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Scott White, CEO of Pragmatic Semiconductor<\/p>\n
<\/fbs-accordion>PragmatIC<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
There\u2019s nothing a politician likes better than a mantra – a phrase that can be repeated again and again until, possibly, thought becomes reality.<\/p>\n
And one of the latest mantras to trip off the tongues of U.K. government ministers is \u201cscience superpower.\u201d It\u2019s been around for a while. In 2021, former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said his government\u2019s aim was to restore Britain\u2019s place as a scientific superpower. More recently – at the end of 2023, to be precise – Finance Minister, Jeremy Hunt told members of parliament that his goal was to ensure the U.K. could rival Silicon Valley. This year, the Prime Minister reorganized the machinery of government and set up a Ministry for Science, Innovation and Technology. Naturally enough, startups and scaleups are expected to play a vital role in a flowering of commercially exploitable science.<\/p>\n
So how skeptical should we be? It\u2019s tempting to think of the science superpower agenda as a kind of figleaf for a government at a time when the wider economy isn\u2019t looking particularly healthy.<\/p>\n
That would be overly cynical. For one thing, the U.K. tech sector is performing pretty well. It continues to attract high levels of foreign and domestic VC cash. In the first half of 2022, \u00a314.7.7 billion<\/a> of VC capital flowed into Britain. And although investment dropped sharply to \u00a38 billion between July and December, the U.K. tech sector is still a magnetfor capital. Perhaps more importantly, it\u2019s important economically for the U.K. to ensure that it is not left behind in the commercial development of key technologies. So no one should argue with the ambition.<\/p>\n But as Science Minister George Freeman has acknowledged, Britain is not yet a science superpower but rather – in his words – a \u201cscience powerhouse.\u201d Achieving the former status would involve becoming an \u201cinnovation nation.\u201d Essentially what he meant was creating an environment in which scientific research could be successfully industrialized.<\/p>\n How can that be achieved? I spoke to two scaleup CEOs at the heart of the science and technology sector to get their take on the measures required to support their industries.<\/p>\n Scott White is CEO of Pragmatic Semiconductor<\/a>. Founded twelve years ago, it has developed a microchip technology that doesn\u2019t require silicon. Today, it produces low-cost and flexible chips that can be used in multiple contexts. Its business model revolves around manufacturing – with a facility in the North East of England – but also plans to offer compact manufacturing equipment to customers. In addition, it designs its own RFID chips for tracking goods in transit.<\/p>\n Pragmatic has just commissioned a poll of 250 technology business leaders. When asked whether the government could meet its objective of being a science superpower by 2030, a healthy 68 per cent yes but only 40 per cent thought enough government support was on offer.<\/p>\n Unbalanced Investment<\/strong><\/p>\n As White sees it, the UK\u2019s cash-rich ecosystem remains unbalanced, with much of the funding going to early-stage businesses, rather than scaleups. Most of the capital that is invested at later stages comes from overseas. \u201cWe did a Series C in 2021, 2022- that was for $125 million. Eighty per cent of the investment came from outside of the UK,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n So in that respect, there is a need for capital that will allow tech businesses to remain in the UK in terms of both location and control as they grow.<\/p>\n But what can the government actually do? Well, one way forward is to make it easier for institutions to invest. White welcomes changes to insurance industry regulation that will allow pension funds in particular to allocate money to tech.<\/p>\n He also acknowledges the progress made in providing public funding through the British Business Bank<\/a> and its venture arm, British Patient Capital<\/a>. In addition to investing alongside VCs, the organization has created Future Fund: Breakthrough, with \u00a3375 million earmarked for deep tech ventures. \u201cThat\u2019s good but the scale needs to be much bigger,\u201d says White.<\/p>\n Mostafa ElSayed, CEO and co-founder of Automata<\/p>\n <\/fbs-accordion>Automata<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Mostafa ElSayed agrees. He is CEO and co-founder of Automata<\/a>, a company that provides automation technology for laboratories, mainly in the life sciences sector. The company\u2019s products are designed to speed process such as diagnostics and clinical trials while cutting down on human error. He argues that some sectors are better served with others when capital is allocated by VCs, with deep tech having a particular problem. \u201cWe all talk about the importance of deep tech, but access to funding in the deep tech sector is hard.\u201d<\/p>\n