A new tech innovation hub has opened in聽London to provide support and infrastructure for companies navigating the challenges between seed and Series A funding.
Scale-up accelerator OneEleven has opened its first campus outside Canada in the heart of London鈥檚 fast-growth ecosystem, close to Silicon Roundabout in Shoreditch.
The new hub will emulate the OneEleven model that has helped 70 member companies in Toronto raise more than $500 million at a collective valuation of more than $2 billion since 2013.
Dean Hopkins, CEO of OneEleven, said: 鈥淟ondon offers incredible support for early stage businesses as they start out, and once they reach Series A funding – but there simply isn鈥檛 enough of an infrastructure out there at the moment to help companies at that crucial in-between stage.
鈥淢any companies will go through accelerator or incubator programmes that provide them a valuable kickstart, but when the fixed term is up they are too often left to fend for themselves with little support in maintaining that momentum.
鈥淭hese companies have nurtured an idea into a viable product, and are grappling with the challenge of turning that into an entire business.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where OneEleven steps in, offering 鈥榮cale as a service鈥� and easing the transition from a highly structured environment to the 鈥榬eal world鈥� and making sure promising companies don鈥檛 fall through the cracks by providing the resources and community they need to push themselves towards maturity.鈥�
Founded in Toronto, and with a location in Ottawa, OneEleven supports its members with services from HR to finance, from brand and marketing to technology, and sales tools.
These services allow founders and their teams to free up their time focus on the three most important parts of their business: the success of their existing customers, acquiring new customers and continuing to develop their product.
OneEleven also works with their members once they transition out of the community, supporting them as they grow into their own office space.
OneEleven London is being led by UK managing director Rob McPherson, who said: 鈥淚鈥檓 honoured to be leading the charge as OneEleven brings its unique – and emphatically proven – proposition to London.
鈥淲hat the team has achieved in Toronto – becoming a key player in the growth of one of the world鈥檚 most exciting new scaleup ecosystems, is inspiring.
鈥淲e want to create a truly bespoke version of the OneEleven experience that is best suited to the London ecosystem and the businesses driving it forward. 鈥淚 look forward to working with Dean and the rest of the team – and, of course, our members and the wider community – to make that vision a reality.鈥�
Hopkins added: 鈥淗aving established a blueprint for the success of our model in Toronto, London was a natural next step when we looked to continue our own growth journey outside of Canada. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 ask for a more capable pair of hands to take the reins than we have in Rob. We鈥檝e already opened our doors to our first of members, and we鈥檙e looking forward to growing the community.鈥�