British Technology Entrepreneurs Reception at 10 Downing Street

Whichit was cordially invited to 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to join like-minded technology entrepreneurs at the British Technology Entrepreneurs Reception.

Heading the VIP guest list was Jack Ma, founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group. Other distinguished guests included Rohan Silva, former Senior Policy Advisor to David Cameron turned entrepreneur and Eileen Burbidge, one of London’s most influential venture capitalists. Other successful entrepreneurs who created some of the UK’s most successful technology companies such as Moshi Monsters, Graze, CityMapper and CarThrottle attended the reception too.

Jack Ma, the business magnate and philanthropist, announced that he joined a panel of business figures advising Mr David Cameron on business matters. The announcement of his new position, came the day before a four-day state visit to Britain by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Our founder and CEO, Jonathan Gan had the honour of meeting Mr Ma and speaking to him briefly, showcasing Whichit to the founder of China’s own Google, Amazon and eBay rolled into one, getting some sound business advice in the process.

This is not the first time Whichit has been invited to Downing Street, in fact is the third time that we´ve had the honor and hopefully we will be returning there again soon.

Innovate UK 2014 | Why I Chose The UK To Internationalise My Business

This week lays host to the UK’s leading innovation event, Innovate UK 2014. Bringing together an audience of more than 2000 people over two days and putting them in front of 200 world’s leading speakers to discuss ways to help grow your business, covering vital funding, support and presenting a vast amount of high powered connections. With attendees from research base, to government, business, as well as UK and international investors from 30 overseas markets, this really is the best event dedicated to networking with leading innovators.

Whichit’s CEO Jonathan Gan joined a panel of successful entrepreneurs to discuss why the UK is the best location to internationalize your business. The UK is currently located at the top of the list as the world’s leading location to both set up and grow a business. It provides the much required direct access to the European market, built up of the international environs of over 830 million people. 

In the 40 minutes, a creative discussion took place between these industry leaders, bringing forth thoughts on the advantages of the UK market over others, the types of support you can receive here as well as the money oriented challenges you may face and the reasons why London is the economical hotspot of the United Kingdom, leading more businesses here over any other mainland locations.  

Jonathan Gan discussed how the UK is the world leader in eCommence, which is the sector that Whichit belongs to, as it is located at the center of the interaction between finance and business, making it the hotspot for brand and financial growth. Furthermore, with the cultural variety the UK holds, it allows for fast growth, as you can target a strongly diverse group of people in a small geographical space. For those you cannot directly reach, it is located within such a time zone that it allows for international contact within the business working hours.

All this came together to pin point what the UK holds in terms of leverage to help further expand your business. Programs created by the UK government, such as the Sirius Programme, combined with the startup support activities of Innovation Warehouse and the Accelerator Academy, provide startups the ultimate environment to take your idea to the next level.

Whichit Founders at Innovate UK 2014

The sector was Chaired by Philip Salter, Director of The Entrepreneurs Network, the panel was made up of Dmitry Aksenov, Chief Executive Officer, FinGenius, Tim Brown, Founder, Three over Seven, Greg Fitzgerald, Carbon Analytics, Henrique Olifiers, Co-founder, Bossa Studio and our very own Jonathan Gan, CEO of Whichit.

Click here to see a video of the full discussion