London’s Million Dollar Idea
London wants a high-tech makeover. Think Bangalore, San Francisco. The plan: A global competition, the Million Dollar Startup, to bring a high-growth technology company to the city. The prize: A million pound equity investment. The winner: The startup that shows the promise to scale up to a hundred million pound firm based in London. The other winner: London.
Because the successful company must be willing to relocate to London.
The £1 million is being sourced through a combination of angel funding, venture capitalists and equity crowd-funding. FSA-regulated investment platform Seedrs is managing this process.
The competition, run by Digital Shoreditch and supported by a host of other companies as well as the city’s ebullient Mayor, Boris Johnson, is hoping the million dollar carrot will be enough to lure high-tech firms to London from across the globe.
It is open for entries till August 29, 2013. The final round and the eventual winner will be announced in December, 2013.
(This story appears in the 12 July, 2013 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
