Founders Factory named the UK’s top startup hub
Founders Factory, the London-based Venture Studio and early-stage investor, has been named the UK’s number one startup hub by the Financial Times, in its latest European Startup Hubs ranking. The FT-Statista report also sees Founders Factory ranked among its top five European startup hubs for the second year running.
Launched by Brent Hoberman and Henry Lane Fox, Founders Factory has quickly established itself as one of the UK’s most active early stage investors. Since 2015, they have invested in over 300 startups globally across a number of sectors. Key UK successes to date include innovative mortgage provider Tembo, e-book subscription Perlego, e-commerce aggregator Shop Circle, pet-sitting marketplace TrustedHousesitters, and AI modelling platform for engineers Monolith. Their global portfolio has gone on to raise over $1 billion in follow-on funding.
Henry Lane Fox, CEO and Co-Founder of Founders Factory: “When we started Founders Factory, we sought to find the unique recipe behind startup success through a combination of unrivalled operational support and unlocking unfair advantage through corporate collaboration. Being named the UK’s top startup hub is great recognition for what we’ve achieved so far, particularly evident in the compounding success of our portfolio, as well as the role we hope to continue to play in cementing the UK’s reputation as a global destination for founders.”
Founders Factory’s approach sees them partnering with category-defining corporates, like Aviva and Rio Tinto, to offer outsized strategic advantage to startups, such as senior leadership access and commercial opportunities.
The UK is the world’s third most valuable startup ecosystem (according to Dealroom). The UK government has recently announced ambitions to cement the UK as Europe’s Silicon Valley, cementing its reputation as a global leader in a range of industries, from AI to fintech to clean energy. The FT European Startup Hubs report will come as a welcome sign, with 29 startup hubs from the UK represented across the entire ranking.
Baroness Poppy Gustafsson OBE, Minister for Investment: “The UK is one of the best destinations in the world to invest, so I’m delighted that Founders Factory has been recognised as the UK’s top startup hub. We want the UK to create the next generation of world class businesses who can benefit from our strong science and technology base and tax reliefs like the Enterprise Investment Scheme. From startup to scaleup, this government is backing businesses at every stage of their journey.”
The Financial Times’ European Startup Hubs ranking, published jointly with Statista and Sifted, lists the top 150 incubator and accelerator programmes across Europe. The rankings take into account alumni assessments, recommendations from startups and entrepreneurs, and overall portfolio performance, among other criteria.
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