Inside/VC’s Post

London Tech Week was incredibly busy, but some of the most valuable conversations took place behind closed doors. Alongside London & Partners, we convened a roundtable of London’s leading startup and entrepreneurship support providers. Chaired by Timothy Barnes, it was a frank and urgent discussion about the true state of play in the capital’s ecosystem. On the surface, London looks stronger than ever. It’s retained its crown as Europe’s leading startup hub and is home to dozens of unicorns. Dig beneath the surface, though, and it starts to look as though the pipeline from startups to scale-ups may be breaking down. With many startup supporters feeling immense pressure, we are seeing a contraction in early-stage infrastructure. If the accelerators and incubators that nurture pre-seed and early-stage founders keep shutting down, the pipeline of future scale-ups will disappear with them. We can’t assume the early-stage ecosystem is fine just because a handful of companies are raising large Series C, D or E rounds. And there’s an urgent imperative to protect the collective expertise that built the London tech scene up from its beginnings in the 2010s to where it is today. It's incredibly important for the innovation ecosystem to have a strong voice discussing these challenges. Thank you to all the experts who came together to tackle them head on. Jonny Clark Kimberley Brook Ben Casement-Stoll Cecil Adjalo Despina Johnson Sara Diegoli Toby Kress Nadia Forde Pauline Metivier Lamia Sbiti Martin Longstaff Naima Omasta-Milsom Holly Hudson 👉 David Taylor Tony Goldstein Jenny Shehaj Abrar Jawaid Sandra Steinhauer Saffron Saunders Michelle Cuomo Boorer Fergus Moffatt Vanesa Perez Sanchez Danny O'sullivan Jordan Day Stuart Scott #innovation #startups #founders #londontechweek #investment

There's a real risk of policymakers throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to UK business support. You wouldn't assume venture capital doesn't work because only a tiny minority of companies successfully reach a profitable exit - so don't assume that all business support doesn't work because of a limited set of lagging indicators or because the nature of some historic programmes didn't achieve some arbitrary desired outputs.

One of the recurring themes throughout London Tech Week was growth. But growth doesn't happen in isolation. This roundtable, convened by Capital Enterprise and London & Partners, focused on a challenge that receives far less attention than headline funding announcements: the health of London's early-stage support ecosystem. The discussion raised important questions about what happens when incubators, accelerators and founder support programmes come under pressure. Strong scale-ups don't emerge by accident; they are the product of years of support, expertise and community-building. It was encouraging to see so many ecosystem leaders having an open and candid conversation about how we protect and strengthen that pipeline for the next generation of founders.

Yesterday, we launched Dealyf. No big press release. No investors. No Colombo office. Just a small team, a product we've been bleeding over for months, and a district most startups skip entirely. Then something happened. Real people started engaging. Not friends doing us a favor. Actual strangers discovering it on their own. That hit different. Most startups launch where everyone's already watching. We launched in Ampara district on purpose. Dealyf is a hyperlocal deals platform. Local shops. Real savings. Starting small, building real. We're 10 towns in today. But this is just where the story starts. Follow along if you want to watch how a startup grows from the ground up in a place no one's watching yet.

Innovate UK's new plan to help the next generation of businesses scale is good news for many techies in the South West. The direction is more focused on funding high-potential, innovation-led businesses scaling into global competitiveness and more focus on commercialisation. For founders who have already found product-market fit and secured customers, it's 🎶 to their👂 But that reaction won't be universal. For those in bootstrap or start-up land, particularly those still building MVPs and route to revenue, there will be concern that support is only there for businesses a couple of years ahead. Even though most successful scale-ups were once roughing it in the early days. The South West's innovation scene depends on both: 🔹 Supporting ambitious scale-ups that can become globally competitive AND 🔹 Creating opportunities for the next generation of founders who are building version 1.0 For founders who've been down the grant funding route - what do you think? Tara G. 's fantastic summary in the comment. And big thanks to Briony Phillips The Bristol Business Bugle for sharing this week. If folks in my network haven't subscribed, it's a brilliant 90-second summary of ecosystem activity in your inbox every week. #SouthWestTech #Innovation #Startups #ScaleUps #InnovateUK #WalmerGroup

In 2025, new unicorns emerged from eleven different European countries. The next one might be registered in a city you’ve never heard of, writes Lukas Weking for EU-Startups 🇪🇺 🦄 Lukas is the founder of Founders Bay, an impact accelerator supporting startups in rural and non-metropolitan Germany. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g669TfmG

🇪🇺 Which European City Will Produce The Next Tech Giant? London? Los Angeles? New York? Philadelphia? Every ecosystem believes it's building the future. But only a handful of startups will become category leaders. I'm currently mapping high-growth startup ecosystems across Europe and identifying founders who are solving billion-dollar problems. My bet? The next European unicorn may come from a city nobody is talking about yet. What's your pick? #StartupEcosystem #EuropeStartups #Innovation #VentureCapital #NextUnicornFund #FutureUnicorns Pras Hanuma

🚚 Two District 3 alumni. One major milestone in the digital moving services for Canada’s startup ecosystem. We’re proud to celebrate the acquisition of MoveMate by MovingWaldo: two companies founded in Montreal and supported through District 3 Innovation programs at different stages of their entrepreneurial journeys. Founded by Guillaume Lahoud, CEO and Co-Founder of MovingWaldo, and Lucas Francioli, Founder and former CEO of MoveMate, the companies have now joined forces alongside the acquisition of Gvota, a Quebec-based platform specializing in connecting customers with local moving services, to create Canada’s leading digital moving platform. This milestone brings together three established Canadian brands under one platform, reinforcing Canada’s growing innovation and startup ecosystem. From early-stage business model validation to mentor-driven growth support, it’s exciting to see two District 3 alumni companies come together to consolidate an entire category and shape the future of digital moving services in Canada. Congratulations to Guillaume, Lucas, and the teams behind MovingWaldo, MoveMate, and Gvota on this exciting next chapter. 🇨🇦 🗞️ https://lnkd.in/gipjcVpw 🗞️ https://lnkd.in/gtX9Ygck Thinking of building your own startup? Applications are open to join the D3 community: https://lnkd.in/exSPfiUD #District3 #ConcordiaUniversity #StartupEcosystem #CanadianStartups #MontrealTech #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #PropTech

Innovation in Canada isn't happening in just one city, it's spreading across the country. From Toronto–Waterloo's global-tier dominance to Kingston's six-year streak as Canada's top small-city startup hub, the ecosystem map is bigger and bolder than ever. Canada ranks 5th globally in the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, with six cities placing in the top 20 across North America. But the real story is urgency, Canadian hubs must now produce repeatable scale-ups and global category leaders, not just early-stage startups. In her latest piece, Tehmina A Chaudhry maps out Canada's top 10 startup ecosystems, what's fueling their growth, where the capital is moving, and what it all means for founders and investors deciding where to build next. Read the complete article: https://lnkd.in/dhTvAEUP Follow us to stay updated with insights on Canada's startup landscape, innovation hubs, and what it takes to scale globally. ☞ www.startupgrowth.ca #StartupEcosystem #CanadianStartups #Innovation #VentureCapital #Founders #StartupCanada #TechTalent #Industry40 #Entrepreneurship #StartupGrowth