Tech Nation, the body which represents the UK’s burgeoning tech industry and has worked with the likes of Bloom & Wild, Just Eat, Ocado, and Deliveroo, is set to shut up shop after losing its Government funding.
First launched in 2011 and then overhauled in 2018 by the merger of Tech City UK and Tech North, Tech Nation has confirmed it will cease operations from the end of March after the Department for Culture Media & Sport confirmed it had withdrawn its £12m Digital Growth Grant.
Last month, the contract was handed to Barclays Bank after a competitive tender; Barclays’ Eagle Labs unit delivers growth programmes, business mentoring and events.
Martha Lane Fox, the co-founder of lastminute.com and president of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “As an entrepreneur and digital champion, I’ve witnessed first-hand the impact that Tech Nation has had in creating one of the most exciting and dynamic parts of our economy. They will be missed.”
Tech Nation chief executive Gerard Grech added: “We have helped champion and support innovators in everything from AI to fintech to climate tech and more. In doing so, we have helped spread digital growth and jobs nationwide. For every pound invested in Tech Nation, we have returned £15.”
More than £28bn has been raised by alumni of the group’s accelerator programmes, which include the likes of Monzo, Revolut, Depop, Bloom & Wild, Zilch, Just Eat, Darktrace, Marshmallow, Ocado, Skyscanner, Peak AI and Deliveroo.
Tech Nation said that more than 95% of start-ups from its accelerator programmes had moved to next stages of funding, while more than a third of all UK tech “unicorns” — companies valued at more than $1bn — had been linked to a Tech Nation programme.
The move also raises questions over the future of the visa programme run by Tech Nation on behalf of the Home Office, which connected international tech talent with fast growth firms in the UK.
Tech Nation has processed over 6,000 Global Talent Visa applications since its inception and endorsed more than 3,000.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are working closely with Tech Nation to ensure continuity of the digitech strand of the Global Talent visa in the short term, whilst we explore the long term changes necessary in light of Tech Nation’s planned closure.
“We will also take every available step to ensure that applicants already part of the Global Talent route are not disadvantaged by the closure, so the UK can continue to benefit from the brightest and best living and working here.”
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