In line with the increasing focus on technology start-ups, entrepreneurs based in India and across the world will soon be able to gauge their eligibility for the UK’s Unicorn Kingdom Pathfinder Awards for 2023 after Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch announced the global tech awards during the London Tech Week.
This comes as the UK breached the $1 trillion valuation for its tech sector, becoming the third country to do so after the United States and China. “During 2022, fast-growing UK tech companies raised near-record levels of funding at £24 billion,” Badenoch said, pointing out that some of the leading global tech companies such as DeepMind, Graphcore, and Darktrace are based in the UK.
The Pathfinder Awards for 2023, which will open later this year, will succeed the Tech Rocketship Awards, last held from 2016–2018. The announcement comes just days after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the country’s intentions to take the lead towards regulating artificial intelligence (AI) and for research as well as integration of safeguards.
Indian start-ups are expected to take advantage of the platform. According to Nasscom’s data from earlier this year, India has become the third largest tech start up ecosystem in the world, after the US and China.
“We all depend on the products and services that big tech companies provide in our daily lives, but smaller start-ups need competitive markets if they are to grow into the success stories of tomorrow,” Badenoch said.
In the last decade, the UK created 134 tech unicorns, and India added 23 unicorns in just 2022. In start-up parlance, a unicorn is one that’s valued at more than $1 billion. According to data by Venture Intelligence, some Indian unicorns include ed-tech platform Byju’s, food and grocery delivery app Swiggy, logistics company Delhivery, fintech Cred, and online gaming platform Dream11.
According to Ian Bowen Morris, deputy director at UK’s department for business and trade (DBT), the focus areas include education, clean tech and clean growth.
“Advancements in electrification and electric vehicles too, because we’ve got a very big commitment to reduce carbon emissions, and a very clear policy in terms of effectively banning petrol and diesel vehicles to make way for electric vehicles,” he told HT.
The latest numbers by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) suggests that India and UK have jointly invested over £330 million to fund more than 250 projects and bring together 220 lead institutions from the UK and India. The focus areas include AI, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience.
“We already have a very good track record of attracting Indian companies to invest in the UK as part of their global expansion plans,” Morris said. “We expect that to continue and if anything is to be accelerated in the technology and science areas, particularly with the emergence of some of these new technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence.”
The UK and India are founding members of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), which was launched in 2020. There are now 29 members, including the US, European Union and France.
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Harjinder Kang, UK’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia and who has been the chief negotiator for the free trade agreement (FTA), told HT that pieces are being put together to allow better synergy between the two countries.
“In the trade agreement, there’s typically a services chapter and a digital chapter. We’re trying to work on it to make sure it’s something that can help companies be able to collaborate across borders, rather than restrict trade or restrict collaboration,” he said. Kang believes health and fintech also offer a good scope for opportunities.
“What we actually gain from signing new trade deals and joining new trading blocs is forging new strategic partnerships that can spur collaboration, promote investment, and which encourage innovation, dynamism and creativity,” Badenoch said.
New age tech will continue to pose demands, including the likes of AI. “Particularly with the emergence of new technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, I believe the UK can benefit from a lot of the talent in Indian universities,” Morris said.
According to Nasscom, India added more than 1,300 start-ups last year, which takes the tally of active start-ups in the country to as high as 27,000. However, $18.2 billion in funding during the same period is 30% lower than in 2021. It is estimated that India will have more than 250 unicorns by 2025.
