City Guide
London

From Big Smoke to Climate Hub: to understand the UK’s capital and leading city you first need to understand its boroughs and special authorities and get to know its first ever CDO.

Index

Welcome

Startup Investment

Top Startups

VCs

Procurement

Innovation Districts and Testbeds

Relevant Ecosystem Players

Related Guides

Support

From Big Smoke to Climate Hub.

To understand UK’s capital and leading city you need to understand its boroughs and special authorities.

London is a 'city' of sorts - The Greater London Authority (GLA) is a body that oversees the 33 local authorities and the City of London, including special responsibility for police, fire, strategic planning, and transport. However, the GLA has very little spending power which is why it is so important to understand the way in which London’s boroughs work.

Theo Blackwell was elected as London’s first Chief Digital Officer (CDO) in September 2017, to lead the London-wide digital transformation, data, and smart city initiatives at City Hall.

⛶ Click on the map to enlarge

Population: 8.8 Million

Source: UK Census 2021

GDP: $600+ Billion

Source: Office for National Statistics

City Partner
London & Partners

London & Partners is the business growth and destination agency for London. Its mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable, and inclusive.

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What topics does this guide cover?

Startup Investment and Climate Tech Startups

Explore the thriving startup investment scene in London, where venture capitalists actively seek opportunities to fund innovative startups in climate tech sectors. Discover the top startups in these domains that are addressing pressing environmental and urban challenges, and learn about the unicorns that have emerged as major players in the urban tech space.
Startups and Unicorns
Startup Investment
VCs

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Procurement

Gain insights into the procurement processes and strategies relevant to startups in London. Discover best practices for navigating supplier relationships, optimizing costs, and ensuring quality in procurement, all essential factors for startup success.
Tips on Procurement

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Infrastructure and Collaboration

Immerse yourself in London’s vibrant innovation districts, which provide specialized facilities, resources, and collaboration opportunities for startups. Learn about the unique advantages and testbeds available in London’s diverse boroughs.
Innovation Districts and Testbeds

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Ecosystem Players

Get acquainted with the diverse ecosystem players in London’s startup scene, such as incubators, accelerators, and ecosystem builders.

Relevant Ecosystem Players

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Startup investment.

In 2022 London’s tech startups raised $22.2B in funding with 13 new companies passing the $1B valuation mark.*

London continued to draw the vast majority of British VC investment attracting over 70% of total funding and is home to 102 of the UK’s 149 unicorns.*

London continues to be the global powerhouse for fintech investment, seeing more investment than the Bay Area and New York, and capturing 42% of total European fintech funding last year according to London & Partners.

London-based VC firms raised $9.1B in new funds in 2022. Notable new funds include a $1B fund by Northzone, a $650M fund by Atomico, and a $600M fund by Felix Capital. London also welcomed 12 first time funds including generalist Plural Platform, mobility focused Vektor Partners, and climate tech focused Clean Growth Fund.*

Over the years, the city has become a truly mature global technology capital being home to some of the world's best venture funds and ecosystems builders, providing cross-sector and cross stages funding, with multiple notable exits.

*Source: Dealroom

Climate tech investment in London.

There has also been an increase in VC investments in climate tech, especially over the last two years, contributing towards making the UK the 2nd strongest climate tech funding environment globally. UK climate startups captured the most funding across Europe, with London ranking as the third most active city.

#3
in Europe

London
$1.8B

#2
Stockholm
$2B

#1
Paris
$2.4B

Top 3 climate tech startups.

Builds technology that reduces the cost of energy to improve customer experience.

Octopus Energy

Manufacturer of electric delivery vans, buses, and passenger cars with outstanding design and climate impact focus.

Arrival

Developing next generation small modular nuclear reactors to generate safe, clean and sustainable energy for all.

Newcleo

Climate and impact focused VCs

Use the Airtable filters and sorting function to explore the table. Did we miss a VC? Suggest an addition here.

London is the unicorn capital of Europe, with nearly as many unicorns as the next four cities combined.

London's startup ecosystem is unrivaled in Europe, with a higher number of accelerators and venture capitalist firms than any other city on the continent. The dynamic community of VCs and accelerators in London provides a fertile ground for innovation, growth, and entrepreneurial success, making the city a hub for startup activity.

Tips on procurement.

Ecosystem Partner

London Office for Technology and Innovation (LOTI) helps boroughs work together to bring the best of digital and data innovation to improve public services and outcomes for Londoners.

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When selling your product or service to a London borough it is important to understand what they want from their suppliers.

Access to data and security is especially crucial to public authorities. To maintain that, LOTI has set up a document about tender wording for public authorities, which is worth reading as a potential supplier to understand the scope of the tender.

The biggest needs identified by LOTI are:

Access to their own and citizens’ data
A seamless user experience
Involvement in the product roadmap
Service level guarantees
Cyber secure by design

Common procurement challenges in London:

London’s market is fragmented - collaboration on procurement is still hard but you can break into the market piece by piece

There needs to be a greater dialogue between the borough’s digital and procurement teams
Boroughs need to change a lot about their behaviours to better engage the market
It is easier to enter the market with a product that supports novel service areas (e.g. citizen engagement / smart cities)
Central government and city innovation units are working together to help get good suppliers in front of boroughs

Innovation districts and testbeds.

Introducing the most exciting innovation hubs and districts in London for your business to grow.

The pandemic has been affecting start-up hubs around the world and London is no exception. In 2020 and 2021 we have seen a massive drawback in running physical start-up hubs. With Google announcing that it do not intend to reopen its campus in East London and Tech Hub closing its space at Silicon Roundabout in 2021, none could deny the change. Still, there are established hubs and innovation districts worth looking at when considering bringing your business to London. We have listed the most relevant.

For UK-wide innovation testbeds, follow this link.

International Quarter London

International Quarter London (IQL) in Stratford is a unique urban regeneration project in the capital. The mixed use plan includes spaces for work, green space, homes and retail. IQL’s vision is to become London’s most dynamic and innovative business neighbourhood, a destination where people and organizations come together to encourage creativity, promote curiosity and embrace change for good. The area is attracting all sorts of people and brands for challenges, e.g. the currently released Young Entrepreneurs Alliance. Furthermore, there are offices and co-working spaces available to rent.

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Smart Mobility Living Lab

Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) is a London-based real-world connected environment for testing and developing future transport and mobility solutions.
Its locations in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford provide a complex uncontrolled testing environment, interacting with live traffic and other road users. The testbed is designed to demonstrate and evaluate the use, performance, environmental impact, safety and benefits of connected and automated mobility technology and future transport services.

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Shift London

Shift is a dynamic, living testbed set in East London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Located in a 560-acre innovation park in the heart of London, it brings together thought leaders from academia, business and the local community. Their mission is to find practical answers to the most pressing questions of the day through collaboration and creativity to stimulate better urban futures for the sake of our cities and citizens. They aim to catalyze actions and innovation concerning climate change, well-being and social justice.

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The Knowledge Quarter

The Knowledge Quarter in London is a must-visit if you are a start-up working in the tech sector. It includes the area around King’s Cross and is home to many universities and research institutes. They aim to form a network of different organizations and stakeholders that come together to plan events and projects.
There are also many co-working opportunities. You will also find companies and institutions on the topic of digital innovation here, including Digital Catapult London which is situated in Kings Cross.

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East Bank

The innovation district at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will open this year, attracting a growing cluster businesses in commerce, technology, manufacturing, retail, education and the creative arts, all creating new job opportunities in the digital age. Besides creating a new campus for two universities, stakeholders like the BBC or V&A will bring music and arts into the area.
A centre for R&D by the UCL will surely contribute to accelerating the area’s innovation potential.

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