Government’s scaleup initiative gets techUK support

Trade association techUK is inviting over 100 companies from within its membership to join a newly created scaleup group that will feed into the government’s scaleup “policy sprint”.

The companies will act as a “focal point” for the trade association’s engagement with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The techUK scaleups are based across the whole UK, with the biggest concentration of them outside of London based in Bristol, Leeds, Reading, Birmingham and Oxford.

Last month Michelle Donelan, the tech secretary, outlined a goal to make the UK a “scaleup powerhouse”.

It came with several policies, including a scaleup forum that will see founders and investors provide industry expertise to Whitehall.

The government will also launch a scaleup support service pilot to provide targeted support to up to 20 high-potential businesses, which are yet to be made public.

Scaleups are high-growth businesses with average annualised growth greater than 20% per annum, over a three-year period, according to the OECD.

The 100 scaleups among techUK’s 1,000 members operate in areas including fintech, AI, cyber and data infrastructure, among others.

Other policy measures announced by DSIT include improving scaleup access to public data and a regulatory support service.

Listen: Scaleup powerhouse goals, chasing unicorns and immigration concerns – Tech Secretary Michelle Donelan