February 2023; The penultimate Month in Review

February 2023 - A Month in Review:

On January 31st, we announced that we will be ceasing operations from 31st March 2023, although our Global Talent Visa will continue operating until further notice.

After a decade of transforming UK tech, Tech Nation announced it will cease operations as of 31st March 2023 and is seeking to transfer its assets, following the termination of its core UK government grant funding and awarding it to Barclays Bank.?

The outpouring of support we have seen from all corners of the ecosystem since has been heartening, and a testament to the incredible, impactful work our Technationers have done to support the sector’s development and growth.?

When Tech Nation was founded nine years ago, the UK’s tech sector was burgeoning and focussed almost entirely on London. Now, it's a nationwide networked economy, valued at over a trillion dollars, with over 20 places across the UK being home to at least one tech unicorn, and almost 5 million people employed in the sector.?

Over a third of all tech unicorns ever created in the UK’s tech history have graduated through one of our growth programmes, including many we recognise today. From Monzo to Skyscanner. From Darktrace to Depop. And whilst over 80% of UK start-ups fail within their early years, over 90% of start-ups on our programs have grown and gone on to scale.

Tech Nation will end this impactful chapter with pride in everything it has accomplished, in awe of the incredible individuals and businesses we have been privileged to champion, and in gratitude to everyone who has been part of our journey.???

It has been a privilege for the team to make this contribution to the UK economy, and we hope that the growth, progress and momentum we’ve driven over the past decade can be capitalised on.?

While we will be winding down, we are continuing to fire on all cylinders to support the UK’s scaleups, with March being packed with key events and our annual report launch. Meanwhile, February has been a busy month for Team Tech Nation who have been amazing throughout this time of uncertainty.

Tech Nation is ranked 9th in the fastest-growing tech companies serving the Public Sector

While the above might be a surprise to many, the irony is that Tech Nation was ranked the 9th fastest-growing technology company in the UK's public sector.

A huge congratulations to the whole Tech Nation team for making it happen. It's an honor to be recognized.

The ranking is compiled annually by Tussell and Tech UK. Thank you to them for the recognition.

The UK’s most promising tech startups are revealed in our Rising Stars 5.0 competition

At the beginning of the month, we announced the the UK Regional Winners in the fifth iteration of our early stage scaleup competition, Rising Stars. Our judges then had the tough challenge of whittling down these bright and ambitious companies to just 20 incredible Rising Stars 5.0 Finalists, who were announced on 23rd February.?

These remarkable companies representing the best of UK tech have demonstrated incredible potential to scale in the year to come. Having impressed expert judges based across the country at multiple stages of the competition, they have progressed from City Winners, to Regional Winners, to Finalists after emerging victorious in a hotly-contested Rising Stars Semi-FinalThe 20 Finalists have benefitted from significant profile raising, masterclasses and networking opportunities to put their business in front of leading investors, influencers and corporates.

Ben Sweeney, VidiVet recently said "To be recognised amongst such amazing companies and amongst incredible alumni like Monzo Bank and Bloom & Wild is mind-boggling"?

The Finalists will now go on to participate in a showcase of the top 10 National Winners in March.

Future Fifty 10.0 dinners

February also saw several Tech Nation Future Fifty dinners hosted by Evelyn Partners, one held for CFOs within the cohort that addressed common challenges and the other event specifically for CEO's, which provided the opportunity to build deeper relationships with peers - and also to celebrate recent milestone achievements together.?

UK tech on the international stage

15 companies including Flock and Mission Zero Technologies joined the US Growth Workshop 4.0; a two-day workshop, sponsored by Fragomen, Foothold America, RSM UK and Wilson Sonsini, delivered by entrepreneurs and investors who have already scaled successfully into the US market. The workshop included educational and practical advice on the US ecosystem, go-to-market strategies, operational considerations, talent and recruitment, business development and fundraising.

All scaleups selected for the workshop have the resource and commitment to expand into the US within the next 12 months. The cohort spans across several tech sectors and industries including HealthTech, LegalTech and SaaS, with cutting-edge IoT and AI applications.

International expansion has been identified as one of the largest scaling challenges by UK scaleups, and the US is one of the top priority markets within the UK’s tech ecosystem.

Net Zero in Northern Ireland

Our Net Zero team Julie Martin and Sammy Fry recently visited the three Northern Ireland companies on our Net Zero 3.0 and Net Zero X programmes. A huge thank you to Andrew Woods and Sonya Kerr from CATAGEN LIMITED - a Net Zero Technologies company , Iain Percy from Artemis Technologies Ltd and Conor Hamill from MOF Technologies for hosting us.

Coming up in March…so so so much!

Meanwhile, we have been preparing ourselves for a busy, final month at Tech Nation.?

Finale events will be held for our current cohorts of AI 4.0, Libra 2.0, Fintech 5.0, Upscale 8.0 and Future Fifty 11.0 companies, and the Rising Stars 5.0 Finale will crown its 10 winners at the end of the month.

We will be gathering Tech Nationers past and present for a reunion event on 13th March to recognise the incredible contribution our people have made to the UK tech economy and celebrate all we have achieved together.?

We will be launching our flagship Tech Nation Report, 2023 edition on 23rd March, and hosting an event in Manchester to congregate tech industry leaders, delve into the report’s findings and set out what’s needed for the next decade of UK tech.

And we will be hosting an alumni reunion event in London on 28th March, as our final contribution to connecting the UK-wide tech ecosystem.

Lots to look forward to over the coming weeks, and we look forward to seeing many of you as we gather to recognise, celebrate and connect scaleup talent across the country!?