In 2022, the UK grew to become solely the third nation on this planet to have its tech sector valued at one trillion {dollars}, making it a tech superpower alongside the US and China.
Up to now, 162 ‘tech Unicorns’ – non-public start-ups that are valued at greater than $1bn – have been began within the UK, greater than the entire quantity in Germany, France and Sweden mixed.
But authorities analysis means that a lot of Silicon Valley’s prime tech entrepreneurs and traders are nonetheless not conscious of the UK’s world-leading strengths in areas corresponding to synthetic intelligence (AI), fintech and medical expertise.
GREAT, the federal government flagship advertising programme, has taken steps to handle this by launching its ‘Unicorn Kingdom’ marketing campaign, which promotes the UK as a spot with all the appropriate components to breed new tech unicorns and goals to drive worldwide funding, develop the financial system and create jobs throughout the UK.
The marketing campaign launched with billboards in San Francisco selling the UK sector’s scale ($1trillion), agile regulation and world-class expertise. The marketing campaign additionally consists of focused LinkedIn and digital show advertisements and a content material partnership with TechCrunch, with promotional movies narrated by Stephen Fry.
The marketing campaign is being supported by a number of UK tech unicorns together with Darktrace, Deepmind, Revolut, and Matillion – and is the newest in quite a lot of latest actions from the federal government which demonstrates its robust help for UK tech.
This consists of the institution of the brand new Division of Science, Expertise and Innovation, the launch of the Worldwide Tech Technique, the upcoming AI Whitepaper and the Authorities’s dedication to supply £20 billion of funding to analysis and improvement by 2024-25 – the very best ever stage of public help for UK researchers and innovators.
The subsequent stage of the marketing campaign will see leaders from the US tech sector invited to the UK for London Tech week, to see the advantages of working within the UK first-hand.
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, mentioned:
“The UK has all the appropriate components for tech corporations to thrive. However we’ll maintain working exhausting to foster the appropriate circumstances for the tech sector, in order that it may proceed to ship on my precedence to develop the financial system and create jobs proper throughout the UK.”
Deputy Prime Minister, Oliver Dowden, mentioned:
“The UK tech sector is an excellent success story. Solely three nations on this planet are within the trillion-dollar tech membership – and we’re one in all them. We’re residence to a number of the brightest minds and greatest universities, and our doorways are open to any tech entrepreneur who desires to begin the following Deepmind or Deliveroo.”
Expertise Secretary Michelle Donelan mentioned:
“The UK has one of many prime tech sectors on this planet with a valuation of greater than a trillion {dollars}. It’s numerous, resilient, and continues to develop at a speedy tempo with essentially the most enterprise capital funding in Europe. The objective of this marketing campaign is to draw as a lot collaboration and funding as we will from Silicon Valley.
The formation of the Division for Science, Innovation and Expertise, exhibits Buyers and entrepreneurs that the UK is extra devoted than ever to forming a tech sector that’s pro-innovation, pro-talent and pro-growth. Our dedication for R&D spending to be £20 billion a yr by 2024 drives ahead the federal government’s ambitions for the UK to be a science and tech superpower.”
In addition to the promotional marketing campaign, enterprise leaders from throughout Silicon Valley have been invited to a particular reception to advertise the UK tech sector in San Francisco.
On the occasion, they met the leaders of tech corporations from throughout the UK in addition to senior authorities officers, who defined to them the UK’s place on the centre of the tech world and the advantages of investing within the nation.
Matthew Scullion, CEO and founding father of Manchester-based tech firm, Matillion, mentioned:
“Within the UK, we actually have all of the components required for constructing consequential corporations. We now have good grassroots engineering abilities from our very robust college ecosystem. We now have abilities, we have now capital, and we have now an amazing setting for beginning and constructing companies.”
Additional actions can even be carried out within the UK throughout London Tech Week in June, when leaders from the tech sector in America will likely be invited to the nation to see the advantages of working within the UK.
