Jay Patani is an analyst at EC1 Capital, an early stage, based in London, the Web-oriented technology venture capital company. Send it to jay (at) ec1capital.com.
The British government was keen to defend the UK as a hub for technology and innovation. Announced in late 2013, the Future Fifty a selection of the best 50 high technology companies in the UK has to offer, is an initiative of government to create a "strong pipeline of IPOs British technology."
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Though the exact details remain unclear, Tech City said the companies in the program have access to a team of major investors, accounting firms and business leaders for advice and ongoing support.
appliances retailer AO global, one of the fifty future, was the first-past-the-post IPO with a valuation of £ 1.2 billion. More recently, a service order takeaway online Just Eat made an impressive £ 1.5bn debut on the new segment with strong growth in the London Stock Exchange. These are all signs of a healthy IPO queue forming at the gates of the London Stock Exchange.
The initial PR buzz surrounding the initiative disappeared simmer for light, but it is worth taking a look at the 50 companies and identify behaviors or emerging trends in the technology scene in the country.
dominates retail
The most popular business model among the 50 high-growth companies is perhaps no surprise e -Commerce. The thirst of the United Kingdom for Internet purchases is exposed in the fact that the UK spends more online per head than any other country (with Australia lagging in second place).
This online application expansion was extinguished by offering equally impressive British high-growth companies, which take a central place in the world of commerce.
flash Sales
A plethora of choices await ecommerce business today for monetization. Online homewares retailer Achica and package provider Travel Escapes secrets have used with flash sales success as a vehicle to attract consumers.
Go against conventional wisdom, both companies showed that Flash Sales has not wavered as lucrative business model; she simply changed. Instead of mass reductions Groupon mass style, both companies have chosen to focus on vertical applications and is particularly content carefully designed to enhance the user experience.
E-commerce meets experience
With consumers no longer satisfied with a shopping experience but fast online clinic , companies are now trying to blur the lines between the physical and virtual brand fashion aggregator, Lyst, is a case in point. Working with PayPal, the company has planned a deployment tag technology to provide real time information to users Lyst shop with participating retailers.
Another trend disrupt the era of purely friction shopping is social e-commerce. Future Member Fifty Green Man Gaming demonstrates providing a social platform for gamers in more than one market. The company also leverages the power of social data to drive its commercial decision, which distinguishes it from its competitors.
mode and Fintech
Future Fifty companies by vertical industry
in a breakdown of the industry of the Fifty Future, fashion and FinTech - probably the polar ends of the business spectrum - come out on top. A recent Accenture report reveals that over half of Europe FINTECH deals took place in the UK or Ireland. well-established financial institutions and the London infrastructure make it an environment plagued with financial innovation.
The eight members of the Fifty FINTECH Future are varied in the range of problems they address. Finance Peer-to-peer remains an asset in the UK with both Zopa and financing circle connecting lenders and borrowers online.
Directly contribution of £ 26 billion to the UK economy (Oxford Economics 2014), retail sales areas of fashion seven times on the Fifty Future list.
Why Online Fashion Industry UK prosper? The annual Fashion Week in London, new world-class talents of art schools and a healthy local appetite for the online shop all play a role. However, the risks taken by entrepreneurs in the early 2000s also have an important role in establishing a strong commercial precedent for the future success of fashion in the UK.
There are more than a decade in the era of the internet frustrating dial-up, Natalie Massenet was busy creating designer retailer Net-A-Porter, which can now be enjoyed as much as £ 2 billion.
Also launched in 2000, ASOS clothing retailer jumped into the global prominence in recent years. The company now has the reward of the most visited fashion website in the world among 18-34 year olds with over 30m unique visitors per month and £ 1 billion in revenue in 2013.
the future future Fifty
look further into the distance, it is useful to reflect on what a future decision of the future would look like Fifty Tech City matures. Despite the many strengths of the UK, there are some gaps in its technology directory. The country has not had a blockbuster hit along the lines of Facebook and Twitter.
The population of the USA (and therefore immediate market) dwarfs that of the United Kingdom by a factor of five, with the UK at an instant disadvantage when comes to all-important acquisition of the user. But perhaps the attitude of investors and appetite to change - to place a higher priority on technologies truly disruptive rather than instantly monetizable.
It is easy to forget that London is still finding its feet compared to Silicon Valley with its decades of experience in financing technology companies in the first phase of growth capital seeds at a later stage. In the years to come, the tap of the British risk capital needs to keep not only running, but also circulate uniformly to companies in different stages of their life cycle.
The UK needs its own Stanford
The contribution of Stanford University in the technology landscape States STATES is immense. The university based in California has been fertile ground for the founders of Google, Snapchat and Instagram among many other technology giants.
The UK certainly not lacking in world-class universities should emulate the US model and infuse the purely academic education with a taste for innovation and 'business spirit.
British universities have recently started catching on and are increasingly promoting entrepreneurship both within the program and outside school. Startup incubators University have recently pushed through the academic landscape of the UK, which enable students to develop and entrepreneurs commercialize their ideas.
spin-out company from the University of Oxford ISIS incubator, Natural Motion, notably acquired by games-maker Zynga for a major $ 527m in January.
Attracting talent
Major improvements must also be made to attract talent to growing companies. Many members of the technology community believe that a skills shortage is looming in the United Kingdom. To continue its growth, the technology ecosystem in the country should be a well oiled machine, sourcing the best talent from both abroad and locally.
First, the UK government should demystify and relax controls on the influx of technical talent. The Visa entrepreneur, allowing contractors overseas to move to the UK, is an important step in the right direction. However, the visa application process is still heavy with prohibitive barriers of red tape, time and social workers who can not adequately assess the situation of a long wait contractor.
Second, the UK needs a national education reform. Wealth creation resulting from the proliferation of digital businesses in the home of Tech City in East London has failed to create opportunities for a large part of its population.
Both youth unemployment and child poverty remain high in the region. Tech companies must show greater commitment to engage with local young people and informing them of career paths within digital industries.
Central London, a British think tank, is working to improve it with her Log Tech City campaign - a digital platform connecting youth with digital companies.
There are, however, no quick solution to a shortage of local skills. Schooling, from primary to secondary, needs to equip students with basic skills in digital literacy and encourage students to continue their studies in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.
The United Kingdom is undoubtedly Europe's successes technology. Fifty future are testimony to the country's capacity to promote innovation and the government's desire to support.
The next few years will be crucial to see how the ecosystem of technology evolves and unfolds.