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TIPS Ho ow to set up and grow a business in London P2
INSIDE Croy ydon: London’s
fastest growing w tech ecosystem P3
London Technology
Andy Khawaja, CEO of Allied Wallet
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Skills shortage Phil Smith, CEO of Cisco advises on the importance of recruiting the right talent for your company P4
FinTech Innovate Finance discuss FinTech’s impact on the London technology scene
Global Villages Why London’s FinTech factor is attracting global interest
P6
How to set up and grow a business in London Find the right talent, location, connections and investors and your tech business will fly in London says David Slater, Director of International Trade & Investment at London & Partners, London’s official promotional company, helping companies set up and grow in the capital.
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ccording to recent research by PwC , London is ranked the number one global city for opportunity and so the best place in the world to do business. Given our competitive position, there are some basic things you need to get right at the outset to ensure success. Here are five areas for consideration.
1
Advice and set up Get the right professional advice early in the process to avoid problems later on. You need to set up your business as a legal entity, register your business with Companies House, open a business bank account, pay the right amount of corporation tax and file an annual tax return. As a leading global centre for Follow us
3
Recruit talent.
professional and business services, London has experts offering every type of advice meeting all budgets.
2
London offers access to the world’s best talent, both in terms of a large highly educated domestic talent pool and ability to attract diverse talent from around the world. You can recruit staff using job sites to engage consultants, find longer-term staff with specialist agencies, or track down raw talent at London’s universities and the numerous tech events held in Shoreditch and throughout London.
Find the right office
Setting up your business in London gives you access to the best ecosystem in Europe, with some of the world’s most successful accelerators and incubators and an extensive collaboration between start-ups and multi-nationals. London offers thousands of business premises: from serviced offices to prestigious new developments you can find office space, mentors and financial backing among London’s numerous incubators and accelerators. Thanks to countless coworking spaces, you can parachute straight into business clusters devoted to tech, finance, fashion, travel and more by renting ‘pay as you go’ desks. MediaplanetUK
David Slater Director of International Trade & Investment, London & Partners
“Get the right professional advice early in the process to avoid problems later on.” @MediaplanetUK
4
Attract investment
Venture capital investment into London’s tech sector is booming. Entrepreneurs from across Europe are coming to London to access this influx of funding. In the first three months of this year alone, technology companies secured over $682 million in VC financing . Last year, London tech companies landed @MediaplanetUK
more than $1.35 billion of investment, considerably more than the previous full-year record of $756m raised during 2013 . In addition to the individual funding deals, 2014 also saw new VC funds base themselves in London to invest in tech opportunities around the world. The smart money is in London.
5
Protect your intellectual property
To maximise the value of your creativity, you will need to protect your inventions, designs, goods and services. Keep detailed records of the creation, development and manufacture of products and services and apply for relevant patents, trademarks, design rights and copyright. You can find a range of expert advice from London’s world-leading financial and professional services cluster, employing 709,500 people. Please Recycle
Managing Director: Carl Soderblom Content and Production Manager: Brogan Wright Designer: Kathleen Rayfield Business Developer: Dominic McWilliam Project Manager: Greg Waters E-mail: greg.waters@mediaplanet.com Mediaplanet contact information: Phone: +44 (0) 203 642 0737 E-mail: info.uk@mediaplanet.com
Speak to our team of property specialists for an agile, flexible and forward-thinking approach to London. jll.co.uk
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South is the new east for those with tech ambition
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lthough it may come as surprise for some, Croydon is now officially London’s fastest growing tech ecosystem. According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the borough is now home to over 1,500 digital, creative and technical start-ups. Software companies in Croydon range from up-and-comers such as social networks (Famberry), mobile dining apps (FeastExpress), PR newswires (DWPub) and FinTech firms such as QuidCycle.
Coming soon will be a new tech incubator at Davis House backed by Croydon Tech City and Croydon Council, promising to bring a number of high-profile investors to the area. The growth in tech companies either moving to or starting up in Croydon has been the result of careful and concerted effort on the part of Croydon Tech City’s management team to raise the profile of Croydon since 2012 – through social events and community building, to influencing local government policy and property development and infrastructure changes.
15%
18%
KINGS CAMDEN CROSS
Overhanging these young startups are more established tech companies that have been in the borough for over a decade. These include enterprise tech companies such as DotMailer – which joined the London Stock Exchange in 2011 and currently has a market cap of £100 million – and Intuitive. Skip Fidura, global client services director at DotMailer, says: “We can’t find Croydon in New York City. No one can get to town or an airport that quickly. Having signed another lease, DotMailer is committed to Croydon for the long term.” What attracts startups to Croydon Tech City? Transport links from East and West Croydon to London terminals are – as many a commuter will attest – often faster than travelling across London within Zone 1, with journey times from as little as 14 minutes. Croydon is also rapidly reinventing itself as a place as it goes through a £5bn regeneration process. New developments spanning housing, commercial and retail are springing up or on their way including the £1.5 billion Westfield/Hammerson shopping centre alongside London’s second Boxpark.
rates until march 2016 if they relocate to Croydon. There is also a growing roster of cool workspaces in the centre of Croydon including Matthews Yard, 3Space, and a new Sussex Innovation Centre incubator.
COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF LONDON’S TOP TEN TECH CLUSTERS 2011–2013
15%
WESTMINSTER
PADDINGTON
11%
%
10
HAMMERSMITH
2%
25%
CITY
23
%
22%
CANARY WHARF
SOUTH BANK
Backing Croydon Tech City’s effort’s is Croydon Council, which is very supportive of technology companies and is doing everything possible to provide the right infrastructure and environs to make start-ups thrive. Croydon has all the ingredients to become a world class player in the European startup scene.
KINGSTON
38% CROYDON
To learn more about Croydon’s ecosystem, Croydon Tech City is holding an ‘Introduction to Croydon Tech City’ summit on Tuesday 16th June, 3pm at Croydon Conference Centre. Free to attend, for more information please visit http://croydontechcity.com/events
Source: ONS. UK Business Counts – Local Units 2013
Croydon has some of the most competitive office rents in London – something that has been further galvanized by Croydon Council’s current ‘Rate Free For A Year’ fund, which enables emerging and ambitious tech businesses to reclaim their
Dealmakers
in
www.croydontechhub.com
Technology eCom & Marketplaces
Digital Media & AdTech
Building European Unicorns
BELIEVE DIGITAL
DELIVERY HERO
KLARNA
FJORD
AVITO
Private Placement
Series F funding round
sold to
Private Placement
TCV, XANGE, VENTECH
US HEDGE FUND
Sale of Öresund’s and Creades’ equity stakes
ACCENTURE
ACCEL PARTNERS BARING VOSTOK
LONDON
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STOCKHOLM
Software & Services
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The European Unicorn Capital By Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner GP Bullhound
U Skills are top priority for London global tech leadership Phil Smith, CEO, Cisco UK & Ireland, chair of the Tech Partnership and London Technolog y Week ambassador, explains how challenges in the talent pipeline could aff ffeect London’s tech success.
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n this w eek celebrating L ondon’s status as a global leader in tech innovation, business successes, entrepreneurship and creative talent, it is also vital to look at how the city maintains its position in the future. L ondon continues to be the hub of the UK’s digital economy, with the number off tech firms growing by 28 per cent in the five years to 2013 - more than double the overall UK growth. One in four of the UK’s tech enterprises is now based he here. This brings benefits right across L ondon’s economy, with technolo echnology being the foundation for inno innovation, productivity and competicompeti tiveness in ever y other sector. Yet growing skills gaps and shorshor tages threaten L ondon – and the nation’s – role in the global digital economy unless more is done to shore up the talent pipeline for the future. New research from the Tech Partnership shows that, across the UK, 50 per cent of companies are now suffering from skills gaps in their tech specialist workfororkfor ce. More than 130,000 new recru ecruits are needed each year into tech
careers, and 42 per cent of compacompa nies that are recruiting complain of vacancies being hard to fill. On top of this, ever y company of ever y size in ever y sector needs an incre asing digital capability to operate effectively in an increasingly digital world. This is why employers from all sectors are uniting through the Tech Partnership. Our vision is that the UK is the go to place for digital business, and our ambiambi t i o n i s t o c re a t e t h e s k i l l s f o r a million new digital jobs over the coming decade. The Tech Partnership is bring bringing cohesion, scale and impact to action on digital skills, embracing all who care about this agenda. We are focused on inspiring young pe ople about technology, accelera ting the flow of talented people from all backgrounds into techno logy careers, and helping compacompa nies develop the technology skills for the future. This work ranges from bring ing industr y insights and projects into the classroom, from primar y school to GCSEs and A-levels,
“London London continues to be the hub of the UK’ss digital economy UK’ economy,, with the number of tech firms growing by 28 percent in the five years to 2013. 2013.””
Phil Smith CEO, Cisco UK & Ireland, chair of the Tech Par tnership and London Te echnololgy We eek
through to giving young people the best possible start to their careers with degrees and apprenticeships that are backed by employers across the sector. Addr essing the paradox that s m a l l c o m p a n ie s n e e d b e t t er a c cess to talent whilst at the same time t oo many comput er scien tists are struggling t o transition from university to employment, a new scheme in L ondon’s East End is offering an innovative graduate traineeship programme. Another mechanism t o sup port L ondon’s growth is the Tech Partnership’s training fund, which helps employers invest in the tech skills training they need for growth. In our fast- evolving connected digital nation, we will need people with skills to do jobs that have not even been thought of yet. By collaborating as employers, and embracing partners and stakeholders who contribute to our aims, we can, together, de velop the digital talent L ondon and the nation needs. Learn more on LONDONTECHNEWS.CO.UK L O ND O N T E C HNE W S .C O.UK
n icor n s have c apt u re d ou r i mag i nat ion for o hu n d r e d s of yea rs. Now we refer to b i l l i o n d o l l a r d i g it a l c o m p a n ie s a s u n icor n s due to t hei r ra r it y. Too day, GP Bu l l hou nd ha s relea se d a r e p o r t , E u r o p e a n Un ic o r n s D o They Have L egs?, wh ich out l i nes t h e g r o w t h o f E u r o p e a n u n ic o r n s over t he pa st 1 2 mont h s, det a i l i ng t he cont i nent ’s prog res s a nd cha l lenges. There a re now 4 0 te ch compaa n i e s i n E u r o p e w it h a n e q u it y v a l u at i o n o f m o r e t h a n $ 1 b n , a n i n c rea se of ten i n t he la st yea r a lone. Con sider i ng t hat, on average, E u rope produces t h re e u n icor n s a yea r, t h i s ha s be en a n ex t raord ina r y yea r for t he te ch se c tor. T h e v a s t m aj o r i t y o f n e w a d d i t io n s t o t h e p r e s t i g io u s u n ic o r n l i s t a r e c o n s u m e r c o mp a n ie s . A n d B r i t a i n i s c o n s o l i d at i n g i t s p o s i t ion a s a world leader i n produc i ng f i nte ch u n icor n s. However t h e r e i s s t i l l g r e at s c o p e t o e x p a n d E u rope’s d ig it a l prowes s. The tot a l va luat ion of E u rope’s 4 0 u n icor n s i s $1 2 0bn. To put t h i s i nt o c o nt e x t , F a c e b o o k a l o n e i s va lue d at $2 3 0bn. E ven a relat ii vely re cent sc a leups such a s Uber i s v a l u e d at $ 5 0 b n . I n t e r m s o f qua nt it y t he US i s a l so super ior, c r e at i n g 2 2 u n i c o r n s i n t h e l a s t 1 2 m o nt h s . E u r o p e h a s no p r o ble m c r e a t i ng u nicorn s. The oppor tu nit y now i s c reat i ng super-u n icor n s, compa n ies w it h t he w i n n i ng formu l a o f k i l l e r i d e a s , u n s t o p p a b l e m o m e nt u m a n d t h e b e s t f u n d i n g t hat enables t hem to go superma s sive. Cont i nu i ng to est abl i sh wel l- con ne c te d, bu si nes s, i nvest o r a n d k n o w l e d g e hu b s i s k e y t o add res si ng t h i s.
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The coolness of FinTech Matt Scheckner E xecutive director, Adver tisng Week Europe
The rise and rise offaad-tech
T
he past decade has both turrbbocharrgged the power of ad dverti e sing and shattered it to bits as audiences fragment. Magazine and newspaper publishers are re-inveenting themselves in real time as CEO’s demand neew ways to find digital profitability on par with full-page ads. Indeed, without exception, every media owner across eveery genre is trying to navigate the pace of change. A common thread to the ever e -evoolving story of Adland, it’s the rapid pace of con nveerrgence. g This is why London exex cels as an epicenter for the rising sector of ad tech as Whit h e City and Old Strreet e unite. Content deveelopers and distribution channels havve united with digidigi tal talent to create a hottbed b of tech-dri ech-driven ad businesses. Globallyy, virtually all of today’s leading forces in ad dvertising are fuelled by tech platforms and have emerrged g in the past ten years – YouTube, Netflix and Facebook – but in London we’re seeing a new wavve of digital disruption.
Howeveerr, just as thee ad dvent of television in the 1950’s did not kill radio, neither has the emerrggence of mobile small screens killed the big screen. Newspapers, magazines, radio and teleevision v havve all found ways to evolvve with the digital revolution and, in some cases, grow market sharree. Neveertheless, just as London’s financial services, transport and retail sector havve all been ologyy, the power transformed by technology base in ad dveertising is evolving. o Just u like technologyy, the ad dveertising industry has always been built upon big ideas. The ad dvertising e aand media industry is blessed to havve sso man ny big, bold thinkers who have embraced the new world order and are lighting dark hallhall ways with grand ideas to capture the hearts and minds of consumers. From the evidence of Ad dvertising Week Europe, the latest result of London’s reputation forr creativity is a wavve off ad tech startups seeking to redefine the media landscape yet e again.
The new CEO at Innovate Finance explains why financial technolog y is revolutionising the waay we use our money, and why finance is suddenly cooler.
O
n May 14 Innovate Finance, a membership organisation representing dozens of financial start-ups and accelerators in the UK, named its new CEO just 8 months after it was launched in August. Lawrence Wintermeyer, 30 years of experience in the sector as a consultant for the liikkes of Deloitte and EY and as the CEO of Integrasco, is the new man in charge. Wintermeyer relishe h s thee challenge: financial technology (also known as FinTech) is booming all over the world, and in London it found the perrffect cradle to grow up. “If you consider the
FinTech movement as a whole in 2013 it was about £4 billion, moving to £12 biilllion in 2014.T Therei e s a lottof momentt-um in it,” Wintermeyer says. “Here in the UK, we have seen new ventures, neew investors, capital being brrought in. We have seen accelerrato t rs liikkeL e evell39, news w tarrtt-ups andaw whole neew scene in Lond don.” FinTech is aallready receiving some att-tention from the big guns: “Santander has just created a special fund for accelerators, a sign that instittu utions are moving in,” says Wintermeyer. “Other signs are legislative. The FCA is bringing up its new Project Innovate. The Treasury is engaged.” Wintermeyer er and seveerral IF mem mbers
adtech@Olswang
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have been invited to 10 Downing Street, to assisttthe Governmentt t o connect with this rising scene. More significantly, George Osborne was smiilling on stage when IF launched. A person no shorrtt of ambitions, Wintermeyer is not af afraid to speak openly: “If the UK is going tod dominate FinTech on the globaall scaalle it is time to execute. Ultimately what we want to do is give Siillicon Valley and Wall Street a run for their money. y” Bringing together the expertise of centuries of financial transactions and the hacking scene of the East End, London is at the core of the movement, but Wintermeyer believes FinTech is already seeding in
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Q&A
Monday Monday June 15th | 8:00AM - 1:00PM Altitude360°, Milbank Tower, SW1P 4QP
Andy Khawaja
CEO, e-commerce merchant ser vices and payment processing solutions company, Allied Wallet
Why Why did did you you w want ant to to start start your your o wn business? own business? When the internet starrtted, I knew it was going to be humungous. But I didn’t see anything that made it easy and secure for consumers to conduct online transactions using credit cards or other types of payment. That gave me the motivation to buiilld the technology to maakke it happen. other parts of the country: “Digitaall is not confined by geographical boundaries. London of course has been at the forefront for 300 years, the insurance sector is based here, in n currency markets London is like no other place in the world. But you don’t need to be tied there. Leeds and Edinburgh are particularly strong when it comes to finance, and they are jusst two cases.” Elsewhere, Berlin is the new hipster capital of Europe, bu ut Munich and Frankfurt are catching up. Looking for the companies that are changing the way we approach to finance, the first example that comes to mind is Transferwise, a foreign currency transfer application that has just been vaallued $1 billion in its latest foun u ding round. “It is a good poster child, absolutelyy,” says Wintermeyeerr. “Then therre is nutmegg, a private wealth managing app, they have just been quoted by the Economist in a piece on
investment advisors. yoyo is cool because it is like a virtual wallet that you can use to do smaalll shopping, like bu uying lunch. It is used in 15 universities in the UK and has just raised £10 hnology to million to bring this tech the US.” What ma kes t hese compa n ies successful, Wintermeyer believes, is the ability to engage and bring a vision. “ The outcome that we are going to have in 10 years will be like what Ryanair did to air travelling. Ryanair has not replaced the big players: what it has done is actually growing a whole new sector of the market that never was there because its prices are so low. Similarly, a whole new type of finance is going to emerge but nobody should feel threatened by it. Big b a n k s a r e a l r e ad y r e ac t i n g a n d they will sur vive, as national carriers did in the air ways industr y. A nd cer tainly it will all be at the advent off the consumer.”
W hat c hallenges d id you you face? face? What challenges did Back then, banks didn’t understand what I wanted to do because they didn’t have any clue about ecommerce. Finding a bank that was wiillling to taakke a chance on me took three years. W hat a dvice w ould y ou g ive tto o anyone anyone What advice would you give s tarting a Fintech Fintech Business? Business? starting My advice is: don’t give up. Fintech companies are, after all, making the future a better place and building products to accommodate business. W hy is is iitt k ey tto os tay a he fforefront orefront o the Why key stay att tthe off the F intech iindustry? ndustry? Fintech It’s important to keep ahead of the competition. Technology is about being creative, so when you ut it off — execute come up with a great idea, don’t pu it immediately. What’s your your opinion as a g lobal opinion of of London London as What’s global tech hub? hub? tech I think it’s verryy good — there are lots of young, taallented and smart internationaall entrepreneurs in London who can create amazing products. But the UK banks need to open up more. Give them the chance and these people can change the world.
Ca tching tthe he b ig p hish big phish Catching Exploring the top cyber security risks impacting banks and retailers, and how FinTech is helping to keep businesses awayy from harm. Tu esday Tuesday June 16th | 12:00PM - 2.30PM Sutherland Labs, 52-58 Shorts Gardens, WC2H 9AN the future future tthrough hrough F inTech IInsuring nsuring the FinTech Knowledge hack that explores how FinTech is making inroads in reaching the underinsured digital customer and how the ’Internet of Things’ has changed insurance. W ed e nesday Wednesday June 17th | 8:30AM - 10:00AM Houses of Parliament, Westminster, SW1A 0AA F inTech and and the FinTech the new new parliament parliament Six weeks beyond the election the new government will be in place. This is an opportunity for new MPs to engage with the thriving FinTech sector. By Invitation Only T hursday Thursday June 18th | 8:30AM - 12:00PM Level39, One Canada Square, E14 5AB alks - V Cs ttake ake tthe M oney T he stage stage Money Talks VCs VCs hailing from FinTech hubs around the world, including NYC, London and Singapore, have been invited to take the stt-age to pitch to the FinTech community. Learn from the masters! Fr iday Friday June 19th | 12:00PM - 4:00PM The Trampery, Old Street, EC1V 9EY D iversity c hallenge a wards Diversity challenge awards Awarding those FinTech companies that are an influential voice within the community, and doing the most to create a more cohesive society by championing FinTech innovation across thee glo lobe.
Inno vate Finance Week will explore explorre kkey Innovate ey themes in Fi FinTech, cybersecurity, insur ance, financing ffor or o startups, startup and our first div ersi awards insurance, diversity
>
A Access ccess e event vent in information formation in rreal eal time Check out the agenda and speak speakers ers Ne Network twork with a attendees ttendees and speak speakers ers Shar Share e upda updates tes and ccontent ontent via the ne news ws ffeed eed A Access ccess e exclusive xclusive ccontent ontent fr from om speak speakers ers and sponsors e each day Submit liv live e ques questions tions tto o speak speakers ers during sessions Take T ake part in liv live e polls during sessions
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