After more than a decade of operations, Tech Nation UK announced that it was shutting down due to the termination of its core grant funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport of the United Kingdom (DCMS). The grant has been awarded to Barclays Bank for its programme – Barclays Bank Eagle Labs.
According to Will Miller, Chief Growth Officer of Tech Nation in a statement, “after a decade as a government-backed organisation serving the UK scaleup tech ecosystem, we are today announcing that Tech Nation will be closing its doors from 31st March 2023. Tech Nation’s core grant funding from DCMS is being awarded to Barclays Bank. With this foundation removed, Tech Nation’s remaining activities are not viable on a standalone basis.”
Miller in the statement, claims that the company explored whether Tech Nation could continue without core government grant funding, but concluded after extensive consultation that this is not an option.
“The work we do with our accelerator programs, insights and research reports, the Growth Platform, visa processing for the Home Office, and so much more, has all been built on the foundation of our core grant funding from DCMS. With this foundation removed, Tech Nation’s remaining activities are not viable on a standalone basis and the unique Tech Nation model that we have built upon this foundation can no longer be supported,” he adds.
“Furthermore, continuing without core funding would compromise our status as a Public Interest company. We are a non-profit, with an obligation to act in the best interest of the public and the scaleup community we serve. We cannot continue to deliver for scaleups impactfully and impartially without core public funding underpinning everything we do, and with commercial funding alone.”
Tech Nation was founded in 2011 by the coalition government to take advantage of the UK’s booming tech economy. It has a lot of growth programmes for tech entrepreneurs, be it aspiring, scaling or late stage.
Tech Nation’s growth programs, digital academy, networking conferences, international expansion programs, sandboxes, panels and in-depth sector research, analysis and reports have helped shape the trajectory and success of UK tech; the no.1 digital economy in Europe and no.3 globally, valued at $1trn (16x in 10 years), employing 5m people (from 2m in the decade) across the country, with over 20 places in the UK home to one tech unicorn or more (5x in 10 years).
Its alumni include the biggest names in UK tech such as Monzo, Revolut, Depop, Bloom & Wild, Zilch, Just Eat, Darktrace, Marshmallow, Ocado, Skyscanner, Peak AI and Deliveroo, to name just a few of the 5,000+ businesses it has supported.
Tech Nation is especially popular for Tech Nation Visa, officially known as the Global Talent Visa, which enables the brightest and best tech talent from around the world to come and work in the UK’s digital technology sector, contributing their cutting-edge expertise, creativity and innovation to maintaining the UK’s position at the forefront of the global digital economy.
Tech Nation is the official Home Office designated endorsing body authorised to assess endorsement applications from individuals with expertise in digital technology and who want to come to the UK under the Global Talent visa.
A lot of African tech founders took advantage of this visa to extend their tentacles to the United Kingdom.
Tech Nation says it has commenced a redundancy consultation process for all of its permanent employees. It has initiated TUPE discussions with Barclays Bank for those whose primary role is DCMS delivery work and have informed DCMS.
Tech Nation is also actively seeking interested parties to acquire its portfolio of assets to take forward in a new guise.