3
THE REPORT
2016
“THERE’S NO BETTER PLACE TO GET A FEEL FOR THE FINTECH MOMENT THAN THE 39TH FLOOR OF ONE CANADA SQUARE, A PYRAMID-TOPPED TOWER IN THE HEART OF THE CANARY WHARF COMPLEX IN LONDON’S EAST END…. [CANARY WHARF GROUP IS] LITERALLY CONSTRUCTING THE FUTURE ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF ITS LAND: A CLUSTER OF TOWERS THAT ONE DAY WILL LEASE SPACE TO FINTECH STARTUPS, SOME OF THEM INCUBATED PRACTICALLY IN-HOUSE.” ED ROBINSON, BLOOMBERG
6 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
FOREWORD
Level39’s Next Phase
Ben Brabyn, Head of Level39
S
ay hello to Ben Brabyn. Ben joined in February 2016 to lead Level39 and has extensive experience in international investment, entrepreneurship, financial technology, cyber security and policy. As COO of UKTI’s Innovation Gateway from 2013-2015, Ben led a team of private sector investment and market sector specialists, combining their entrepreneurial experience with the convening power and global reach of the UK Government. Ben started his career as an officer in the Royal Marines before joining J.P. Morgan as an investment banker in London, New York and the Middle East. He left banking to co-found an online payments business which he led from drawing board to trade sale. He has also co-founded a social e-commerce business and invested in several early stage businesses. We’re delighted to have Ben join Team39 and lead our growth into the next phase. To connect with Ben directly, do get in touch with him on Twitter @BenBrabyn.
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT >3
Sir George Iacobescu CBE CEO and Chairman of Canary Wharf Group
A
nother year has flown by and we’ve reached the third anniversary of Canary Wharf Group’s Level39 tech accelerator, and achieved a raft of new milestones to boot, across our whole estate. Today Canary Wharf has 37 buildings, 5 shopping malls and nearly 120,000 people working here - twice the working population of Oxford. It is the second largest financial centre in Europe after London’s Square Mile and larger than the financial centre of Frankfurt, with 36 more buildings still to come. Currently the company has another 11 million square foot, either under construction or under different stages of development. Our plan to commit to being home to London’s growth sectors, including the now well established fintech community, has come of age. Level39 is not only known as the leading London Fintech ecosystem, it’s cited as an example of how to create a living and breathing centre for business innovation all over the world. In short, its story is now well known, benefitting all of our 200+ members, but we’re no less proud of what we’ve achieved. Level39, with its two High Growth Spaces, is both a technology accelerator and a magnet. It’s a place for large and small companies to convene, share ideas and push forward the boundaries of what’s possible. That’s what Canary Wharf is known for. Hundreds of years ago, shipping technology created the new types of dock infrastructure needed to accommodate the then modern vessels connecting London to the rest of the world, enabling it to receive the goods and passengers which made it the thriving metropolis it continues to be. When we first started building Canary Wharf in 1988, we were pioneering another technology breakthrough here. The banks and media companies needed big modern buildings with open-plan floors as they made the shift to working with computers. One Canada Square – the iconic building housing Level39 – was the UK’s first skyscraper and remains its largest by floor space. All our buildings are designed to be upgraded over time to incorporate the latest technology and infrastructure as they arrive. In the process we’ve become a world leading business district with almost 120,000 people working here. But we aren’t complacent. We recognise the need to adapt to market trends to ensure we continue to innovate to accommodate new and growth sectors. In the past, as many as 80% of our tenants were banks
4 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
and financial services companies. That figure is now just over half. When we looked at the emerging technologies which were disrupting, and improving, these sectors, we decided we had a unique opportunity here. So in 2013 we launched Level39 to provide space for the innovative small companies in the fintech sector to work with the established financial giants. Three years on, we are accelerating startups and small businesses through our carefully curated Level39 curriculum, network and mentoring system. We want them to succeed and grow into larger offices here – following in the footsteps of companies such as Digital Shadows, Growth Intelligence, Digital Reasoning, eToro, Revolut, IUIA, TransferGo and many more. At the same time we are a magnet to large corporate partners – UBS, Intel, Accenture to name a few – who want to work with us in our space, with our community. We’ve also secured important tenants including UCL which is basing its brand new Postgraduate School of Management here, and premium tech brands such as Intel. These giants are keen to benefit from the global reputation Canary Wharf has as a place for technology, innovation and growth. Earlier this year we extended the reach of Level39 to include a smart cities strand called the Cognicity Hub. This followed the global competition we ran last year, the Cognicity Challenge, to find the next generation of smart cities technology. As we build the next phase of the Canary Wharf estate we have a unique opportunity in the commercial, residential and retail areas we are planning. We want to continue to be ahead of the curve as the next wave of technology innovation makes it easier to build and manage cities. Some of the products and services we identified through the Cognicity Challenge competition are already running in our projects. The Hub now boasts 20 member companies and will provide a space for the most exciting new ideas in future city and property technology to share ideas and prosper. They’ll get the chance to work closely with us as we deliver our future construction projects. Technology is already doing things today which were impossible only a few years ago. None of us know what the next big changes will be, but there is a very good chance that they will happen right here, in Level39 and Canary Wharf. Here’s to our third anniversary and much more innovation to come!
FOREWORD
“LEVEL39 IS NOT ONLY KNOWN AS THE LEADING LONDON FINTECH ECOSYSTEM, IT’S CITED AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO CREATE A LIVING AND BREATHING CENTRE FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION ALL OVER THE WORLD.”
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT >5
Contents
Foreword Foreword
03
Sir George Iacobescu CBE
04
Editor’s note
05
Canary Wharf The Destination
10
The Culture
12
The City
16
The Model
17
Level39 The Curriculum
18
The Investors
20
The Members
22
The Events
32
The Cognicity Hub
40
The ClubLounge39
42
Twitter / @Level39CW Facebook / Level39CanaryWharf
The Future
Instagram / Level39CW
The Team
48
Medium / @Level39CW
The Future
50
Web / level39.co
FOREWORD
Editor’s Note Asif Faruque, Head of Content, Level39
“T
his little book represents the combined hard work of our team, partners, mentors, investors and the hundreds of entrepreneurs who grace Level39. After three years of leading the way when it comes to fintech, we’d also like to take this opportunity to express our greater ambitions. Enjoy our statistics, insights from our members and learning more about Level39. But remember, if you’re reading this the chances are you’re part of the success too. Our biggest fans have always championed Level39 across the world and for that we are forever grateful. This report is a snapshot in time - a celebration of everything we’ve achieved so far. But, if there’s one sentiment we can leave you with, it is this: as proudly as we look back at what we’ve achieved, we’re most excited about what lies ahead. All the best, and as always, get in touch if you’d like to know more.” @Level39CW / @AsifFaruque enquiries@level39.co
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT >7
From the UK
492
ER D
EN
618
Female
138
ORIGIN
Male
756
43
C IN OM O PA FF N IC IE ES S W O
264
G
From Outside the UK
C H OM IG P RK H AN IN G I G RO ES W UP TH G SP RA AC DE ES D I N TO JO LE B VE S P L3 OS 9 TE JO D BS O BO N T AR HE D
Level39 In Numbers
20% more than last year
18
6% more than last year
147
276,111
Individuals
1,807 kg
SMARTIES CONSUMED
76,720
COOKIES SERVED
Coffees served
From Outside the UK From the UK
71 142
213 Companies COMPANIES
Technology Accelerator
EVENTS CURRICULUM
103,061
1192 Total events
Visitors
452 78 102
HOURS OF MENTORING
HOURS OF SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS HOURS OF INVESTORS MEETINGS
DATA CORRECT AS OF FEBRUARY 2016
Like our stats? Share them with: #Stats39
xx>>LEVEL39.CO 8 LEVEL39.CO>>YEAR YEARTHREE THREEREPORT REPORT
World Map
Global Ambitions Hailing from all over the world, Level39 boasts one of the most international ecosystems in London.
28 Eastern Europe 38
Northern America
439 Western Europe 14
of 16 Commonwealth Independent States
71 Asia
Baltics
10 Middle East America 10 Latin & Caribbean
18 Africa
16 Oceania
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 9
The Tech Revolution The boom in fintech, smart city, retail and cybersecurity technologies has left an indelible mark on the industry. With our support, mentoring, experts and curriculum we’re glad to be a big part of that story.
F
unding for fintech is booming and global investors are pouring in funds. VC firms spent less than $1 billion in Q2 2010 to nearly $3 billion in Q1 2015 on fintech. And our little island nation attracted £312 million of fintech investment in the first six months of 2015, compared to just £24 million for the whole of 2010. Add to that an estimated 61,000 fintech workers within 25 miles of London, compared to 43,000 for New York and only 11,000 for San Francisco-Silicon Valley, and you can see why we’re such a force in fintech. Global institutions are embarking on fintech accelerator programmes in earnest. We’ve worked closely with the likes of Accenture, D’assault Systèmes and UBS on their own innovation programmes. In 2014, cybersecurity startups took in $2.5 billion dollars in funding across 224 investments, up from less than $1 billion across 108 deals in 2010. Level39 members like Digital Shadows have created solutions for a truly digital age - a platform which provides cyber situational awareness helping organisations protect against cyber attacks, loss of IP, brand and reputational integrity. While members like myPINpad are creating solutions for the everyday consumer - solutions which bridge the gap between real-world and online transaction security. The overlap with retail technology is clear. We live in an age where shopping and consuming is easier than ever - and with that growth comes the need to innovate. We’re home to businesses that optimise a merchant’s e-commerce credentials to the millisecond, like Level39 member E:Fundamentals. We’ve accelerated technologies that observe
10 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
the flow of shoppers to deliver targeted advertising like our member Boldmind. Level39 retail entrepreneurs are creating tomorrow’s world, today. The smart-cities agenda is growing stronger every day - and our Cognicity Hub demonstrates our commitment to this sector. A 50-desk zone on our High Growth Space: 24, brings the world’s best smart-city technologies into one space. We provide a tailored curriculum, expert mentors and the potential to bring their products into market through Canary Wharf Group’s retail arm. Canary Wharf’s New Phase provides 3,200 new homes and nearly 2 million sq ft of high-quality commercial space unlocking opportunities for the smart-city solutions we accelerate at Level39 to pilot and deploy. Platforms such as Voyage Control schedule and coordinate freight deliveries, keeping congestion low and safety high. Ground-breaking solar technologies such as PolySolar and Strawberry Energy give consumers sustainable, renewable options to power their lifestyles. Take a peek at our stats in the following pages, and learn how we’ve played a part in this new era of technology.
canaRy whaRf
Canary Wharf: A Place to Grow
945,000
Canary Wharf’s total retail area, 815,000 sq ft of this owned by Canary Wharf Group plc
902,000
Average number of people who visited our shopping malls each week in 2015
120,000
Approximate working population. In 1991, after first 7 buildings completed there were 2000 people working
300
Over 300 shops, bars and restaurants
130
Acres of business, retail and development space. 37 buildings, 5 retail malls and 16.3 million sq ft
56%
Percentage of Canary Wharf’s tenants that are banks and financial services
20
Acres of open space and parks
Percentage of tenants in Canary Wharf in financial services
Like our stats? Share them with: #Stats39
69% 64% 56%
2010 2013 2015
Our Culture
C
ulture is created by people - that’s why we pride ourselves on bringing together amazing people from across the technology industry to Level39. As you step out of our lifts you can feel our culture in the air. From teams huddled together looking to solve their next challenge after the daily scrum to the monthly members meetups that bring our companies together. We’ve created a mini water-cooler moment with our cookie bell. The bell, rung daily for years, summons fresh cookies from the oven. No member dares ring it before the scheduled time, for fear of creating cookie-chaos. Entrepreneurship is hard - from refining your product and taking it to market to building a strong team who are ready for the ride of their lives. Until you have taken the risk and been part of a new business it’s difficult to explain. But taking this journey with your team members, your friends, and sometimes, with your family, builds a unique life-long comraderie. Curating our community means we have a certain kind of person at Level39 - invariably they are constantly curious. Here we also value a little geekery and love amazing products. We’re privileged to bring the startup culture to Canary Wharf and encourage our members and companies to continue driving change in their respective industries.
12 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
arts & lifestyle
Downtime on the Wharf
B
eing based at Canary Wharf, the location offers a number of cultural activities for our members too. We’ve hosted ice-skating on the Canary Wharf rink for a tech-themed networking night and during the summer months, Jubilee Park transforms into a stage for live music and theatre. In the last few years Canary Wharf has transformed from a financial district into a lifestyle location well-stocked with art, music and cinema. From the Winter Lights festival to summer street food markets, it’s time to re-think this part of town. Canary Wharf’s no longer just for the banks.
Canary Wharf: the fintech Hotspot
W
e’re delighted to say that Canary Wharf is assuredly London’s most popular fintech cluster, according to a report from leading property consultancy CBRE, and we play a big part in that. Published at the end of 2015, the report shows that Canary Wharf was home to 13 of the 140 recently launched fintech startups - overtaking Shoreditch, South Bank and Old Street. CBRE assessed data from both CrunchBase and FinTech 50 to show that fintech companies were choosing the E14 postcode over others. CBRE’s Senior Director Dan Hanmer said: “Canary Wharf has been an ideal home for fintech start-ups hoping to stand on the shoulders of the financial giants in the area, especially for the fintech ‘facilitators’ that play a supportive role for well established firms in the sector.” In the research, CBRE points out that with accelerated growth cycles, startups are quickly outgrowing incubator space and requiring larger floorplates - being owned by Canary Wharf Group, we’re able to support them with just that, as they develop from young companies to tech giants. Members who outgrow our floors, are able to take private office space elsewhere on the estate. Security firm Pirean did just this, graduating from our High-Growth Space onto the 28th floor of One Canada Square in 2014.
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 13
The East London Revolution
W
ith such a busy programme of events and activities at Level39, it’s easy to think of our three floors as the centre of the tech universe. But our ecosystem extends far beyond the boundaries of the Canary Wharf estate. We’re part of a much wider regeneration scheme taking place across East London. This transformation from an underperforming area into a thriving business district was boosted ahead of the 2012 London Olympics when £9bn of public money was injected into East London. Since then, there’s been a surge in the number of tech hubs opening their doors - Level39 included - putting East London firmly on the map as an important component of the global tech community. With East London’s low residential property prices and rapidly increasing number of job opportunities, the area is swiftly becoming a desirable ‘live, work, play’ destination. Supported by excellent infrastructure, including Crossrail, East London has firmly established itself as the new base for tech companies large and small.
14 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
CANARY WHARF
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 15
Our Ecosystem
Level39 provides a structured ecosystem to enable companies to retain their membership throughout every stage of their growth. All members go through a selection process involving a product demo and founder interview.
High Growth Spaces
Pantry Young companies, and companies who are making their first moves in the UK market, can take a low risk, low commitment membership as a drop in member. Members have access to the Pantry, and to all of the educational curriculum organised by the team.
Desk Members Both Hot Desk and Fixed Desk members have twenty-four hour access to the shared workspace area. Fixed Desk members often make their desks their own, by adorning them with monitors, laptops and other accoutrements. Hot deskers are able to flit from desk to desk. All members have access to the educational curriculum.
42 39
24
Long term When a tech company reaches a certain size, it becomes more viable for them to fly the nest and take a longer lease on space anywhere on Canary Wharf, after a chat with our parent company, Canary Wharf Group. Security company Pirean did exactly that in March 2014.
Level39 now has two High Growth Spaces in the One Canada Square building here at Canary Wharf. Growth companies that are between eight and fifty in team size can find a space here.
Level39 The offices on Level39 are suited to member companies from four to twelve in team size. Office members are able to access their own private space. As with all Level39 membership, all members of the team can access the educational curriculum.
42
High Growth Space: 42
39
Level39
24
High Growth Space: 24
Facilities
Our Facilities The Pantry
• Visitor and member WiFi • Refreshment and tea/coffee • Cookie Bell • Printing
Offices
• Designed for 4-10 people • Designed for 10-40+ people on our High Growth Spaces • Dedicated phones • Mailing access • Pigeonhole • Access to ClubLounge39
Desk Area • Hot desks and fixed desks • Increased privacy • Mailing address • Stunning views over London
Sandboxes
• Sandbox 1 - Boardroom • Sandbox 2 - 40 person capacity • Sandbox 3 - 40 person capacity • Sandbox 2 & 3 combined - 80 person capacity • Open for public hire • Equipped with high-definition screens and resident PC
Space39
• 220-seat capacity • Two 60-inch screens • Lecterns and microphones • Full AV functionality • Stunning view over London
ClubLounge39 • 50-person dining capacity • #LateThursdays evening event • Serviced meeting room • Full breakfast and lunch service • Full bar with signature cocktails
Level39 Members 1520
Applications Received
105
22 Fintech
Smart Cities
Member Companies
Others
39
Retail
5 Security
18 Big Data
21 DATA CORRECT AS OF FEBRUARY 2016
Like our stats? Share them with: #Stats39 18 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
EcosysTEm
Adizah Tejani, Head of Ecosystem Development, Level39
“T
hree years on, and there’s no signs of slowing down. We introduced Investor OfficeHours on top of the usual seven hours of curriculum every week - this was in response to our members who asked for access to investors, so we delivered. We’ve worked with technology leaders such as Google, Intel, Amazon and Microsoft who have provided technical knowledge to our members. We’ve provided support and made introductions across all business sectors: fundraising, PR, HR, legal and valuations to name a few. And lastly, we’ve built stronger relationships with investors by connecting our companies with the likes of Santander Innoventures, JPMorgan Strategic Investments, Citi Ventures and many more banking teams. But one introduction is not enough. Continuously curating quality for our companies is at the heart of Level39’s ethos. We’re aware of London’s technology ecosystem which continues to attract global talent. It’s truly a global hub, brimming with exceptional talent and brave entrepreneurs. We meet founders every day who have reached a certain stage in their product development. They choose to be at Level39: a home which adds multiple layers of support and helps them grow. Banks and institutions continue to seek innovation and change within their technology divisions, ultimately driving value across their strategic goals. We continue to work with established technology investors such as Accel Partners and Balderton Capital, but also seek to work with more global funds. As the global technology landscape grows and changes, we’ll be here, doing what we do best working with founders and partners who want to be at the forefront of that growth.” @Adizah_Tejani
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 19
A Wise Investment: Accel Partners We sat down with two early-stage VCs from Accel Partners, active investors and good friends of the Level39 community. Meet James Cameron and Michael Treskow.
Q.
Tell us about Accel partners, what defines your venture firm? JC: I think what probably defines us best is our global approach. We started around 30 years ago in Palo Alto, but we’ve always taken the view that the Valley shouldn’t have a monopoly on innovation - and so we set about building a global network of offices so we could support great founders wherever they were starting their companies. We’ve now been in London for about 15 years - and from here we invest across Europe and Israel. We invest right across the digital technology spectrum - from consumer internet and marketplaces like Facebook, Spotify and Deliveroo, right through to enterprise software and infrastructure like Slack, Cloudera and Atlasssian. MT: I think another thing that defines us is being patient investors. We know that building a company is never a straight line - we’ve been around through multiple cycles so we know that there are always ups and downs. We spend our time thinking about how to maximise long-term value, rather than over-optimising in the shortterm. Q. What’s the key to a good investment? MT: For us it’s all about identifying founders who are attacking large, existing industries with a new tech or business model approach, or who are aiming to create large new market categories that didn’t previously exist. We’re also looking for companies that are building solutions to real, burning problems that have not yet been solved as that lets them build competitive differentiation and unlock real urgency in demand. Ultimately though - the decision often comes down to the strength of the team - i.e. Do they have the talent, experience and hunger to execute on their vision and will they be good people to work with? Q. What do you look for in a business and founder when you meet them for the first time? MT: Since we usually want to partner with founders who are setting out to build big global businesses, often in the first meeting we’ll try and gauge
20 > LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT
their ambition levels and the long-term vision for their companies. Founders like Ilkka Paananen (Supercell), Samir Desai (Funding Circle) and Will Shu (Deliveroo) all set out to build global companies from day one, and these are exactly the sort of founders we love to back. Q. What are some of the hottest sectors right now, apart from fintech? JC: Outside of fintech, we’re seeing a tonne of great innovation around cybersecurity, particularly out of the US and Israel but increasingly from the UK as well. We’re also very excited about the emerging landscape of API-based tools and vendors, which has led to our investment in companies like Algolia and CartoDB. And of course we continue to be very focused on consumer marketplaces in Europe - we’ve been involved in some great growth stories here like Blablacar and Deliveroo, and we’re all always on the look out for more. Q. What sets London apart from the other investment destinations you work in? MT: The level and diversity of talent in London’s tech ecosystem is what makes it truly unique. London and its surroundings attract the best graduates from all over Europe and the world; it has 6 of the world’s top 100 universities (Imperial, LSE, King’s, UCL), including two in the top 10 (Oxford and Cambridge). London has the largest IT sector in Europe, more than twice the size of any other European city, and has the world’s largest centre for fintech, with 61,000 people working in the sector – more than both Silicon Valley and New York. And as a global centre for so many industries - from finance, to media to fashion - London’s entrepreneurs often have very diverse backgrounds, which helps drive innovation and cross-industry collaboration. JC: I think another aspect that makes London a great place for startups is the proximity to your customers. London is the most populous city in Europe and over 75% of the Fortune 500 have offices here, so no matter whether you are selling
THE InvEsTors
B2C or B2B - your target market is here on your doorstep. Q. Is there any particular advice for businesses growing in London? MT: With so much activity happening in the tech industry here, finding and keeping great technical talent is always key to success. Startups in London need to consider recruiting as a corecompetency, and always be looking to stay ahead of the curve with a pipeline of great talent ready before you need it. You may need to be generous with employee equity grants (something which has traditionally been less common in Europe than in the Valley), but ultimately this is the best way to align the interests of investors, founders and your employees. JC: And with all the customers here on your doorstep, it’s important to make sure you are getting in front of them right from day one. Staying close to your customers will not only help you find true product-market fit, but also means you’ll have a much better idea of how to sell the product once you’ve built it. Q. What are some of the trends you’ve seen in venture capital and startup culture, and what’s
James Cameron
the outlook for the future? JC: I’d say one of the biggest shifts we’ve seen has been towards distributed entrepreneurship. With the rise of cloud computing and new directto-user distribution platforms, great companies can now be built anywhere. Choosing where to base your startup is becoming a new kind of “platform” choice - and founders can use it to build competitive advantage and attract the right talent. Today, some of the best companies in fintech are coming out of London (e.g. Funding Circle), some of the best mobile gaming companies are in Helsinki (e.g. Supercell and Rovio), the best dev tools software businesses can be based in Sydney (e.g. Atlassian), and the most innovative drone manufacturers are in Shenzhen (e.g. DJI). We’ve also seen the rise of distributed teams, with companies combining talent from right across the globe and using collaboration tools like Slack to keep everything connected. Of course, all this means that investors like us have to be in a lot of different places too - but that’s what we love about our jobs. For more information on what James, Michael and Accel Partners are up to, check them out @Accel on Twitter or at accel.com.
Michael Treskow
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 21
Our Members
CRYPTO Applied Blockchain appliedblockchain.com Bitfury bitfury.com Blockchain Tech Ltd blockchaintechltd.com CapitalDigi capitaldigi.info
O
Cognosec cognosec.com
Swissper swissper.ch
MapR mapr.com
Crypho crypho.com
Touchtech Payments touchtechpayments.com
MongoDB mongodb.org
Cybrix Group cybrixgroup.com
ZeroDB zerodb.io
Digital Shadows digitalshadows.com
aston-corp aston-corp.com
Stock Views stockviews.com
Awesome.Bi reckless.io
Symetrics symetrics.eu
Big Data Scoring bigdatascoring.com
Talent Rank talentrank.co
MiiCard miicard.com
BIPB bipb.com
TRDATA trdata.com
Moqom moqom.com
Closir closir.com
Twenty7Tec Twenty7tec.com
Datatonic datatonic.com
Voleo myvoleo.com
Datawatch datawatch.com
Xeridia xeridia.com
Digital Reasoning digitalreasoning.com
Xignite xignite.com
FinGenius fingenius.com
Yodlee yodlee.com
Coinjar coinjar.com
Encap Security encapsecurity.com
CrowdAura crowdaura.com
Envision envisionandcompany.com
Sun & Son sunandson.com Tallysticks tallysticks.io UBS ubs.com WIF Enterprise XBTerminal xbterminal.io CYBER SECURITY
AimBrain aimbrain.com BankID bankid.no CheckRecipient checkrecipient.com
Singular Intelligence singularintelligence.com Squirro squirro.com
EclecticIQ eclecticiq.com
Senit senit.com
DATA
OpenCorporates opencorporates.com
Ace Consensus aceconsensus.com
CodeStake codestake.com
GoCoin gocoin.com
ur members range from pre-seed startups to established global businesses looking to leverage Level39’s network for growth. New faces join us regularly and we take the utmost pleasure guiding them through different steps of the journey, whether that’s over a cookie in the afternoon, or drinks at the monthly Members Meetup. For the more established players, we take pleasure in introducing them to innovative ways of thinking which can only be achieved in fun, relaxed surroundings.
myPinPad mypinpad.com PixelPin pixelpin.co.uk Promon promon.co RedOwl redowl.com Risk Ident riskident.com Security Alliance securityalliance.co.uk Signicat signicat.com
6 >>LEVEL39.CO 22 LEVEL39.CO>>YEAR YEARTHREE THREEREPORT REPORT
GrowthIntel growthintel.com
ENTERPRISE
Heckyl Technologies heckyl.com
Cobweb cobweb.com
Logical Glue logicalglue.com
Corporator corporator.com
Maincard maincard.net
SizeUp sizeup.com
Our MeMbers
Kaazing kaazing.com
Derivitec derivitec.com
Modelogiq modelogiq.com
The Ground UP Project groundupproject.net
dopay dopay.com
MoneyMover moneymover.com
The Thalesians thalesians.com
Block Dox blockdox.co.uk
Advicefront advicefront.com
ebankit ebankit.com
MyMobile Payments moneyonmobile.co.uk
TransferGo transfergo.com
Boldmind boldmind.co.uk
AdviceGames advicegames.com
Edge Laboratories edgelab.ch
Opportunity Network Trunomi opportunitynetwork.com trunomi.com
Aire aire.io
EMBonds embonds.com
Outperform.market outperform.market
eToro etoro.com
PACE Financial Group WorldRemit pacefinancialgroup.com worldremit.com
Fern Software Fernsoftware.com
Pay with Bolt paywithbolt.com
X Open Hub xopenhub.pro
Finevare finevare.com
Payfriendz payfriendz.com
Yielders yielders.co.uk
ET Index etindex.com
Finlytics finlytics.com
PayKey paykey.me
Yoyo yoyowallet.com
Eurosender eurosender.com
AQI Capital Advisors aqicapital.com
Flywire peertransfer.com
Paymentology paymentology.co.uk
Zeroflows zeroflows.com
Flexeye flexeye.com
Bankable bnkbl.com
FMB Development
Pension Mandate pensionmandate.com
ZetraSoft zetrasoft.com.br
FINTECH
Albert getalbert.com AlgoDynamix algodynamix.com AMP Credit Technologies amp-creditech.com
Behavox behavox.com
Foxberry foxberry.im
Plio
Fronteer Solutions fronteersolutions.com
Pollen pollen.co.com
givvit givvit.com
Quantstore quantstore.com
HCE Service hceservice.com
Qubitia qubitia.com
HedgeGuard hedgeguard.com
Quotip quotip.com
Huddlestock huddlestock.com
Remitia remitia.com
Cloud Lending Solutions cloudlendinginc.com
Innovate Finance innovatefinance.com
Revolut revolut.com
Contego contego.com
Invoke invoke.com
Ripple ripple.com
Credits credits.vision
iPushPull ipushpull.com
Stinex stinex.co.uk
Crowdfooding crowdfooding.co
Islero islero.com
Tech Equity techequity.company
Crowdstacker crowdstacker.com
LMAX lmax.com
Techedge podient.com
Cutover cutover.com
Mambu mambu.com
TECHNOactivity technoactivity.com
Darwinex darwinex.com
Manigo manigo.co
DealGlobe en.dealglobe.com
Meniga meniga.com
Birthstar Funds birthstarfunds.co.uk Bluesnap home.bluesnap.com CityFALCON cityfalcon.com Clausematch clausematch.com
VoguePay voguepay.com
OTHER
Cyber cyb.co.uk Cyber-Duck cyber-duck.co.uk IUIA theiuia.org Media Sandbox msbx.co.uk NetGuru netguru.co UpSlide upslide.net byyd byyd-tech.com RETAIL
SMART CITIES
Buzzstreets buzzstreets.com Demand Logic demandlogic.co.uk EcoMachines ecomachinesventures. com
Intelico intelico.uk Jooxter.com jooxter.com Melin Medical melinmedical.com MultiPass multipass.co.uk Opinsta opinsta.com Pointr pointrlabs.com Polysolar polysolar.co.uk Snapback snapback.io Tridify tridify.com
E:Fundamentals ef.uk.com
Utilidex utilidex.com
Instantt instantt.co
Voyage Control voyagecontrol.com
Teller teller.io
Proxad proxad.com
YourParkingSpace yourparkingspace.co.uk
TESOBE tesobe.com
Qurami qurami.com
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 23
our members
Fresh Faces
New Kids on The block We love seeing new faces at Level39. Hailing from all over the world, new members always find a warm welcome here. Tackling some of the biggest issues in technology, finance and beyond, these are the companies sowing the seeds of change in the industry watch this space.
Yielders: Yielders is an online crowdfunding property investment platform that changes the way people invest in property in London and the UK. They are one of the few crowdfunding platforms that give investors access to pre-funded assets via their website, meaning investors receive shares in already profitable businesses from the get-go. yielders.co.uk
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Boldmind: Boldmind is a data company in the IoT space focused on retail and smart city solutions. Boldmind’s products not only extract, analyse and visualise data but monetise it for their clients. boldmind.co.uk
Pay With Bolt: The rise of e-commerce has led to a plethora in payment technologies and vendors, resulting in businesses finding it harder than ever to constantly adapt. Bolt’s complementary platform is a smart, new way, to plug into this dynamic world of payments. paywithbolt.com
Big Data Scoring: Big Data Scoring is an essential tool for banks and other lenders to determine the creditworthiness of individuals based on data secured online. Equating to more accepted loans and better credit quality. bigdatascoring.com
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 25
smart tech
Transparent conductive coatings form electrodes Transparent photovoltaic layers generate electricity while remaining visually clear Slimline connector blocks fit conventional glazing frameworks
700mm cable
110
1200mm
Standard connectors allow for simple electrical installation
Polysolar panels work efficiently even when light levels are low, or when the panels become hot, and are resistant to shading.
Polysolar: Generating Renewable Energy Polysolar panels contain embedded thin-ďŹ lm photovoltaic technology, within structural architectural glazing. This means the fabric of buildings generate their own electricity, while also reducing heat gain. Their latest product incorporates laser-ablated CdTe PV, to produce a neutral transparent glass, and they are developing a next generation of PV glass using organic photovoltaic technology.
600mm
Boldmind: Connecting the world with data
2
Content is managed through a cloud platform: flow.city
1
Sensors detect weather, pedestrian flow and public transport
Videos and images are stored in the cloud and pushed wirelessly
Boldmind NLC
3 4 • Stimulus responsive advertising • Advertising displays (shops, malls, etc.)
Rising Stars
Closir: Closir is a platform which helps investors access investment opportunities in emerging and frontier markets. The solution provides investors company-specific information directly from Investor Relations teams and helps them schedule meetings and calls with management. closir.com
our members
Revolut: Revolut is the new fair way to easily send and spend money instantly around the world via a mobile app linked to a Revolut MasterCard. revolut.com
aston-corp vision: aston-corp vision is a next-generation aas- ased financial data plat orm or anks and investment unds to access standardise a re ate and analyse private corporate credit data. aston-corp.com
Flexeye: Flexeye provides the software, platform and services to rapidly create smart apps that deliver the reporting, analytics, decisions and actions to help improve performance in real-time. Their focus includes smart cities and financial services. flexeye.com
Behavox: Behavox provides an effective and operationally e ficient approach to capital markets surveillance lo ally com inin ehavioural-profilin and machine-learnin to create a clear holistic vie o all conduct risk. behavox.com
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 27
our members
High Growth Spaces
High Growth Heroes Six months after launching Level39, we expanded into High Growth Spaces on the 42nd and 24th floor of our One Canada Square building. These spaces are specially designed to foster and accelerate businesses with a rapid growth trajectory.
W
e’re pleased to say that the majority of Level39 startups experience rapid growth. In the right environment, they can grow from big dreams to big teams in the blink of an eye. Be inspired by these case studies from a few of our High Growth members and their journeys through Level39.
Quickly outgrowing Level39’s desk options they soon moved into a sizeable office on our High Growth Space: 42. The business most recently raised $3.4m to invest in hiring more data scientists and engineers.
TransferGo
Much like GrowthIntel, Digital Shadows were also one of the first members of Level39 combining with Growth Intelligence in an uncanny journey across London in various working spaces. The Digital Shadows platform provides cyber situational awareness that helps organizations protect against cyber attacks, loss of intellectual property, and loss of brand/reputational integrity and in February 2016 closed a $14m Series B funding round to grow the business.
TransferGo offers a convenient, cheap and secure way for migrants to send money back home cheaper than banks and cash bureaus. The business started at Level39 back in 2013 with a few desks in our co-working area. They quickly took advantage of the connections and seminars on offer, building their business and securing high-profile banking partners. In late 2015, the business now boasts a large office on our High Growth Space: 42, a recent record-breaking seed funding round of $2.5m and a world-leading digital remittance service catering to more than 39 countries. GrowthIntel GrowthIntel crunches data across the web to give businesses insights into their sales leads. They joined Level39 as part of Accenture’s first FinTech Innovation Lab London and as one of our first members have gone from strength to strength.
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Digital Shadows
Revolut Revolut lets users spend, save, send and receive money all through a beautifully-designed app and MasterCard. The business spent time in our fixed-desk co-working area but from 2015 they upgraded into their own large offices on our High Growth Space: 42. Revolut most recently closed a $4.8m seed round from a number of leading investment firms to help the business expand across Europe.
TransferGo: TransferGo provides a convenient way to send money abroad for migrants and businesses - 10x cheaper than banks and cash bureaus. transfergo.com
Heckyl: Heckyl is a real time financial news and data analytics platform, which is used to discover patterns and business opportunities in structured and unstructured data. heckyl.com
GrowthIntel: GrowthIntel uses NLP and machine learning to listen for the buying signals of millions of UK businesses. It uses this to show clients who’s most likely to convert right now. growthintel.com
Bankable: Bankable provides payment solutions via API by leveraging its virtual account management and processing platform – offering virtual account services, virtual & plastic prepaid card programmes, e-wallets and light banking solutions. bnkbl.com
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 29
Thinking Smarter: Flexeye Level39 sits down with Nick Monnickendam of Flexeye to discuss IoT, Smart Cities and Fintech
Q.
What is Flexeye? What does it do? A. Flexeye provides the software, platform and services to rapidly create smart apps that deliver the reporting, analytics, decisions and actions to help improve performance in real-time. We’ve worked with a wide variety of blue-chip clients from oil & gas majors, through manufacturing to some of the world’s largest financial institutions. Two of the main areas where we are focused today are smart cities, including a major Innovate UK backed project, and financial services where we are partnering with KPMG. Q. We’re familiar with smart cities and fintech – but how does this overlap into a world of smart financial services? A. We see exciting overlaps between smart cities, the Internet of Things and Fintech. For example, micro-payments could be automatically negotiated between connected devices or “things” to facilitate access to transport, repairs or the ordering of spare parts. Imagine if a bus could “tell” the nearest depot that an engine part was about to wear out, pre-order it and instigate payment. Insurance is another area where smart, the IoT and financial services come together. There are a wide range of areas where the IoT will change insurance, such as health and wellbeing, or distance and behaviour-related car insurance. An example very much in the smart-cities space is the potential to mitigate against flooding (and therefore reduce insurance costs) through real-time interaction with devices that monitor and control the flow of water. Q. Can you give us some examples of Flexeye technology in action, in the smart-cities industry? A. We’re leading Hypercat which is focused on smart cities and IoT interoperability. As part of
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the project, our technology is being used to demonstrate interoperability across 11 industrial vertical areas. These cover many of the areas that are essential to make cities efficient, better places to live including: energy, water, transport infrastructure, smart parking and lighting as well as building management. The Hypercat project is backed by Innovate UK and many leading technology businesses. We’ve also taken the lead in crowdsourcing the smart strategy for Old Oak and Park Royal, the UK’s largest urban redevelopment. This is linked to the construction of a vast High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail Station and to deliver up to 25,500 homes and 65,000 jobs. As well as creating the standard-bearer for new sustainable neighbourhoods, it will also be an exemplar in ‘smart’ regeneration – embracing the latest technological advances to boost economic growth and quality of life. Q. What’s the story behind HyperCat? A. Hypercat is a not-for-profit organisation that is driving secure and interoperable Internet of Things (IoT) for industry and cities. Hypercat has two main areas of focus. Firstly, it has created a standard which is making IoT data more discoverable and interoperable. This addresses two of the central challenges of the IoT: firstly, how to find relevant and trustworthy data from connected “things”; and secondly how to make it easier for those things to talk to each other. While it may sound like a dry technical issue, solving this so-called “interoperability” challenge has the potential to unlock trillions of dollars in value worldwide. Indeed, a recent McKinsey report estimated that this interoperability is essential to unlock 40% of the $11 trillion estimated future value of the IoT. Secondly, Hypercat has brought together a consortium to drive forward interoperable smart city innovation. This has strong traction – with over
Flexeye
our memberS
800 members including many industry-leading players. We are running a big event this summer, called the Hypercat Summit (www.hypercatsummit.com), where you can find out more about what Hypercat is doing and the benefits this is delivering for cities, citizens and business. Q. What does this mean for the industry? A. For businesses in the UK, tackling the challenge of Internet of Things interoperability could help unlock around £100 billion in value. The IoT will also see big shifts towards services that can rapidly adapt in response to their physical environment and to the needs of citizens and business. At the same time, we expect to see faster and greater innovation in the development of new applications and services. Interoperability will help make this easier by making it possible to rapidly discover data and bring pull it into apps. Q. What does the today’s future hold for connected, smart technology? A. We are just at the start. In smart cities we expect a move beyond today’s pilots and projects and into city-wide programmes. These will be driven by clear KPIs and performance measures, with data discovery, reporting, automated decisions and action to deliver real-time improvements. In Fintech, the growth of the IoT will have an ever wider impact in future. Rapid change will move into core banking activities - in addition to the big changes that are already taking place today in payments and fundraising. To give an idea of the potential scale, Gartner recently estimated that by 2020 10% of all bank loans will be made to machines.
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 31
An Eventful Three Years
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e’ve always welcomed the biggest names in technology - and year three showed no signs of slowing down. We revealed the Cognicity Hub to the world, our ‘First Time Founder’s’ guide to building high-growth startups in June, TedXCanaryWharf a few weeks later, and APIdays in September. We also partnered with TESOBE once again for its flagship Hack/Make the Bank hackathon weekend. We also strengthened our smart city agenda by supporting the Transport Systems Catapult with its IMCreate mobility hackathon. And hosted not one - but two Intel events. We welcomed the World Economic Forum with its workshop on distributed ledger technology while in January, we hosted a number of investors for True Ventures’ ‘Disruption in Banking’ forum.
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EvEnTs
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EVENTS
The Events Our busy events calendar provides members and tech folk around the world an opportunity to learn, grow their network and make valuable connections. Alongside our own Level39 events, meetups and celebrations, we’ve hosted hackathons, conferences, launches and more. Launches: The Guardian Wikipedia Cognicity Hub Financial Times Hackathons: Datawatch Retail PayPal BattleHack Hack/Make the Bank BIPB IMCreate Mobility Hackathon netwOrking: UKTI Global GEP TLA MeetUp GEP TLA Fintech 2015 City Meets Tech Financial Times
Cambridge Angels UKBAA Winter Forum BIPB Digital Shadows cOnferences: Banking Innovators Next Bank Europe WIRED Retail / Money IBM SmartCamp FinTech Week Finextra NextGen Banking XTB Trading Event Intel Software Development Conference WEF Workshops Intel Education Summit
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acceLeratOrs: Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab Code First: Girls Dassault Systèmes TEA Programme - Norway LeveL39 suppOrted Meetups: Sentiment Analysis Special with Aire Data & Analytics Innovation with Singular Intelligence Exploring Brain Emulation with The Thalesians
ACCENTURE
FinTech Innovation Lab: London
n
ow in its fourth year, Level39 is proud to be the home for the FinTech Innovation Lab for its 12-week accelerator programme. Positioned at the heart of London’s financial centre, Canary Wharf, Level39 contributes a highly-curated ecosystem of fintech players and natural economic cluster, with a number of the Lab’s alumni staying on to put down permanent roots. Once again facilitated by Accenture, 2016’s London Lab brought together a collective of some 20 of the world’s most influential banks and 15 selected startups, hailing from as far afield as Switzerland, Israel and Russia, as well as closer to home. In response to industry demand, the London Lab took on both its biggest cohort both of startups and participating banks, thanks to an ever growing appreciation for the synergies between young companies and incumbents. With the industry looking to emerging players to identify areas ripe for disruption and/or help enhance their
services, the Lab is an important conduit between collaborators. Over the course of three months, the 15 entrepreneurs participate in a jam-packed curriculum of mentoring, networking, access, legal and regulatory surgeries, training and pitch coaching – led by some of the industry’s most influential advisors, many of whom are neighbours to Level39. Says Lab sponsor, Julian Skan of Accenture, “Positioning our Lab at Level39 on the pulse of the financial services community undoubtedly opens doors for many of our startup participants: Twentyone companies that passed through the London programme have signed more than 50 contracts to do business with banks, and have gone on to increase revenues by some 170% on average.” Globally, the Labs’ alumni companies have raised more than US$350 million in venture financing. fintechinnovationlablondon.co.uk
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Techademia: UCL comes to Canary Wharf
T
he innovation agenda spans multiple sectors, and there’s no better place to start than in education - that’s why University College London, one of the world’s leading academic institutions, has chosen to base its new School of Management postgraduate programme on the 38th floor of One Canada Square, in close proximity to Level39. As one of the world’s top-ranked universities, UCL is eager to tap into Canary Wharf’s unique fusion of business, technology and finance and we can’t wait to welcome them in September 2016. The School will significantly expand UCL’s research and teaching in business and management with a focus on innovation, tech, analytics and entrepreneurship, occupying the entire 38th floor. Education at Level39 isn’t new to us. We’ve been working with UCL on their student society, UCL FINDS, which brings students together for a series of intelligent debates and discussions around geo-political and financial themes.
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FUTUre SChooLS
Code First: Girls
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e’ve been working closely with Code First: Girls since the summer of 2013. Code First: Girls is an initiative which enables young women access to one of the most powerful skills in technology today: coding. At Level39 they’ve been providing free evening beginner lessons in a number of programming languages including: HTML, CSS, Ruby and Python. There’s a huge demand for talent in this sector - and through initiatives like Code First: Girls - we hope to be an important part of addressing the imbalance in tech. When they’re not busy programming we’ve introduced Level39 members to the students. Startups like Revolut, OpenCorporates and UpHold have all visited the evening sessions to share their career stories. In October 2015 - Level39 presented at the Code First: Girls Annual conference. Adizah Tejani, Head of Ecosystem Development, shared her unique story developing a career in the tech sector. As a team, we’re familiar with the Code First: Girls culture. Team39 members from both the ecosystem and finance team have completed the Code First: Girls course in the past - increasing their technical knowledge. Through this very special partnership - we’re delighted to say that more than 280 women have learned to code for free. We’re excited to help many more students gain the critical skills needed to help fill the talent gap in London.
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 37
“WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURS AND TECHNOLOGIES WHICH CAN REVOLUTIONISE HOW CITIZENS LIVE, WORK AND PLAY.”
Enabling a Smarter Future Intel joins the Cognicity Hub as Founding Technology Partner
S
ince the beginning of the Cognicity Challenge, Canary Wharf’s 12-week programme to identify and accelerate smartcities technologies, Intel has played a pivotal role. By providing their technology and expertise, they were crucial to startups in the smart-cities sector gaining the traction and technology for their success. Shortly after the challenge ended, we launched the Cognicity Hub - a dedicated space for smart-cities entrepreneurs to grow their business - and Intel has joined as a founding technology partner. Not only do they provide their equipment and expertise yet again - but they’ve also drafted in a specialist IoT and smart-cities team into the space - readily on hand to guide startups through their technology challenges. Led by Ian Jones, General Manager for Intel
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Technology UK, smart-city entrepreneurs have found an ideal location to accelerate their ideas. “Intel is delighted to be a founding technology partner of this smart-cities ecosystem – we look forward to working with innovative entrepreneurs and technologies which can revolutionise how citizens live, work and play. Technology working closely with real-estate and property marks a significant turning point in creating a smarter future.” “Collaborating with Canary Wharf Group, Level39 and these innovators will create impacting and meaningful results for the residents of smarter cities everywhere.”
intEl
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 39
CogniCiTy Hub
The Cognicity Hub We launched the Cognicity Hub in January 2016 as a home for smart-city companies globally.
T
he 50-desk space, situated on our High Growth Space: 24, features a shared workspace, a technology showcase zone for the entrepreneurs, and access to a tailored Level39 curriculum. We launched with 13 founding members of the hub, including global technology player Intel who joined an existing 10 smart-cities focused businesses already resident at Level39.
• SEaB Energy: a plug-and-play waste-to-energy company that patented a miniature anaerobic digester that is able to transform organic waste into energy and water. • Snapback: a platform which creates a multimodal way for people to interact with smart devices and reinvents the interaction between human and machine as a user-centered relationship.
Founding members of the hub include: • Block Dox: a system that puts a wealth of services at residential tenants’ fingertips. From their app residents can perform everyday tasks, like contacting reception and arranging repairs. • Boldmind: an Internet of Things startup that develops bespoke apps to control connected systems and devices, while also analysing the data they generate. • BuzzStreets: a way-finding and navigation app which uses augmented reality to bring art to life, while saving time and money. • Demand Logic: a health-monitoring system for buildings that improves the condition of your property by making it more efficient and comfortable while cutting costs and effort. • Opinsta: A delegation tool which ensures a business’ customer feedback is instantly directed to the individuals or teams responsible so that customer opinions are not lost or forgotten • Polysolar: a manufacturer of innovative transparent solar PV window glass that generates electricity and prevents buildings from overheating.
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• Tridify: An interactive collaborative visualisation and design tool delivered on a range of devices, from iPad to virtual reality environments, which enables support and cooperation across all stages of the building lifecycle - from concept planning, design, construction to refurbishment. • Voyage Control: a company helping businesses manage, optimise and track their freight deliveries by streamlining logistics, helping with security and meeting environmental objectives. With an exciting roster of smart city entrepreneurs and businesses we launched the Cognicity Hub in earnest - developing and accelerating the technologies which will change the way we live, work and play, forever. Level39’s smart-city agenda is more than about growing a business - to tie in with Canary Wharf’s new phase the technologies developed here can potentially help to assist the future development expected for 2018/19. Already many of the technologies are piloting - Voyage Control is helping to coordinate freight deliveries on the estate, Strawberry Energy benches can be found across Canary Wharf and Polysolar panels have were installed in a nearby bus shelter in April 2016.
A Look inside the Hub B
ased on Level39’s High growth Space: 24 - the Hub is an environment designed to stimulate. The technology showcase zone is a space within the Hub where members are able to show off their products and hardware. Members of the Hub get many of the same benefits as Level39 members, including members’ wifi, printing, scanning, refreshments, a weekly curriculum, and a community of investors and mentors.
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ClubLounge39
L
evel39’s very own members restaurant and bar, ClubLounge39 is a destination for dining and deal-making located next to Space39. ClubLounge39 is open to the community for breakfast and lunch daily and until late on a Thursday. See the full story at clublounge39.co
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CLubLounge39
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Level39: A Global Player
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e’re proud to say that Level39 boasts one of the most geographically diverse ecosystems in the technology sector. We have entrepreneurs who hail from nearly every corner of the globe, a network which spans multiple continents and a pantry buzzing with countless languages. To create this fantastically diverse ecosystem we’ve recruited partners who champion Level39 around the world - key industry players such as Swift, UKTI, London and Partners and more. We’ve visited conferences around the world, recently attending the international banking conference Sibos in both Singapore and Boston, where we have run our famous OfficeHours session. In April 2016, we attended Money 20/20’s first European event in Copenhagen - once again providing our OfficeHours to the international market. The diversity of Level39 mirrors the myriad cultures in our hometown: London. This diversity creates a deep talent pool, with representation from countries such as Israel, China, Australia, Egypt, Nigeria and beyond. It isn’t just in our members though - the Level39 team has representation from Ghana, Bangladesh and Italy - a team which understands diversity - providing a great basis for interacting with our global community.
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GLobAL PLAyer
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 45
Raising Cash A
t Level39 we’re conscious that growing a successful business goes hand in hand with receiving key investment, but we also know it’s not the be all and end all. Success is measured in many ways - whether that’s raising money, entering a new market, hiring tech talent or simply getting an idea off the ground. To support our members’ investment goals we’ve been operating a new Investor OfficeHours strand to the weekly curriculum - one which has brought in leading investors from around the world to meet with our businesses. In the past three years we’ve had the pleasure of hosting VC firms, angel investors and institutional investors, including, but not limited to: • • • • • • •
Accel Partners Balderton Capital 500 Startups Mosaic Ventures Octopus Ventures Citi True Ventures
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InveSTMenT
Media mentions The Telegraph - Tech City under threat from twin rival projects (01.10.12) Wall Street Journal - Tech City CEO to Join Canary Wharf Group (27.07.12) International Business Times - Level 39: A Slice of Silicon Valley in London’s Canary Wharf (10.04.13) Financial Times - Specialist hubs open the hatch to innovation (25.03.13) Financial News - Searching for the future titans in tech (24.02.14) The Banker - Financing fintech startups - will they take off? (01.05.14) BBC News - Business help needed from government and political parties (23.06.14) Reuters - Level39 speeding up tech super growth (26.08.14) Bloomberg TV - Turning today’s tech into tomorrow’s smart cities (21.10.14) Estates Gazette - Canary Wharf launches smart cities project (21.10.14) Wired Insider - The Cognicity Challenge (09.01.15) Tech City News - Canary Wharf’s Level39 expands to 80,000 sq ft (19.01.15) City AM - The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and Al: The future of global fintech (06.03.15) TechWorld - The global tech talent battleground: How the UK can win (22.04.15) The Guardian - Fintech revolutionaries storm the barricades of traditional banking (24.04.15) Raconteur - Unicorn hunting among the startups (28.06.15) Elite Business - How London’s helping fintech flourish (01.10.15) New Civil Engineer - Smart Cities: New Beginnings (18.01.15)
LEVEL39.CO > YEAR THREE REPORT > 47
MEET THE LEVEL39 TEAM ADizAh tEJANi Head of Ecosystem Development tech hero: Herman Chinery-Hesse
MARk DEvERRick Head of AV Role Model: Dominic Hasek
JoANNE tAYLoR Head of Events Role Model: Marie Curie
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MYLES MAhoN General Manager Role Model: Richard Branson
AMY tSANg Assistant Finance and Project Analyst tech hero: Mark Zuckerberg vESELA kAvRAkovA Assistant Management Accountant tech hero: Peter Thiel
StEfANo LoRiNi Ecosystem Development Coordinator Role Model: Valentino Rossi BEN BRABYN Head of Level39 Role Model: Nelson Mandela
ADAM Luk Head of Finance tech hero: Steve Jobs
AMY fRENch Ecosystem Development Manager tech hero: Kathryn Parsons
Team Level39
ioNA SELigMAN Ecosystem Development Coordinator Role Model: Amelia Earhart ASif fARuquE Head of Content tech hero: Aaron Swartz
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New Phase
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Canary Wharf’s New Phase C
anary Wharf is extending - and we’re excited to be accelerating the technology companies which will one day call this location their home. The New Phase will feature thousands of new homes, 335,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants and community facilities and crucially, nearly 2 million sq ft of high-quality commercial office space. A home for major new technology companies – both from within Level39 and those drawn to Canary Wharf as a leading tech hub. In 2016 we’ll also be home to a division of UCL - further strengthening our academic credentials and opportunities for our members to network and grow. Across Canary Wharf we are proud to be home to tech players such as Intel, Thomson Reuters, First Data, Infosys and Skrill and look forward to welcoming many more to Level39, Canary Wharf and the New Phase.