It’s the end of an era for Tech Nation, which ceases operations today, although there may still be a future for the brand.
While Tech Nation in its current form may have ended, there are still hopes that the brand may still live on. It has received “dozens of expressions of interest” since it announced that it was selling off its assets last month.
One of those bidding is Lastminute founder and investor, Brent Hoberman. His Founders Forum Group entered into talks with Tech Nation 2 days ago.
“Over the last decade, Tech Nation has played an instrumental role accelerating startup growth and making the UK Europe’s top digital economy,” explained Hoberman.
“We’re keen to continue this legacy and help more UK founders scale more groundbreaking ideas, keeping the UK at the centre of tech innovation.”
Should both parties agree, Founder Forum Group said that it would continue Tech Nation’s legacy and plans “to adopt the internationally renowned brand lineup into its existing portfolio of events and services tailored to entrepreneurs.”
“We’re delighted to be in discussions with Tech Nation around the future evolution of this impactful brand,” added FF Group CEO, Carolyn Dawson.
“Our hope is to build on the great work of Tech Nation and continue to serve as the collective voice of founders and investors across the UK, collaborating with media, government, and industry to entrench the UK as a world-renowned startup hub and leading innovation economy”.
The government pulled its £12m Digital Growth Contract in September, which was its core piece of funding. Tech Nation announced shortly afterwards that it would have to stop trading, because its activities weren’t “viable” without it.
That funding has moved to Barclays’ Eagle Labs and some staff are expected to join the tech incubator.
Tech Nation stated that the last 10 years were a “golden decade for UK tech” and they were “proud” to be handing over a transformed tech sector.
It says it’s leaving the UK tech industry as the biggest digital economy in Europe and the third largest globally. The value of UK tech has increased 16 fold over 10 years, to $1trn, employing 5m staff.
“We have been delighted by the dozens of expressions of interest that we received and want to thank all those that have engaged with us during this process. We are very excited to be in discussions with Founders Forum Group, which we think is well placed to build on the legacy that Tech Nation has created over the last 10 years, given their ethos and approach to supporting entrepreneurs at every stage,” added Tech Nation Founding CEO, Gerard Grech.
“The last decade has been an incredible success story. One in which the UK is now third in the world for tech investment. The team and I are fortunate enough to have seen a third of all tech unicorns and decacorns ever created in UK history graduate from a Tech Nation programme. We look forward to these continued discussions.”
