This savvy generation recognises that by basing a new business in the UK they can access consumers who tend to be early adopters, keen to test and try new innovations. With up to 500 million customers in Europe on their doorstep recognition is growing that the UK is one of the best places in the world to become a successful entrepreneur whether you're a US, Chinese, Brazilian or European national.
To reflect this increasing trend, UKTI has launched a pioneering new scheme - the Sirius Programme - that is designed to bring the world's brightest entrepreneurial talent to the UK. It enables the best graduates with innovative start-up ideas to launch their businesses here.
Successful applicants are offered a complete package to get their business off the ground in the UK. This includes a twelve month place on a business accelerator programme in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Birmingham, Newcastle or Sheffield. In addition, Sirius offers financial support of £12,000 per team member to be paid in regular instalments over 12 months as well as expert mentoring, specific help gaining clients and visa endorsement, if this is required.
Yet, being chosen to be part of the Sirius Programme isn't just a win for the individuals and teams. The selected applicants will help ensure that the UK continues to lead in inspirational start-ups and being the first to market with innovations. By starting and growing their business in the UK teams will ultimately help our economy to grow, boost productivity and create jobs and succeed in the global race.
The first successful applicants have already touched down in the UK and they are clear that they've made the right choice. Italian Paolo La Paglia is co-founder of Adverdose, which aims to reinvent digital advertising. He says: "We wanted to set up our business here in the UK as the bureaucracy is not as lengthy as in Italy and we think the English audience is more ready to adopt our platform than our Italian friends. Not having any support whilst you're getting established in a new country is what usually frightens entrepreneurs the most about going international, and so the Sirius Pull Quote Programme is a great solution."
Aside from the ease of setting up a new venture, the UK offers a skilled workforce too. Romanian Mihai Ciobanu and Brazilian Francisco Teixeira are the brains behind fresh4cast, which gives importers and exporters better management information so they can trade fruit and vegetables more effectively. Mihai comments: "There is a great talent pool in the UK and that is the foundation of any enterprise, small or large. Whatever your needs are, you can find exceptional people who are experts in that field. There are many high-caliber universities and postgraduate schools, and they are all making an active effort to increase their bonds with companies." He adds: "We love our adoptive country, and we hope our efforts will make it stronger still."
The UK's business and financial landscape has also proven appealing to Sirius applicants. Mihai goes on to say: "The business and financial ecosystem are solid. In particular for an early stage company, tax incentives like SEIS and EIS facilitate access to funding, while EMI, TSB and R&D relief encourage the right kind of growth. Government support is over and above anything you can expect. The Sirius programme and UKTI in general are always eager to help, genuinely trying to understand our needs and to put us in touch with the right people."
This support and inspiration is highlighted as a big advantage by the founders of iGBL (short for Interactive Game-based Learning), which helps professors and business instructors to use interactive tools and games for classroom teaching. The iGBL team is already working with their accelerator as part of the Sirius Programme. CEO Shubham Anand says: "It's so exciting for us to be surrounded by entrepreneurs, tech experts, educators and students from the UK and all over the world. Everyone we have met so far have been so inspiring and encouraging. The enthusiasm and support definitely drives us forward."
The UK's unique approach to fostering a start-up culture and the commitment to making funds available is rated highly by many of the new generation of worldwide entrepreneurs. Frenchman Alexis Garavel says: "There are many factors inherent to the UK that makes it attractive to tech start-ups. For example, the UK is the second largest VC and Angels network in the world after the Silicon Valley. Founding a start-up in the UK is therefore attractive as we are close to this network of investors."
Alexis also notes that: "Our business, SunEos, provides a fully integrated cashless payment system combined with e-wallet wristbands for any social event. There are more than 120 universities and 300 music festival here in the UK, which means it represents the most important and dynamic social scene in Europe, hence, our largest market. At the same time by basing our business in an English-speaking environment we're facilitating possible overseas expansion and giving ourselves international visibility."
SunEos is not the only tech start-up to have been selected to join the Sirius Programme. RingCaptcha is the brain-child of Argentinean entrepreneurs Mariano Fernandez, Nicolas Messina and Martin Cocaro, who want to revolutionise the mobile phone verification process globally. Mariano explains: "The Sirius Programme has become an enabler for us to make our vision into a reality. We saw an opportunity to thrive from the UK, since it is not only the world-wide telecommunications epicenter, but also one of the finest tech hubs in the world. For us, the UK is the right place to be at to achieve our global ambitions."
The Sirius Programme will soon start the search for more graduate entrepreneurs - like Mariano and his colleagues - who have a bright business idea and global ambitions. Teams of university graduates and post-graduates (who graduated in 2011 or later) are all eligible to enter from anywhere in the world. At least half of the team members should be from outside the UK.
The Sirius Programme is open for entries in and teams may register for more information through the Sirius Programme website: www.siriusprogramme.com.
