London Tech Week 2024 snapshots: AI, semiconductor, deep tech, start-up and international collaboration across the … – DIGITIMES
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London Tech Week (LTW) 2024 held from June 10 to June 14 at the Olympia venue has come to a close, with the number of attendees tallied to be around 45,000, up from 30,000 last year according to Russ Shaw, the founder of Global Tech Advocates (GTA) and the founding partner of the annual tech event.
Shaw says despite having London in the expo’s name, they always aimed for LTW to be of global scope that just happens to take place in London.
DIGITIMES Asia‘s (DT) correspondent has spent a week kneedeep in the various events of LTW 2024, and the following are some highlights from each day of the expo that cover the full spectrum of UK’s foremost cutting-edge critical technologies with the potential to send ripples across the world.
Critical Technology and VC investments
DT’s coverage of LTW started with a closed-door seminar event away from the main spotlights of the grand opening. On June 10, at the Royal Society, international investors were gathered to receive a briefing on the progress of the critical tech sectors covered under the government-published 2023 UK Science and Technology Framework. The details of the organizers of this event and some of the identities of the official participants will not be disclosed due to the sensitivity of the UK’s pre-election laws.
The event mainly highlighted the UK’s critical sectors including semiconductors, AI, medical tech, and Quantum technology with a panel discussion amongst international VC firm operators sharing their respective success stories in the UK and beyond.
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Highlights:
Regarding how to build tech start-ups into success stories, Charlotte Bruce, the head of operations at Techstars, a 2006-founded pre-seed investing firm, with a portfolio of investments in over 3,800 companies says their textile value is that entrepreneurs and ideas can come from anywhere. But opportunity doesn’t necessarily exist everywhere. “In response, we’ve created our formula for opportunity. And that is capital combined with our accelerated programs plus connections equals opportunity”, she added.
Discussing the structure of NHS’s digital innovation, Luella Trickett, Executive Director of Medical Devices, Value and Access at the Association of British HealthTechIndustries (ABHI) said that, “National Health Service (NHS) is not one organization. If you’re bringing innovations to the UK, you really do need to understand the NHS. Now, there’s a lot of data that’s happening to try and get back data to where you’re most needed to improve, refine, and build the next generation of technology.”
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Live from Olympia
Vibrant interactions between foreign investors and start-ups around the world can be seen on the floor of Olympia.
Various start-up representatives from countries such as Japan, South Africa, Pakistan, and Palestine set up booths and showcased their emerging solutions, looking to attract investor interest.
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Kai Zenner, the Head of Office and Digital Policy Adviser for MEP Axel Voss (European People’s Party Group) in the European Parliament shared with DIGITIMES Asia about the drawbacks of EU’s AI Act and what he hopes to see in the AI regulation worldwide.
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Pragmatic founder David Moore discussed Britain’s role in the global semiconductor ecosystem during a keynote talk.
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Day 3
Digital Catapult (DC) works with startups, industries, investors, the public sector, and academia to accelerate the adoption of new and emerging technologies, and to drive regional, national, and international growth for UK businesses across the economy.
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DC directors talked about how they foster innovations that could help strengthen supply chain resilience.
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A panel discussion amongst the AI startups DC cultivated discussing how AI helps optimize future supply chains.
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Day 4
Semiconductor-focused accelerator SiliconCatalyst.UK worked with start-up chip companies at ChipStart UK, a UK government-funded semiconductor startup incubator. The progress of Cohort 1 and 2 was presented on June 13 at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall.
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Various high-profile chip firms provided bespoke chip design tools, commercial expertise, and access to a network of specialist mentors and technology experts to these up-and-coming cohorts of companies.
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Cohort 1
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Cohort 2
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Former UMC CEO, Shih-Wei Sun announced the launch of SiCatalystVC.com, a VC arm of SiliconCatalyst.UK.
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An overview of all the major semiconductor investment deals in the UK of the past two decades.
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