Back in 2006, co-founders Reid Hoffman, Sherry Coutu CBE, and Ellen Levy felt compelled to fuel global tech entrepreneurship, where knowledge and investment at that point of time felt siloed within Silicon Valley.
And thus, Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK) was born.
Not-for-profit program
Silicon Valley comes to the UK (SVC2UK) is a not-for-profit program that exists to support entrepreneurs on their journey to scale by removing barriers and opening up the ecosystem. Generally, the annual summit takes place in November each year with prominent serial entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley visiting London, Cambridge, and Oxford.
2020 list unveiled
In this regard, Silicon Valley comes to the UK (SCV2UK) recently unveiled the list of high-growth technology businesses joining the 2020 ‘Scale Up Club’. In the list, over 50 companies have been named in the roster including companies in innovative and competitive sectors – urban (26%), life sciences (17%), and technology (17%).
Female entrepreneurs on roll
Notably, the companies led by female entrepreneurs also make up over a third of this year’s Scale Up Club list. The 2020 recruits from Silicon Valley comes to the UK (SCV2UK) join the alumni such as TransferWise and Skyscanner with 2019 newcomers including Elvie, Trouva, and The Drum.
Mentors list for 2020
Mentors lined up for Silicon Valley comes to the UK (SCV2UK) 2020 include David Hornik (August Capital), Rahul Vohra (Superhuman), Anthony Fletcher (Graze), Sahar Hashemi (Skinny Candy), Jenny Gove (Google), Sherry Coutu CBE (Founders4Schools) and Saul Klein (Local Globe). A series of workshops are delivered throughout the CEO Summit, mentoring Scale Up Club members to reach their growth potential.
A positive movement for gender equality in the workplace is gaining momentum. Thousands of women-owned businesses are popping up every day creating new jobs, strengthening their community, and of course bringing a positive influx in the local businesses.
Tania Boler, CEO and Founder, Elvie says, “My involvement with the SVC2UK community has played a fundamental role in my entrepreneurial journey. Over the years I’ve attended some amazing events as both a speaker and a Scale Up Club member and I’ve made incredible connections with inspirational business leaders in both the UK and US. SVC2UK has helped me to grow as a female founder alongside supporting the growth of Elvie to the point where I am now expanding into new markets in the US and China.”
As we mentioned above, female entrepreneurs also make up over a third of this year’s Silicon Valley comes to the UK (SCV2UK) Scale Up Club list. Let’s have a quick look at it:
Air Doctor
Founder: Efrat Sagi-Ofir & Jenny Cohen Derfler
Air Doctor is a developer of an online doctor marketplace designed to connect travellers to local practitioners while abroad. This platform offers customers a very intuitive and easy way to find a trusted and licensed doctor near you and schedule an immediate appointment.
Aparito
Founder: Dr Elin Haf Davies
Aparito provides wearable devices and disease-specific mobile apps to provide remote patient monitoring outside of the hospital environment. It delivers relevant, and real-time data between patients and clinicians in a way that actively supports and enhances diagnosis, treatment, and drug development.
Biorbyt Ltd
Founder: Qun Yang
Biorbyt Ltd. is an experienced online antibody and protein company dedicated to delivering high-quality scientific reagents. The company is on a mission to provide the best service to the global scientific community.
Circulor
Founder: Veera Johnson
Circulor provides enterprise software-as-a-service to monitor and track the provenance of raw materials in manufacturing and recycling supply chains.
ClearPeople
Founder: Katya Linossi
ClearPeople develops software and services tailored to the evolving modern digital workplace. The company has developed Atlas – the people-first digital workspace and it is used in 100 countries.
DebateMate
Founder: Margaret McCabe
DebateMate provides leadership and communication training across a wide variety of industry sectors.
Everledger
Founder: Leanne Kemp
Everledger is the digital technology company for supply chain traceability. The platform combines blockchain, the Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence to create a digital identity of an item’s origin, characteristics, and ownership. An ecosystem of trust is where all stakeholders within a network can collaborate through a trusted data protocol.
FilmChain
Founder: Irina Albita
FilmChain is the only automated, real-time fintech solution for the collection and distribution of revenues in film, TV, and digital. Based on Ethereum Blockchain, FilmChain provides an automated money flow, rights tracking, and performance insights.
Fiskl
Founder: Alina Lapusneanu
Fiskl is a mobile-first global SaaS platform enabling small businesses to manage their business finances and teams from anywhere. Fiskl supports 153 currencies, 60 invoice languages, and is used by customers in 120 countries.
Frohub
Founder: Rahel Tesfai
FroHub is an online booking marketplace for black hair and beauty. The company aims to reshape the hugely fragmented and under-served black hair industry.
HANX
Founder: Farah Kabir
HANX makes sexual wellness products that are kind to your body and the planet.
KoruKids
Founder: Rachel Carrell
Koru Kids is all about childcare services, starting with nannies in London. The company recruits, trains, matches and manages nannies — helping parents with one of the most difficult purchases of their lives.
MeeTwo Education Ltd
Founder: Kerstyn Comley
MeeTwo Education is a fully moderated app, which delivers peer support and expert help to teenagers aged 11 – 25.
Speechmatics
Founder: Katy Wigdahl
Speechmatics provides automatic speech recognition technologies that can be used anywhere, by anyone, in any language. The company’s speech recognition technology is used by enterprises in scenarios such as contact centres, CRM, consumer electronics, security, media & entertainment, and software.
Tiney
Founder: Stephanie Leung
As the second-largest childminding agency in the UK, Tiney is a trusted early years education platform that enables micro-entrepreneurs to deliver market-leading childcare from their homes. With a current shortfall of a million childcare places in the UK, Tiney increases the childcare and early education options for working parents creating a marketplace of high-quality childcare partner providers.
Voi
Founders: Carolina Hjelm
Voi is a Swedish micro-mobility company offering electric scooter sharing in partnership with cities and local communities.
Image credits: Silicon Valley Comes to the UK
