This report outlines some of the mechanisms for getting there. Alongside target $2tn for exits, all ecosystem stakeholders must collectively aim for $4tn ecosystem value by 2032. The UK tech ecosystem is at an inflection point - either the bubble risks being burst, or future growth can be promoted, and augmented. But, if better conditions for scaling can be created, the opportunity is potentially much greater than an uplift of $1.4tn in ecosystem value. The UK tech ecosystem is currently valued at just over $1tn, and, based on projections, will be worth $2.6tn if the momentum gathered over the last decade is maintained for the next. However, they are unlikely to resonate in the same way with a national policy maker as they are with a tech leader - managing the operations and tech functions of a fast growing twenty person startup, for example.

These macro trends are undoubtedly important, and can point to the influence of system level conditions for growth. The two theories of most interest are that the UK is effective at supporting companies to scale, but not to the high end of the value spectrum, or that there is a glut of unicorns to come, on the basis of many companies being well poised to gain value and breach the billion dollar mark. There has, however, been a reduction in the rate of unicorn creation ($1bn+ valuation companies) which is not a positive trend for the realisation of ever swelling value.īut, future unicorn ($250m-$800m valued companies) numbers have risen, with 45% growth from 2021 to 2022 - suggesting one of a number of phenomena. Investment in 2022 receded by 32% globally, whereas it dropped by 28% in the UK, faring well compared to other large tech economies, like China and US (-45%, and -36% respectively). Investors have started to pull back over the last six months, a slowdown both reflective of broader economic trends, and in part contributing to them. There are tailwinds, and the inevitable headwinds in realising continued high growth. Over the next decade, to return around the same rate of value to the ecosystem (just under 3.7x investment) UK tech firms will need to target exits worth $2tn. A huge success - seeing a once embryonic ecosystem truly deliver economic value across the UK. Scaleups in the UK have returned just under $600bn in value over the last ten years - achieved by an exit of some form, whether an acquisition, SPAC or a public listing. To make even greater strides, as UK tech continues to mature we must take every opportunity we can to collectively re-imagine, and change ecosystem conditions for the better. The last decade of UK tech has been explosive growth has been unprecedented, and the positive economic impact created by founders has been almost unimaginable.

Report findings ed21 springtown