UK trails US in terms of tech investment capital - minister

Ed Vaizey claims Silicon Valley has been re-created in the UK 'in a sense'

Government minister Ed Vaizey has said Silicon Valley has been re-created in the UK "in a sense", but that the country is still behind the US when it comes to access to capital and expertise.

Speaking at Salesforce's World Tour event in London this morning, Vaizey, the minister of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, told journalists that the UK has come on well in terms of technology investment in the past five years.

"When we talk about creating Silicon Valley in the UK, or even in Europe, in a sense, we've created it in the sense we have created the infrastructure and skills," he said.

"Where I think it is hard for government is that organic issue of the access to capital and expertise.

"What you find a lot in Silicon Valley is the people who have made significant sums of money from tech investments, and are therefore also highly experienced, are being able to invest their capital in start-ups. That is happening, I think, more and more in the UK and Europe, but to a certain extent, that will be organic.

"The situation most people you talk to will tell you [is that] the access to capital situation in Europe is far different to what it was five years ago. But I think it does still lag behind the US."

The government created the Tech City initiative in 2010, charged with helping technology start-ups and digital business to thrive.

Vaizey said although it is a "very good organisation", he wasn't so convinced at first.

"Originally when we set it up in 2010, I was a bit sceptical about what it could do," he said. "But actually I have obviously become a convert.

"It flags up the importance of the tech community to our economy and provides a very porous relationship with government so tech companies can raise their concerns and have a proper, ongoing dialogue with government about issues where we can bring in potential reforms. But also championing tech companies and helping them scale up and encouraging them to grow in the UK - they're all factors in which TechCity plays a huge role."