£1bn Startup Fund Essential to Change Status Quo
National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts has asked for a £1bn venture capital fund for high-tech startups to be created by the government. In addition, it has asked for pubic lending to ensure the construction of the next generation broadband infrastructure – estimated at £15bn.
A brilliant idea.
So far most of the emergency spending has been to bail out the existing, stale financial institutions. Fundamentally, none of the £500 billion set aside will do anything to change the economy of the UK in the future, as the money has been put in place to preseve the status quo in a sector that has proved to be broken.
Creating a venture fund is truly investing in our future. Why can’t we create the next Google right here? Private investment is traditionally difficult to obtain in the UK, compared to the more fluid market in the US. This is especially true now as lending to small businesses comes at an increasing price and private equity is being switched to low-risk investments.
The amounts being talked about are tiny: just 0.2% of the funds made available to keep the banks doing what they do.
So, Darling, forget public works which we all know won’t get off the ground and create significant jobs until the recession is a distant memory. Instead create a venture fund with deep pockets which will create high quality jobs now and set the UK up to be a leader when recession ends.
Read more in the Guardian:
UK urged to innovate out of a recession with $1.5bn startup fund | Media | guardian.co.uk.
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