The UK has some of the most inventive founders, engineers, and product builders anywhere in the world. But too often, it’s faster and easier to find the money, mindset and momentum overseas than to spend months navigating slow, cautious pre-seed and seed processes at home.

Having just closed a multi-million-dollar round led by a US fund, I’ve seen both sides of the equation. The UK has the talent. The US, for now, has the tempo and mindset.

At its best, venture capital fuels possibility. It gives founders the freedom to experiment, the backing to take real risks, and the belief to scale new markets. The UK has every ingredient for that ecosystem to thrive. But if we want to keep our best startups here, we need to rethink what “venture” really means.

Match the speed of innovation

Founders move fast. Funding needs to match that pace. In startups, timing is everything. Deals that take months often miss their moment.

When we raised our latest round, the difference in velocity was striking. We closed our US-led round in 2.5 weeks with multiple term sheets (and not building an AI company!). It rarely took more than 24 hours from first introduction to meeting a partner, and diligence could be wrapped in under a fortnight. In the UK, folks would take over a week to get a meeting booked and even more weeks would pass between committee rounds and second guesses. The British funds generally couldn’t keep pace.

Speed signals conviction. It shows investors trust founders to lead. UK funds can close this gap by cutting process friction and moving faster.

Reward boldness, built upon proof

It’s reasonable to expect a bit of traction before writing a cheque. We were fortunate to have paying customers and a product in market. But British investors focused far more on forecasts and financials rather than on vision and potential.

That bias towards proof over conviction disadvantages exactly the kind of founders who could define new markets. If venture capital only backs what’s already proven, it stops being venture.

With Voop, we set out to build something genuinely different: a safe mobile network for children, where safeguarding happens at the network level, not through easily deleted apps. It’s privacy-first, tamper-resistant and designed to make digital independence safer for every child.

The UK could lead the world in digital safeguarding. We have world-class education systems, supportive regulation and a thriving parent movement demanding safer digital spaces for kids. But leadership requires belief alongside early evidence and bolder early bets.

If the UK wants to compete with Silicon Valley, it must celebrate ambition and stop treating venture like private equity. That means more early-stage conviction investing, not just following traction with later-stage cheques, and getting properly behind founders with deep, focused support.

Rethink incentives for long-term growth

Schemes like EIS and SEIS have channelled valuable capital into early-stage companies but they also shape investor behaviour. Too often, they encourage a short-term mindset: optimising for a quick tax rebate rather than genuine market-making risk.

It’s time to ask whether these schemes still drive innovation or simply tax efficiency. Likewise, founders should think carefully about optimising for EIS or SEIS money if those investors aren’t in it for the long haul.

The lack of a robust SAFE structure or culture in the UK also forces founders to price rounds earlier than they need to, giving up equity sooner and spending time on compliance engineering rather than building value. The US model, by contrast, lets founders build faster, protect ownership, and raise efficiently on conviction.

The opportunity ahead

The UK doesn’t need to lose its best founders to keep them ambitious. It just needs to evolve how it backs them. And while that shift takes time, founders can take steps of their own:

• Build international investor competition early; put a time limit on your round and drive momentum and FOMO. It changes the tone of every UK conversation
• Think globally from day one. If you plan to raise internationally, consider incorporating in the US via a Delaware C-corp and using SAFEs
• Don’t chase maybes. Time spent convincing cautious investors is time lost building traction elsewhere
• Show progress, not promises. Momentum is your best proof

If British investors can combine this nation’s exceptional talent with the speed, conviction and risk culture of their US peers, the next generation of world-class tech companies won’t need to leave. They’ll be built right here.

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