Silicon Catalyst.UK reposted this
Managing Partner Silicon Catalyst.UK | Cascoda Chairman | Contribution to industry award '22
🇺🇸 Timely and relevant insight Russell Haggar from a country which has produced 6 new $trillion companies, one of which is a semiconductor company that is the most valuable company in the world 🇬🇧 The huge difference between the UK and US economies is the huge gaping hole that we have with the lack of a mature scaling deep tech sector (as articulated by the super smart experience of Stan Boland ) 🇪🇺 The EU commission has woken up to this gap by recognising that one of the missing ingredients is LP’s (Limited Partners provide their money into VC funds). I quote from the head of EIC who I met this morning “Investing in deep tech is not an option, it is a necessity!” Silicon Catalyst #ChipStartUk #ChiostartEU #Semiconductors #Startups #Scaleups
Less a post; more a thought piece. If you're interested in the dynamic of the #UK #hardtech sector, and its potential, this might be relevant. I'm typing this on a plane while returning from what Brits call "Silicon Valley", but which locals know as the Bay Area. As always, I'm bringing back to Blighty a suitcase-worth of US tech-sector #energy, fizzing away inside my head. We've been at RISC-V International's annual summit, and we've had a really great week. I've been visiting the West Coast for 30 years, but I had the privilege of sharing this trip with my VyperCore co-founder, on his first trip to California. Seeing this area through his eyes has really put the difference, and connection, between the US and the UK tech sectors into some perspective. #Proximity: I'd forgotten the awe of driving around the area, seeing every single tech name you can think of emblazoned on huge buildings everywhere you go - I'd been taking it for granted. These are buildings where things get done, stuffed full of hands-on teams and decision makers. We were able to leave the #RISCVsummit and get to a customer meeting within 15 minutes, have a high-octane discussion, and be back on our booth before we knew it, having set in motion some big new activities. Does the UK have this critical mass? Is it concentrated enough into a single geography? Could it get to this? #Engineering #First: Senior engineers know their businesses and their markets well. They design to customer needs, using best-in-class talent but also drawing on years/decades of experience. This #innovation community is led by engineers who've lived and breathed their sector for decades. That experience is vital, and brings important perspective. This is not necessarily a science-led sector, yet it brings huge economic rewards again and again. University-led innovation is not automatically the beating heart of this area. #Excitement: This community is excited about what it can do, and has the freedom to innovate and to build. It is confident about its abilities. It is supported by commercial and investment functions that understand the opportunities and how to deliver them. Investors are less focussed on short-term KPIs and the risk of things going wrong than on the upside if everything falls into place. The potential to change an industry lurks on every block. How relevant is this to the #UK #semiconductor sector? Well, the number of British accents at the RISC-V summit was remarkable. Many have lived in the Bay for over twenty years, and many more travelled over just for the week. The US sector is diverse and only cares about talent. Brits easily comprise the largest European grouping, by a country mile. UK-based companies can tap into this, and use it to build up the UK scene. We have strengths, ideas and engineering talent that are world class. We need confidence to match that. I would love to see this sector supported further - it will drive the economy and society in so many ways.