London's Silicon Roundabout community doesn't seem to have a clue about China.
How can I say that? And why should it matter?
I'd been warned by startup investors, investment bankers, lawyers and accountants who swim in both China and U.K. entrepreneurial ponds not to expect tech city London to be all that mature. So when I attended a networking session at Google campus in the heart of London's gritty startup district, I wasn't expecting to be wowed.
Still, from my Silicon Valley and Startup Asia perspective, I have to admit I was shocked. Though the buzz was alive among this group of founders I met, their focus is on Europe - not exactly tech globe-trotters who can navigate startup clusters, absorbing the best ideas, talent and funding from each hub.
Yes, I know that London's innovation ecosystem is emerging, led by government incentives to get on the tech frontier and such initiatives as Dreamstake's MiniBar series for entrepreneurs, the soon-to-be opened garage-style incubator at Level 39 in Canary Wharf and the TechHub working space for new businesses. I also know that the service providers such as KPMG, Silicon Valley Bank and DLA Piper have become increasingly active in TechCityUK and opened outposts in Shoreditch, London's answer to Silicon Valley's Sand Hill Road, Beijing's Zhongguancun and Shanghai's Zhangjiang.
This is all welcome in the U.K., and will likely propel the market's venture and angel investment community to regain some oomph it had back in the dotcom days that I remember so well from my Red Herring days.
When I chatted with dozens of budding entrepreneurs at Silicon Roundabout, I found it hard to believe that most had never heard of China's best examples of tech startup success: Tencent and its jazzy social networking ap WeChat, e-commerce player Alibaba or its founder Jack Ma. That's true of even those entrepreneurs who have launched products in similar social networking and digital sectors. They look to Silicon Valley as the next tier, not yet (if ever) to the Far East.
Given the historical links and economic ties between the U.K. and China, the Silk Route tech trail should be more open and entrepreneurs could be more curious about what's going on in the world's fastest-growing economy, largest mobile and Internet market, and 2nd biggest venture capital pool in the world. Yet London-based entrepreneurs who are comfortable in both Chinese and European spheres such as Gareth Wong who has his own budding enterprise in GamBond are rare.
Granted, China has lost some of its lure due to shrinking valuations of listed Chinese companies, accounting scandals with reverse mergers, censorship, an economic slowdown, a venture capital shake-out and a drought of new listings, but let's not forget the big successes of this Internet era such as Baidu, SINA and Tencent that inspired hundreds more followers to start up. Or the globalization of Chinese tech brands Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo. More are coming as China moves up the innovation ladder to generate breakthrough ideas not just copies of something invented elsewhere.
It remains difficult to name a breakaway tech startup in the U.K. And many of Europe's once-active venture capitalists have stopped, although some angel investors have stepped in. Maybe the rain dampens the entrepreneurial spirit?
Will London produce a startup with disruptive technology that will set it apart like Google and Facebook have in Silicon Valley? Can tapping the Chinese marketplace for expansion or R&D be a good strategy for European startups? See China Could Prove the Tipping Point.
It's a little early to tell. We will be looking for answers with a team of worldly venture investors led by Hermann Hauser of Amadeus Capital Partners, game changers like Savio Kwan of Alibaba, innovative entrepreneurs such as Alexander Trewby of Hong Kong-based mobile tech service Enterproid and technologists who are speaking at Silicon Dragon London.
