UK tech founders, investors and ecosystem leaders have reacted to news of HSBC’s bailout of SVB UK.

Additionally, many startup founders and investors have pointed to the groundwork being done by industry body Coadec, which is currently fundraising to continue its work.

Andrew J Scott
founding partner
7pc CV

“It was essential that SVB UK applicants, who were overwhelmingly UK tech startups, were protected, not just for the startup ecosystem, but for the UK as a whole. Many of these companies are developing technologies that represent the future of the UK economy. The future of literally everything in our lives is technology. HSBC buying SVB UK means no public money has been used to ensure these startups, and many of the investors like us who support them, don’t go bankrupt. This is an excellent result for UK plc.

Fred Destiny
Co-founder
Stride.VC

“SVB is the lifeblood of the innovation economy. We were looking at emergency loans and months ahead for a number of our founders who couldn’t make payroll. Now we can go back to building. It happened without spending a penny of taxpayers’ money and in remarkable time.

Samira Ann Qassem
Pink salt companies

“We have been on crisis alert since Thursday, working with portfolio companies to draw on their available capital, sharing resources and ensuring our own exposure is limited. Dom Hallas (of Coadec) has been working tirelessly over the weekend behind the scenes to keep the momentum going with the government, while the wider community has come together to share support, resources and take action . It was inspiring to see. As emerging managers currently raising money, we knew the alternatives could literally spell loss for us. From the prospect of a full-scale financial crisis, to a loss of deposits, to a more contained tech crisis, resources should inevitably (and rightly) be channeled into mission-critical businesses and funds to sustain the sector afloat. Early investors and founders would go to the bottom of the pile until the mess was settled. In entrepreneurship, timing is everything, prolonged periods of inactivity and slowness can mean the difference between success and failure. The stakes couldn’t have been higher, what a huge relief that the best option got through. Armageddon avoided, let’s resume construction.

Toby Mather
CEO & co-founder
Linumi

“Hugely relieved and somewhat impressed with the speed and agility of the Treasury and the Bank of England over the weekend. It was a sign that Hunt could put his money where it belonged, as a “former entrepreneur” (in edtech, no less!), and stepping in to support the future of UK tech and economic growth at a critical time for the ecosystem. Now we can all start building, investing and innovating again in technologies that will improve the future of our economy, climate, health and education.

Sebastien Weidt
CEO and Ce-founder
universalquantum.com

“We are a UK-based company developing quantum computers with over 40 employees. Most of our money was locked away at SVB UK. The last 48-72 hours have been incredibly stressful to put in place mitigation strategies to deal with the fallout. Many thanks to the UK Government and HSBC. Had they not intervened, it would have been a disaster for UK tech and the prospects for longer-term tech leadership for the UK.

Rajeeb Dey MBE
CEO
Learning

“SVB is an integral part of the global technology ecosystem. As a client of their company and also a company that has many clients in the technology sector, the repercussions of SVB’s failure would have been colossal. The tech sector in the UK would have been in the dark for years if a positive result had not been achieved. The past 72 hours have been a testament to UK entrepreneurship and resilience. COADEC has gone above and beyond to coordinate efforts and represent the needs of the tech sector, investors have stepped up to share messages of support and reach out to support their portfolios and entrepreneurs have worked tirelessly over the past 72 hours to create a Plan B, C or D depending on what happened. Doing payroll, paying vendors, staying alive – these are all top concerns for many in the industry. Ultimately, the entire UK tech sector breathed a sigh of relief at the news of the HSBC acquisition. I just hope they revamp the SVB app and online banking system as soon as possible (for all customers who have used SVB online, they will feel my pain )

Kerry Baldwin
Managing Partner IQ Capital, former Chairman BVCA

“This is a fantastic outcome for the founders and the entire tech industry. The BVCA has worked tirelessly, bringing together VCs and their portfolio companies to demonstrate and prove with data the depth of the crisis and how to work to a solution with the government.The government, HSBC and the UK SVB team deserve huge credit for crossing the line so quickly to provide certainty to the UK tech sector.

Caspar Lee
Co-founder
Influencer.com & Creator Ventures

“I was surprised this weekend at how some people seemed to blame depositors and said they should have known better than to deposit money with a bank like SVB. A bank rush should be viewed as a complete disaster rather than a normal risk of doing business. Blaming startups here was completely wrong. Regulators need to ensure that in the future, depositors at “small banks” will enjoy a greater protection or we should just say goodbye to them because it’s not worth the risk.