Sadiq Khan begins drive to keep London as Europe's startup capital despite Brexit

The mayor of London looks to entice startups with funding as competition from France hots up

Sadiq Khan's relationship with startups has been mixed, with Uber's licensed revoked in September (PA)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced a new programme of investment days for London startups, as he tries to maintain the UK’s position as a European hub for young tech companies.

The UK national trade body for early stage companies will help run 20 investment days in London over the next four years, offering coaching and connections to potential investors, alongside £564,028 in funding.

In the wake of the Brexit vote other cities are making greater plays to attract entrepreneurs. French President Emmanuel Macron has called to make his country “a startup nation,” while local billionaire Xavier Niel has spent €250m (£222m) to transform a former Parisian freight station into a 34,000-square-metre (366,000-square-foot) startup campus containing 3,000 desks for rent.

The Mayor’s latest announcement comes almost a year after he launched a £7m fund to give the city’s younger population access to jobs in the tech industry. Mr Khan has also recently appointed the city’s first ever chief digital officer, Theo Blackwell.

“Since I became Mayor, the capital has attracted significant investment from the biggest players in this sector – Google, Facebook and Apple, to name just three," Khan said in a statement. "This is a clear sign London is open for business."

In a February survey of 940 startup executives in the UK and other nations, one in 10 said they were considering shifting their headquarters onto the continent, with Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam often talked about as potential homes for future bases.

Meanwhile, the message to overseas tech companies operating in London has been mixed. Uber, the world’s largest startup, is appealing a decision by London transport regulator -- led by Mr Khan -- to revoke the car service’s license.

Last year, Facebook said it planned to increase its UK headcount by 50 per cent. Snap has also named London its international hub and Alphabet’s Google plans to expand to accommodate as many as 3,000 additional staff there.

“As Mayor, I’m quite clear if we’re to safeguard our competitiveness and our reputation for cutting edge innovation moving forward, we must stay true to our open and outlooking traditions," Mr Khan said at a Wired Live conference Thursday.

Bloomberg