Startup Coalition

We launched our Smart Data report today alongside the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. To celebrate we hosted a panel discussing what’s waiting to be unlocked in open finance with Minister for Smart Data Justin Madders, Luke Charters MP Co-Chair of the Fintech APPGand Director of Consumer and Competition Policy at DBT Sarah Adcock OBE. Thanks to our friends at Moneyhub for partnering with us - standing room only!

Today we've launched a new report with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change on how the Government should make Smart Data happen. With the upcoming Data (Use and Access) Bill, set to become law by Spring 2025, the UK has a unique opportunity to transform how data empowers consumers and businesses. This legislation can put people back in control of their data, driving growth, reducing energy bills, and even speeding up the house-buying process. But turning potential into reality requires action.  🔑 What is Smart Data? Today, regulated Smart Data exists in the form of Open Banking, which has 11 million UK users and is powered by a £4bn fintech ecosystem. But beyond this, startups across the UK are already powering "smart data" solutions, from connecting user energy data to help cut bills, to speeding up the property buying journey - but right now they face friction and cost. 📜 The Bill will expand the regulated framework, enabling secure and efficient data sharing across key sectors including: 1️⃣ Open Finance: Extend data sharing to savings, investments, pensions, and mortgages to boost financial inclusion and innovation.   2️⃣ Open Energy: Unlock smart meter data to lower household costs, support net zero goals, and promote sustainable practices.   3️⃣ Open Property: Transform the house-buying process by streamlining and digitalising data sharing.  🛠️ Making it Happen: The Government must adopt a mission-led, cross-departmental approach to unleash Smart Data’s full potential. With consumers at its core, Smart Data can drive innovation, improve public services, and modernize digital identity systems for both the public and private sectors.  💡 The Prize? £27bn in economic value. This is a call to action. We have the tools—let’s make sure they are used. You can read the full report below, alongside a blog post from Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's Alexander Iosad. We’ll be discussing this new report as part of our Making Open Finance Happen panel with Moneyhub later today - come along!

At the end of last week Innovate UK paused its Smart Grants programme - it said that the move was in part a response to "incredibly low" success rates, reportedly as low as 2%. Clearly, something is broken. Startup Coalition is encouraged that Innovate UK is taking the time to review the programme and ensure that support is properly targeted at - as Innovate UK puts it "businesses with genuine growth potential"; however, we think the issues run deeper. Fundamentally there are too many small pots of money dispersed across too many different bodies creating a maze of bureaucracy those with few resources must navigate. Today's report from the Lords Communications and Digital Committee agrees: There has been a proliferation of individual grants and programmes targeted towards scaleups, which are difficult for SMEs to navigate and apply for. This includes programmes run by UKRI, the British Business Bank and government departments. Government with these partners should get their heads together and figure out how best to consolidate these programmes to make them more strategic, more effective and less bureaucratic. We have thoughts on what this could look like but what do you think?

Next week we're bringing Fintechs to Westminster to discuss how to make Open Finance happen - come join us. We'll be joined by a stellar line up of experts, including the Smart Data Minister Justin Madders MP. Spaces are limited to sign up in the comments below. Thanks to Moneyhub for partnering with us.

The Government is reviewing the role of Ofgem. I'd like to hear the views of Startups. In case you missed it, the Government is gunning for growth, and is looking to the regulators to support the endeavour. As part of this, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is currently conducting a call for evidence until the end of February called: "Review of Ofgem". Yes, it's that broad. I want to hear from startups what they think of the energy regulator: 🏃 How fast is the regulatory approval process? Is it proportionate? Are they responsive? ⛱️ How good is the Ofgem Sandbox? Would love to hear first-hand experiences of firms that have gone through it. 🪴 Growth, growth, growth. What else could Ofgem do to ensure that the UK is the best place to start and scale an energy startup (+ what should it not do ++ where do we need something else from the Government...) I intend to run a virtual roundtable with firms on this in Feb - hit me up if you'd like to join. Otherwise, ping comments below or sling me an email.

Yesterday, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published a blueprint for a modern digital government. I attended the launch event - which had all the hallmarks of a product launch from pounding music to the SoS taking to the stage in a fetching shacket (photo below) to see what the Government has in store. It was fantastic to see Government harnessing the latest technology to transform how public servants work and how public services are delivered to the end-user: us. In the next few months we will start to see the beginning of that transformation with the roll-out of: 📱GOV.UK app: a portal to Government services 👛 GOV.UK wallet: giving you the option to keep key documents like your driving licence in a digital wallet 💬 GOV.UK chat: a chatbot to help navigate through 000s of pages of info and guidance held on gov.uk Most exciting of all for the Startup Coalition is a renewed focus from Government on how to ensure the best technology gets into government in the first place. It comes as no surprise that we at Startup Coalition have been spending a lot of time thinking about this and in the next few weeks will be publishing a new paper on fixing procurement. To be among the first to receive the report leave a comment below.

Dom Hallas: The Voice of UK Tech Startups 👀 This week's guest is Startup Coalition Executive Director, Dom Hallas 💼  Startup Coalition is a UK-based lobby group championing the interests of tech startups and founders. Dom brings his unique perspective on bridging the gap between government policy and entrepreneurial growth, offering a pragmatic look at the challenges and opportunities within the UK's venture landscape. Listen from 7am Wed, 22nd January 🎙🦄 #founder #ceo #businesstips #podcast #UKPublicpolicy #Startups

Imagine you had an idea for a startup. You may need software, or staff. But before this you need a bank account. Access to banking services is the most fundamental requirement for any startup, or indeed business of any kind. Without it you can't do much else. But unfortunately this is far from guaranteed for Crypto and Web3 startups. We had heard a wide range of anecdotal reports of startups in the sector routinely being denied a bank account. But we wanted to quantify it. So alongside the UK Cryptoasset Business Council (UKCBC) and Global Digital Finance we launched a survey to understand how widespread the problem was. The results are pretty stark: 🚨50% of firms faced bank account rejections or closures by major banks. 🚨Only 14% managed to keep accounts open after approval. 🚨81% see banking access issues as a major barrier to UK success. 🚨76% turned to riskier banks after being refused by high street options. 🚨A massive 70% are more likely to leave the UK due to these challenges. Today we've released the full findings in our 'Don't Bank On It' report (blame Startup Coalition, rather than our fellow organisations, for the title). You can find the link in the comments. The report shows the full scale of the problem. We also recommend three steps to allow the UK to tackle this issue: 🟢 Increased Transparency: Require banks to provide clear reasons for account closures or refusals, except in cases of national security: 🟢Regulatory Alignment: Align banking requirements with FCA’s rigorous registration process to ensure consistent standards, in line with international competitor jurisdictions. 🟢FCA Oversight: The FCA should collect and publish data on banking denials to assess the scale of the issue and protect businesses. We're pleased with the Government's recent announcements on moving Crypto and Web3 regulation forwards. The FCA roadmap, the Property (Digital Assets) Bill and the recent confirmation that staking for validation is excluded from Collective Investment Scheme rules are all positive steps. But even if we create the ideal regulatory environment for Crypto and Web3, if the startups that want to build in this sector are blocked at the first hurdle by either the big banks, FCA rules, or both, we will not see the UK become a world leader. We've released the report but we're not stopping there. If you're a startup, either in the Crypto and Web3 sector or any other, we want to hear from you. Get in touch with me to confidentially share your experience.

Thank you Startup Coalition and one of my absolute favourites Charlie Mercer for convening this roundtable with some of the leading lights in UK AgeTech. With Eastbourne being blessed with a large community of older folk, it was fantastic to hear about their care innovations - as well as what they’d feel the recipe would be for Eastbourne to become the UK’s AgeTech Silicon Valley. Lots of ideas to take away around procurement, access to finance, support for family carers and much more. Thank you to all the orgs in attendance for their time today, and for all the incredible innovations they’re driving!