As someone who developed a technology that’s powered more than 500m smart devices sold around the world, I know a thing or two about building an impactful tech business from Europe.
I launched my natural language startup Evi in Cambridge in 2005 and sold it seven years later to Amazon, where we used what we’d developed to create the Alexa voice assistant. While a US big tech bought the company, it maintained its presence in the UK — a market that remains a brilliant place to build hard technology.
Today, with global uncertainties and growing regulatory differences emerging between the US and Europe, a lot of tech entrepreneurs are arguing that relocating their operations to the US is a necessity for scaling their companies.
When launching my latest startup Unlikely AI, I considered basing it in New York or San Francisco. Both are indisputably dynamic tech hubs, yet I chose to found and scale the company out of the UK, maintaining operations between London and Cambridge.
This decision was not out of necessity, but a deliberate choice to leverage what the UK offers to companies ready for serious expansion. Despite political shifts, I still stand by this decision.
Donald Trump’s recent election victory, coupled with the UK government’s shift towards a higher-tax environment for businesses and investors, will likely deepen this debate — but these political shifts don’t change some key fundamentals.
While the US has long led in startup success stories and remains unmatched in terms of depth of available venture capital, assumptions that Europe — and the UK in particular — lacks potential for high-growth tech companies are outdated. This is particularly true for specific sectors, such as for more sensitive AI applications in sectors such as healthcare, law, finance and insurance, as well as for companies targeting global expansion.
Amid shifting global dynamics, the UK provides a unique environment with advantages for companies looking to expand. Its deep talent pool and gateway to global markets make it an increasingly appealing base for high-growth tech firms.
Access to capital
And, while the US has significantly more venture capital, London remains one of the world’s top financial centres with a growing VC market.
In 2008, I struggled to find even a handful of venture capital firms willing to invest in the UK at that early stage. Today, I have a spreadsheet with hundreds of potential sources, with many more likely missing.
The surge in interest for scale-up investments in fintech, AI and quantum computing underscores London’s established dominance in the financial ecosystem. This trend is supported by large investment rounds into companies such as Wayve this year, and strong recognition among political and business leaders of the need to maintain robust investment.
Talent
A key aspect of successfully scaling a tech company is attracting and retaining top talent, which includes using domestic talent pools but also attracting international employees willing to either relocate or report to your HQ from abroad.
Except for some specific sectors, it’s hard to argue that lack of talent is a compelling reason to ignore the UK. Cities such as Cambridge, a world-class hub for tech and life sciences, offer unique advantages for companies ready to grow.
I saw this first-hand through my first venture, Evi, which was able to leverage local resources and talent and eventually evolve into Amazon Alexa.
The UK’s world-leading universities are not only a major source of top talent but also offer access to academic partnerships, local funding sources and highly supportive ecosystems that can be used as a platform to launch globally. On the financial side, the cost of accessing highly specialised and IP-heavy innovation ecosystems is typically lower than in the US, which can have a substantial impact on a growing company’s budget, especially when R&D tax credits are also considered.
Well placed
Zooming out, the UK’s strategic location makes it an ideal base for scaling companies aiming to expand internationally.
Even after Brexit, the UK remains a strong gateway to Europe, with a regulatory and trade environment that enables faster, simpler access to the continent. For companies looking to scale up, this proximity to Europe’s diverse markets provides a significant logistical and cost advantage over a US-based approach.
Looking even further afield, it’s also easier to access and manage relationships with key investor networks across Asia and Africa out of Europe, and this advantage has the potential to grow given current political shifts in the US. To name just one example, investments from Gulf countries into European startups jumped 5x between 2018 and 2023.
The UK’s stable regulatory and legal environment is well-suited to companies in growth mode, balancing innovation with practical oversight. Unlike the US, where regulatory frameworks can vary by state and present legal complexity, the UK’s straightforward and consistent legal landscape enables companies to focus on scaling without frequent legal distractions.
This stability is particularly advantageous for companies dealing with data privacy, intellectual property, and compliance — which are areas of huge potential, especially for cutting-edge AI applications.
Finally, our goal shouldn’t be to pit markets against each other. High-growth companies increasingly have a presence across markets. Post-Covid, far fewer investors are geographically ring-fenced and a lot of talent is open to remote work or relocating to wherever their expertise will be the most impactful.
In the face of growing isolationism in global politics, deepening ties between these generally compatible markets needs to be our number one priority.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/amazon-alexa-uk-startup/
