaboration between the UK’s burgeoning tech sector and major financial institutions, fostering growth, innovation, and global competitiveness.
The event sought to address the ‘scale up funding gap’ in the UK. While the UK ranks third globally for tech start-ups and innovation (behind the US and China), many of these companies are often compelled to move to the US to access the private financing needed for growth.
Despite the UK having a robust start-up technology investment ecosystem, largely driven by tax breaks, and a vibrant private equity sector for later-stage mergers and acquisitions, there remains a market gap for supporting scale-up companies seeking funds between £2 million and £20 million.
Lord Mayor of London, Alastair King, said: “The UK remains a global hub for innovation. But too often, our most promising companies are choosing to scale abroad. If we want to build a high-growth, high-opportunity economy – creating high-quality jobs – we need capital markets that back ambition. A key part of my ‘Growth Unleashed’ agenda is to encourage British businesses to be bolder and take more calculated risks. Initiatives like today’s showcase are key to making that happen. The UK already has all the ingredients to be a success with our world-class tech talent and top universities. Through the Showcases, we are bringing businesses and investors together to form new connections to ensure British businesses can start here, grow here, and thrive here.”
Image source: AI generated
