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Forbes.com - Tech Nation to cease operations - Comments needed

ended 02. February 2023

Forbes.com comment opp

Tech Nation is to wind down operations after losing its government grant (which has gone to Barclays Eagle Labs). The organisation has played a huge role in growing the UK tech sector in recent years. 

Forbe.com is looking for comment from entrepreneurs in the sector (or from other interested parties) about the impact of the closure.

What has Tech Nation contributed?
What impact will the decision to wind down have on the tech ecosystem?
What would you like to see Barclays Eagle Labs do to grow the sector?
 


 

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Rachel Hayward
MD at Ask the Chameleon
Saddened to read this news. Tech Nation was part of my business start-up journey and actually made referrals and introductions that WORKEd and contributed to the future of swap shop into the hookup.
Barclays Eagle Labs have huge shoes to fill - let's hope it rises to the occasion
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Danny Matthews
Branding Expert at Short Story Ventures
It's sad to see the news of TechNation winding down its operations but struggle to remain sympathetic to any organisation that after a decade, hasn't found a way to sustain its business model without public funding.

The winding down of TN coupled with the uncertainty of the UK economy will surely have an impact on the confidence of the recent founders they've helped, although ambitious tech founders are a resilient breed of entrepreneurs.

Eagle Labs being a Barclays Bank initiative, I would have liked to see them put their money where their mouth is in funding Eagle Labs themselves. We are far too heavily reliant on public money to put a band-aid on the problems rather than create meaningful behavior change in our economy. That being said, Eagle Labs' plan to help looks promising and I'll be watching with interest.
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Legend
Robert Bolohan
Co-Founder at Lotuly
It would be amazing to see Barclays Eagle Labs double down on the efforts to help small businesses scale and innovate from the ground up but on a larger scale. The UK needs a bigger presence in this area. The best-in-class experts they have should hand-pick businesses and help them grow even faster to avoid any more small businesses closing their doors.