Developments

London is a melting pot of myriad industries – creative, finance, fashion and much more. The capital’s companies benefit from close proximity to other startups, and the ability to learn from people who have been there, done that.

Well-established and active networks thrive across the city, and many venture capital firms choose to call London home.

Activity here is underscored by large investments. Improbable, a platform through which third parties build vast virtual and simulated worlds, raised £388 million in May 2017, while Blockchain, a leading bitcoin platform, raised £31.5 million just a month later.

Fintech continues to grow fast too while Revolut, which raised £179 million in April 2018, already has nearly 2 million customers, and is signing over 6,000 more each day.

• Growing Underground – a farm 33 metres below the ground in Clapham – is producing 20,000kg of green vegetables every year. It supplies wholesalers, local restaurants and Londoners through Farmdrop, and is also stocked by Marks & Spencer. This is enabled through LED technology, which makes possible to grow plants without any natural light.

• Construction on Google’s new headquarters is expected to start in 2018. The 11-story, one million-square-foot building is near Kings Cross station. Combined with Google's current building and another property, it will create a campus of 7,000 Google staff members.

• Transport startup Citymapper has been granted permission to run its first commercial bus route in London. It is a significant step towards the company’s ambition to offer smart transport services, based on data collected through its journey-planning app. The ‘CM2 – Night Rider’ route operates at weekends between Aldgate East and Highbury and Islington.

Community perceptions survey findings

The Tech Nation 2018 Survey was conducted between January 2018 and February 2018, in partnership with Streetbees. This year’s survey received the largest response yet from members of the UK tech community. In a total of 3,428 submissions, people told us about the opportunities and challenges their local ecosystems face, and the digital tech leaders they admire. The majority of respondents (33%) were founders and CEOs.