UK Startups Come to London to Rumble With Policymakers

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – The United Kingdom has a vibrant and diverse startup and small tech ecosystem that drives significant economic output and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The next step is ensuring these businesses can scale, not just start. For UK startups, regulation and investment are closely linked. More can be done to nurture and scale the groundbreaking companies developing and building the next generation of transformative tech in the UK.

This week, 36 founders and tech startup leaders representing 30 ACT | The App Association member companies from across the UK are in London for in-person meetings with Members of Parliament, Peers, and other Government officials. As UK regulators continue to develop a collaborative and pro-growth approach to digital regulation, direct insight from startups, scaleups, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is invaluable.

‘When policymakers in Parliament and the Ministries understand the practical impacts of regulation, they can reduce barriers to growth instead of erecting new ones’, said Stephen Tulip, UK Country Manager of ACT. ‘Policymakers can achieve their goals of increasing UK competitiveness and prosperity by creating an environment where small tech teams can thrive. Our members are the experts on what small tech teams need’.

ACT and its member companies will hone in on five key asks to policymakers:

• Build a better path to finance and funding opportunities for SMEs;
• Reform standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing to increase transparency and reduce litigation costs for emerging technologies, including AI and the internet of things (IoT);
• Protect the current dynamic and competitive online digital marketplace from overly broad or vague implementation of policy that will slow down SMEs;
• Establish a risk-based regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI) that balances innovation and oversight;
• Avoid weakening privacy and security protections, like end-to-end encryption, that will erode consumer trust and hurt SMEs.

ACT Member Companies Attending Global App Economy Conference:

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About ACT:
ACT is a global technology trade association representing startups, scaleups, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We work directly with our members worldwide to advocate for a policy environment that takes into account their real-world challenges and supports innovation, access to capital, job creation, and the ability of small technology companies to grow and compete globally.

About ACT’s Global App Economy Conference

For nearly two decades, ACT’s Global App Economy Conferences (GAEC) have brought our startup and small tech members together for three days of founder-to-founder networking and direct engagement with policymakers on the rules shaping the digital economy. By giving startups, scaleups, and tech-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access and resources to share their stories directly with policymakers, our members can advocate for clear, streamlined rules that allow innovative companies to build and scale across borders. Read more about our GAEC: UK 2026 policy priorities:  ACT-Global-App-Economy-Conference-United-Kingdom-2026-Booklet.pdf