London's tech ecosystem should have nothing to fear from Starmer

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during their BBC head-to-head debate in Nottingham (Phil Noble/PA) (PA Wire)

In many ways, Silicon Roundabout - and the phenomenally successful tech ecosystem that built outwards from it - is Blair’s forgotten legacy. At the turn of the millennium it was New Labour that sowed the seeds that grew into the world’s third most successful startup ecosystem. The Tories may have branded it theirs, but it was a Labour government that set it all in motion.

Speak to any startup founder and ask them how the government helped them. Chances are they will say R&D tax credits and EIS (or the Enterprise Investment Scheme to you and me). Both schemes have been so successful at unleashing startups that governments around the world hoping to boost innovation have hurriedly copied them. Both were Blair’s babies. And in 2007 New Labour launched Innovate UK - now the bedrock of early stage research funding grants that are enabling everything from deeptech AI to cutting edge climate tech startups.

When Gordon Brown left Downing Street, VC investment in the UK was hovering around $2 billion total. Today the UK is home to a $1 trillion startup ecosystem, having created 51 “unicorns” - businesses valued at over $1bn each - and counting.

This means that should Keir Starmer enter Downing Street on the 5th July he will be the first Labour Prime Minister to look after an expansive and thriving UK tech sector.

But Labour has never had to “speak startup” before. So here’s a primer. It's important to start with the mindset that startups are not SME’s - the needs and pinch points of a tech entrepreneur vary wildly to a bricks and mortar small business. Startups need three things to thrive - access to talent, finance and pragmatic regulation. It's easy for Governments to think fancy policies with bells and whistles will help when often it’s getting the basics right that matters more. And now founders face harsher economic winds - investment has plateaued and many startups are stunted by regulatory complexity and oligopolies.

Last time they were in power, Labour built the platform on which so many startups have thrived. The challenge for Labour this time around will be to build out the ecosystem. Labour has already said it wants to work with the City to unleash growth - but it may find more bang for its buck working first with the tech scene: Labour is more likely to get answers to the UK’s economic woes in startups over the members of the FTSE100.

For a Labour government, unlocking startups means unblocking startup challenges. And here startups would benefit from both the micro to the macro - from cleaning up and releasing Government data sets to ensuring creaking procurement processes enable founders to compete with the likes of big tech and the big four.

With urgency Labour need to read the Startup Coalition’s manifesto - a roadmap, published today, to help the next Government help startups. If it does so it will see a tech community ready to build a successful partnership: startups exist to transform products, services, and markets, but supported properly by a Labour government, they can transform society.

Alex Depledge MBE is co-founder and CEO of Resi and Helping