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Meet London’s Brightest Young Tech Entrepreneurs

Lost Generation found in Tech City? 

Ask most 16-24 year olds about London’s Tech City and you’ll be met with eyes more glazed than a Krispy Kreme.

While unusual to find a young person in Britain who isn’t tech savvy, there’s a low awareness of East London’s marriage of technology and creativity amongst that age group.

This tech phenomenon is about to reshape the global economy. And on our very own doorstep. Something to interest the 958,000 unemployed youth in Britain.

However, the awareness deficit is steadily being eroded through government-backed apprenticeships for local youth, including the TCIO’s Benjamin Southworth’s work with youth and internship platforms such as Enternships.

Tech City is built on more than A grades.The barrier of accessibility into London’s tech cluster is lower than other employment routes. No need for gargantuan CVs nor a decade of voluntary serfdom (internships) to join the club.

While a lower ratio of women to men, the glass ceiling hasn’t been built and the former is probably down to the misconception of Tech City being a place for boys and their toys.

We met Alex Sowter and George Johnston from Blinc, Anthony Francis from Peek, Andrew Brackin – winner of the $100,000 Peter Thiel Fellowship – and Luciana Carvalho Se, masters student and tech intern.

If you’re under the age of 25 in Tech City, get in touch, we’d love to hear about your experiences and the great work you’ve been doing.

 


Alex Sowter

“You can’t go halfway with the tech scene, you have to go all or nothing”

Age: 21

Education: On a sandwich year, studying Business Administration at the University of Kent.

Company: Blinc – an iOS app which enables you to send a picture to a friend and see their instant reaction.

How did you hear about Tech City/Silicon Roundabout?

As a current university student, I was lucky to have my good friend George, also on a placement year, at Huddle. George encouraged me to go to a Hackathon with him – an event which opened my eyes to the tech scene and enabled me to co-found our app.

Read Alex’s full interview here


   George Johnston

“My economics tutor pretty much laughed at me for what I was passionate about. He said I wasn’t going to get anywhere with starting a business and I needed a degree”

Age: 20

Education: Dropped out of studying Economics at the University of Kent.

Company: Blinc

Present involvement in London’s Tech scene?

CEO and co-founder of Blinc/ Engineer at Huddle/Working on a series with the BBC. The series is focused on the Tech City start up community/running the Momentum Bus incubator/running the Flagons Den.

Read George’s full interview here


Anthony Francis

“The corporate life is great to earn cash, but you can lose your soul with the long hours & high work demands”

Age: 25

Education: Business and Administration at London South Bank University. Graduated with 2:1

Company: Founder of Peek – an app to meet people at Google Campus London.

How did you hear about Tech City/Silicon Roundabout?

I grew up in East London and have always hung around the Shoreditch & Old Street area. The area only received the name ‘Tech City’ within the past 3 years. It became a buzzword after a few UK leading start-ups were located there.

Read Anthony’s full interview here


Andrew Brackin

“Your inexperience is overlooked because you’re going out and doing it at a young age”

Age: 18

Education: Brit School.

Andrew decided not to go to university after winning the $100,000 Thiel Fellowship. He’s just relocated to Silicon Valley, California where he’s working on his company.

Company: Bunchy – a funding platform that allows organisations to raise money on their social platforms and websites.

Do you feel that you’ve missed out on university?

No, I’ve got an incredible opportunity to work on what I want to, spend time with like-minded young founders and creators and a great platform to launch something from. I see the value in university for many but I think I’ll learn far more life and business lessons from two years in the fellowship than I could have anywhere else.

Read Andrew’s full interview here


Luciana Carvalho Se

“I hope one day there will be an awesomely brainy female coder that disrupts the whole tech scene”

 Age: 23

Education: Undergraduate Law degree at Cambridge, currently finishing a master of International Business at Hult Int. Business School.

Company: UniPlaces, Import.io

As an international graduate what is your experience of the London tech scene compared to your home city?

There is a lot of momentum in Lisbon, a whole breed of startups and entrepreneurial initiatives being created and great access to funding. There doesn’t seem to be that deeply embedded aversion to risk that one sees in London.

Read Luciana’s full interview here


 If you’re under the age of 25 in Tech City, get in touch, we’d love to hear about your experiences and the great work you’ve been doing. Email: mariella@techcitynews.com

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