Covid-19: Google shuts Campus Start-up hub

Covid-19: Google shuts Campus Start-up hub

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed another casualty: Google Campus, the flash Shoreditch startup hub launched in 2012 to grow London’s tech scene. The pandemic showed Google parent Alphabet Inc that it could serve young firms across the country without the need for a physical space.

Google said the pandemic had “demonstrated” it could somehow support the startup community without occupying a seven-storey building in the heart of Central London. The shift to remote working, it added, had allowed it to support fledgling businesses beyond the perimeter of the Tube network.

Google also noted the existence of competition from other accelerators and co-working spaces. When the service first launched, WeWork hadn’t yet reached the level of ubiquity it now enjoys, San Francisco was still the shining city on the hill, and London had more Angus Steakhouses than accelerators. Now the English capital is a tech hub – at least from investors’ point of view – with its startups collectively raising £7.6bn in venture capital funding during 2020 alone.

Google stated it remained committed to the UK’s startup scene and would continue funding initiatives including the $2m Black Founders Fund and educational programmes like Startup School.

Big technology companies have been among the most vocal about allowing workers to work more flexibly even after the pandemic ends. Google expects about 60% of its staff to work in the office a few days a week, with about 20% able to apply to work permanently from home.

The seven-storey building sat in the heart of London’s so-called Silicon Roundabout on Old Street with desks going for up to £450 ($830) a month. Google opened the Campus facility in 2012. The area was hailed as Tech City by former prime minister David Cameron and was the epicentre of the country’s fast-growing digital economy as low rents and easy access to the financiers in the City of London drew firms.

The area was hailed as Tech City by David Cameron, the then prime minister, and was the epicentre of the country’s fast-growing digital economy as low rents and easy access to the financiers in the City of London drew firms. But its days of producing the next tech star are over. On Monday, Google announced that its Campus had been scrapped ahead of the end of its 10-year lease. Instead, it said it would be moving its start-up support programs and services online.

REFERENCES

  • Google pulls plug on Campus technology hub

By James Cook

https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/google-pulls-plug-on-campus-technology-hub-20210622-p5839z

  • ‘Lots of failed startups came out of Campus’: Google axes London hub because startup scene ‘doesn’t need’ another 7 floors of workspace

By Matthew Hughes

https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/21/google_closes_london_campus/

  • Google to shut Campus startup hub amid shift to work from home: Here’s what you need to know

By Bloomberg

https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/google-to-shut-campus-startup-hub-amid-shift-to-work-from-home-71624284736590.html

  • Google closes its dedicated London start-up space

By Sam Shead

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/21/google-campus-london-closes-to-start-ups-post-covid.html