A new Silicon Valley campaign has been launched to drive investment into the UK’s trillion-dollar tech sector to fuel emerging technologies and economic growth, amid the UK’s plans to boost R&D spend to £20 billion in 2024.
Last year, the UK proved itself to be a tech superpower as it became the third nation in the world to achieve a tech sector valued at one trillion dollars, alongside the US and China, with 162 ‘tech Unicorns’ valued at more than $1 billion, more than Germany, France and Sweden combined.
Government research suggests that many of Silicon Valley’s top tech experts are not aware of the UK’s world-leading strengths and this campaign hopes to promote the UK sector’s agile regulation and world-class talent via targeted LinkedIn and digital display ads, a content partnership with TechCrunch as well as a short film by Stephen Fry.
The campaign is being supported by multiple UK tech unicorns Darktrace, Deepmind, Revolut and Matillion, with plans to invite US tech leaders to the UK for London Tech Week, further highlighting the government’s strong support for UK tech.
Khalid Talukder, co-founder of DKK Partners, commented: “The UK’s technology sector has proven itself to be a lucrative global powerhouse over the past few years and should be viewed as a leading hub to invest in by Silicon Valley. It is fantastic to see the government showing continued support towards the thriving businesses that are helping the nation’s economy to recover and grow. Overseas investments and expansions are a brilliant way to promote growth and bring in revenue, providing increased opportunity for the UK to cement its global position by reaching new markets and gaining new, world-class influence and skill.”
“For the FinTech industry, huge opportunities lay within the payments and FX services space as they enable international trade, faster payments and will allow companies to boost their productivity. The UK has always prided itself on being a financial hub, and now, the booming opportunities within FinTech must be capitalised upon and the government support and promotional activities overseas will help to this sector achieve its potential” Talukder added.
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “The UK has one of the top tech sectors in the world with a valuation of more than a trillion dollars. It’s diverse, resilient, and continues to grow at rapid pace with the most venture capital investment in Europe. The goal of this campaign is to attract as much collaboration and investment as we can from Silicon Valley.”
“The formation of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, shows investors and entrepreneurs that the UK is more dedicated than ever to forming a tech sector that is pro-innovation, pro-talent and pro-growth. Our commitment for R&D spending to be £20 billion a year by 2024 drives forward the government’s ambitions for the UK to be a science and tech superpower.”
