UK tech founders, investors and ecosystem leaders are reacting to the news that SVB UK will be bailed out by HSBC.
Andrew J. Scott
founding partner
7 VCs
“It was imperative that SVB UK depositors, a predominantly British tech startup, were protected not just for the startup ecosystem, but for the UK as a whole. The future of literally all of our lives is technology.The acquisition of SVB UK by HSBC means public money is being used to secure these start-ups. means no and many of the investors like us who back them will not go bankrupt which is a great result for UK plc.
Fred Destin
co-founder
Stride.VC
“SVB is the lungs of the innovation economy. We can do this in an amazing amount of time without spending a single dollar of taxpayer money.”
Samira Ann Qasim
pink salt ventures
“We have been on the alert for a crisis since Thursday, working with our portfolio companies to seek available capital, share resources and ensure our own exposure is limited,” said Dom Hallas. (Coadec) has been working tirelessly behind the scenes this weekend to bring the wider community together to share support, resources and take action.It was inspiring to watch.Currently raising funds. As emerging managers, we knew that alternatives could literally spell doom for us, from full-blown financial crises to loss of deposits to more contained tech crises, jeopardizing the sector. Resources must inevitably (and rightfully) flow into mission-critical companies and funds in order to survive.Early-stage investors and founders are at the top of the stack until the chaos is sorted out. Going down: Timing is everything in entrepreneurship and prolonged periods of inactivity and sluggishness can be the difference between success and failure.The stakes have never been higher What a relief that the best option has come true: Avoid Armageddon, let’s go back to the building.
toby mother
CEO & Co-Founder
Lingumi
“Very relieved and somewhat in awe of the speed and agility of the Treasury and the Bank of England over the weekend. It was a sign that, at a crucial time for us, we were able to step in to support the future of technology and economic growth in the UK. We can now go back to building, investing and innovating in technologies that improve the future of our economy, climate, health and education.
Sebastian Waite
CEO and Founder
UniversalQuantum.com
“We are a company developing quantum computers headquartered in the UK with over 40 employees. Most of our money was kept in SVB UK. Time has been a very stressful scramble to implement mitigation strategies to deal with the fallout.A big thank you to the UK Government and HSBC.If they don’t intervene this will be the UK It was a disaster for technology and disastrous for the UK’s long-term technological leadership prospects.
Rajeeb Dey MBEMore
CEO
learning
“SVB is an integral part of the global technology ecosystem. As their client and as a company with clients in many technology sectors, the impact of allowing SVB to fail would have been enormous. Without results, the UK tech sector would have been set back for years.The past 72 hours have been a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit and resilience of the UK.COADEC will coordinate efforts and support the technology sector. We’ve worked harder than ever to represent the needs.Investors have shared messages of support and reached out to support their portfolios.Entrepreneurs have spent the last 72 hours on Plans B, C or D. Depending on what happened, payroll, paying suppliers, staying alive – all these are major concerns for many in this field. Finally, the news of the HSBC acquisition caused the entire UK tech sector to breathe a sigh of relief, and I hope they will revamp their SVB app and online banking system as soon as possible (use SVB online Clients who have done it will feel my pain 🤣)
Kelly Baldwin
Managing Partner IQ Capital, Former BVCA Chairman
“This is a great result for our founders and the tech industry as a whole. BVCA will continue to work tirelessly to bring together VCs and their portfolio companies to explore the depth of the crisis and how they can work toward resolution with governments.” Proven and proven with data, great credit to the government, HSBC and the UK SVB team in delivering this so quickly to provide certainty for the UK tech sector.”
Casper Lee
co-founder
Influencer.com & Creator Ventures
“Over the weekend, I was surprised that some people held the depositors accountable and said they should have known better than to keep their money in a bank like SVB. It should be viewed as a complete disaster instead of the usual risk in the bank.It is completely misguided to blame startups here.Regulators will now see depositors in ‘small banks’ more strongly protected. should be done.
