London Tech Week, Day 2: London on the global stage
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The dust is just about settling after a whirlwind day one of London Tech Week. We saw a range of government announcements, updates on UK tech investment levels and in-depth discussions on diversity in tech.
What quickly became obvious on day one, and even more so today on day two, is that London Tech Week is truly the biggest tech festival Europe has to offer. For the duration of the week, London feels like the epicentre of the global tech community.
Today’s events focused on the message that London is an open, inclusive and collaborative city – forging key international links with tech hubs and partners all around the world.
In the space of just a few hours, I’ve been privileged enough to be involved with a whole series of events and discussions that speak to the international flavour of London Tech Week, and the important role the tech sector plays in linking the capital – and indeed all of the UK – with the rest of the world.
Day two has been marked by events hosted by many of the global communities that are part of the ever-growing Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates network around the world. This included sessions with leaders from Tech China Advocates, Tech Singapore Advocates, Tech France Advocates and Tech London Advocates for Latin America to name but a few.
All celebrated the importance of international collaboration, and in many respects reflected the admiration and perception that other global hubs and regions have for London, and the tech ecosystems we’ve built here over the past decade.
And it’s by no means just the community sentiment – the data also clearly speaks for itself.
Research released today by London & Partners and policy organisation Startup Genome shows London is retaining its crown as a world-leading startup hub.
The UK capital ranks as Europe’s top destination to grow a start-up business, second only to Silicon Valley globally. That’s a truly astonishing achievement, and something we should all be immensely proud of.
What’s more, London scores particularly highly in terms of access to funding, talent and overall connectedness – the key ingredients for building a thriving tech community.
London’s startup ecosystem has demonstrated its resilience despite Brexit and the pandemic, securing the second spot for the third year in a row.
The findings also confirmed London’s status as the undisputed tech capital of Europe, with an ecosystem value of $314bn – significantly higher than the likes of Berlin ($94bn) and Paris ($89bn).
With that research in mind, it’s no surprise that London attracts so much international attention. What’s really impressive to see is how high the capital ranks with reference to early stage investment. This further underscores the message to many aspiring tech entrepreneurs – London is the number one destination for them to start and scale a business.
This week, and today’s agenda in particular, highlights London as a truly global city, with tech sitting at the heart of what makes our ecosystem so uniquely connected. It’s precisely why we use these opportunities and moments of celebration to keep banging the drum for our capital, and the UK tech industry as a whole.