YSYS Community Consultation Summary: An Ecosystem Perspective and HMT’s Treasury Connect at Bloomberg UK
Happy New Year All.
At YSYS we are committed to actively ensuring diverse founders, talent and investors have increased opportunities within the UK startup ecosystem. This month we kicked off YSYS Community Consultation with the aim to work alongside our community to further understand how we can shape a more accessible startup ecosystem, where diverse voices are at the forefront.
We are excited to share that we have now wrapped up Phase One of the Community Consultation. Here is what we learned and done so far:
Phase One: An Ecosystem Perspective
Over the course of January, we arranged one-to-ones with YSYS Members and Partners, to gather insights into how the startup ecosystem can further support diverse founders, talent, and investors. along their journey. We identified the following areas:
Founders Perspective:
- Unlocking peer-to-peer learning circles: Founders are looking for intimate spaces to have deeper conversations which (1) holds them accountable (2) helps them navigate challenging business decisions (3) offers ongoing support beyond the pre-seed stage and (4) doubles down on niche topics across company building.
Lottana Ezeike, Serial Entrepreneur: “As an ecosystem, we need to get into the granular detail about how to launch a startup and scale. This knowledge needs to come from founders who are on the same path as us or just a few steps ahead and have managed to overcome similar hurdles which we are facing.
Investor Perspective:
- Access to diverse dealflow and portfolio support: Investors are looking for (1) diverse dealflow (2) early access to investment opportunities (3) practical D&I resources to support their portfolio and (4) opportunities to learn from other like-minded investors on their D&I approach.
Cyril Lutterodt, MD, Black Seed “Diverse founders are building the future. As investors, our role is to find the next unicorn. How great would it be if we backed the next unicorn founded by a woman — a person of colour — a founder who demonstrates resilience and grit — this is a pipeline we cannot miss out on!”
Talent Perspective:
- Exposure to intersectional career opportunities: Talent is looking for (1) exposure to tech and non-technical opportunities at startups (2) support navigating toxic workplaces and (3) ways to level up within their career.
Augustina Adjei, Junior Software Technology Manager: “We need to improve diversity in startups. There’s not enough education for marginalised groups on how to join, form or navigate a career in the startup world. We need to break out of the boys club mentality and create more space for the thinkers and doers from all backgrounds.”
Phase One continued: Influencing Government: DCMS And Treasury Connect
As part of our commitments, we shared our insights, informed by YSYS Community at both the DCMS Digital Economy Council and TSCD Advisory Council, where we discussed how the government can boost private sector investment into startups and scaleups, and address the emerging skills shortage in tech across the UK.
Later in January, we were invited to HMT’s Treasury Connect at Bloomberg UK to provide insights on how to make the UK tech ecosystem a scaleup superpower, where we heard from Jeremy Hunt Michelle Donelan, and Grant Shapps on their ideas for the tech sector in the UK across emerging technologies, innovation, investment, regulation, and skills.
Following the opening remarks we attended a roundtable with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Secretary of State Grant Shapps and Sahar Hashemi OBE on unlocking the UK’s potential support for startups and scaleups, sharing our community perspective, challenges and opportunities.
Thank you to everyone who contributed and shared their insights for Phase One of YSYS Community Consultation, we are now bringing it to a close as we prepare for Phase Two where we’ll be focusing on bringing together our community IRL and online to foster deeper conversation around our next direction.
On Wednesday 8th February, 9:30 am – 11 am we’ll be hosting a YSYS Community Roundtable at Huckletree Shoreditch — to register please sign up below. We’re excited to hear from you and learn how we can build a better tomorrow. RSVP HERE
If you would like to get involved and host one of these meetings, please email deborah@thisisysys.com.
