BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY
GAMBLE OR SMART CALL? SAM TORRANCE’S VERDICT ON US RYDER CUP TEAM P19 WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST 2023
ISSUE 4,038
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ENDANGERED?
TECH UNICORNS IN SHORT SUPPLY UK MINTS JUST ONE $1BN FIRM IN BLOW TO ‘UNICORN KINGDOM’ GOAL
CHARLIE CONCHIE AND JESS JONES THE UK has minted only one new billiondollar ‘unicorn’ firm so far this year, in a sign that the sharp decline in venture capital funding has hit the valuations of the country’s science and tech startups. Venture capital cash has dried up over the past 12 months as rising interest rates turned off the taps of free money that fuelled a decade-long boom in investment. Figures from investment analysis firm
Pitchbook show that the number of unicorns – private companies worth more than $1bn – created in the UK has plunged from an all-time peak of 10 last year to just one in the first six months of 2023. London-based AI outfit Quantexa is the only firm to fetch new unicorn status after raising $129m in April. The total number of active unicorns in the UK is currently 26 – one fewer than in 2022. Despite analysts betting on a stronger second half to the year for VC funding,
analysts at Pitchbook said the “tepid growth” of unicorns looked set to continue in both the UK and Europe. “We would expect such a decrease in the number of minted unicorns to continue given the pressures felt in the venture-growth stage following the exodus of investment this year ,” Navina Rajan, senior EMEA private capital analyst at Pitchbook, said. The downturn strikes a blow to Rishi Sunak’s ambition to turn the UK into a socalled tech hub or “Unicorn Kingdom”.
“Unicorns are a relevant metric in some sectors, mainly software. It’s perfectly valid to ask why we haven’t created more from the startups we have in that sector,” Henry Whorwood, head of research at investment data firm Beahurst, said. But as the UK pivots its focus on becoming a science superpower, Whorwood argued that unicorn creation was “the wrong metric for measuring the effective commercialisation of science” and not necessarily a good gauge of genuine scientific prowess.
FREE AND THAT’S AN ORDER
Amazon boss orders staff back to office LUCY KENNINGHAM AMAZON chief executive Andy Jassy has told workers “it’s probably not going to work out for [them]” if they don’t accept the company’s three-days-inthe-office mandate. “It’s past the time to disagree and commit,” Jassy reportedly said in a meeting last week, referred to internally as a 'fishbowl'. “And if you can’t disagree and commit, I also understand that, but it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week, and it’s not right for all of our teammates to be in three days a week and for people to refuse to do so.” Insider, which first reported the meeting, said it was held to reinforce the three-days-a-week policy and to express Jassy’s frustration at the significant number of staff who were not following the policy since it was introduced in May. “As a leadership team, we’ve decided that we will be better for customers and for our business being in the office," Jassy told employees, adding that the team was unimpressed with the firm’s results during the pandemic when remoteworking started. Jassy said he spoke with 80 other CEOs before advocating for a return to the office saying “virtually all” of them preferred in-office work.
MPs slam China’s role in new wind farm that could power over one million homes NICHOLAS EARL CONSERVATIVE MPs have criticised the role of a Chinese private investment group in a new mega offshore wind farm that could power over 1m homes. The Moray West offshore wind farm project, located off the coast of Scotland, is an upcoming 882MW
development, consisting of 60 turbines, with the potential to serve 1.33m homes. The project, which has been fully approved, is run as a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie, and is expected to generate power as soon as next year. While the turbines have been supplied by Siemens Gamesa, 80 per cent of the turbine’s monopiles (the
steel tubes driven into the seabed) are being supplied by Dajin Offshore Heavy Industry. Alicia Kearns (right), Conservative MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told City A.M. that the origins of components for renewable projects was a “key problem” for the UK
as it exposed “where strategic vulnerabilities lie”. “Our allies and partners around the world are facing similar issues when it comes to developing renewables and mitigating over-reliance on China,” she said. “This is why we need to be
securing partnerships with alternative manufacturers, like Taiwan, but also investing further down the supply chain in critical mineral extraction and refinement, so that the pool of renewable energy infrastructure suppliers can grow.” £ CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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