Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding her Department provided to Tech Nation for its Libra Growth programme between March 2021 and March 2023; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Tech Nation ceasing its (a) Libra Growth programme and (b) the other operations on equalities and diversity in the technology ecosystem.

Between March 2021 and March 2023, the Department awarded a total of £10.8 million in grant-funding to Tech Nation to support UK tech businesses. Of this, £111,804 was allocated to the Libra programme, excluding Tech Nation’s staff overhead costs. We thank Tech Nation for their valuable work and are pleased to hear that Founders Forum will be relaunching Tech Nation later this year. The Department is not involved in any decisions regarding the continuity of the Libra programme.

The Department assessed the impact of Tech Nation’s growth programmes, such as Libra, through the recently published independent evaluation of DSIT funding to Tech Nation between FY 2020-21 and FY 2022-2023. The Libra Programme supported at least 75 founders from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Given the importance of this issue, the Department embedded diversity and inclusion in the design of the £12m Digital Growth Grant competition. Via this new grant delivered by Barclays Eagle Labs, the Department is continuing to fund dedicated programmes that support underrepresented tech founders. Targeted programmes include the Black Venture Growth Programme, which will support 20 founders per year, and the Female Founders Programme, supporting over 100 founders per year. In addition, Barclays Eagle Labs aims for all grant-funded activities to support a minimum of 35% of founders from backgrounds underrepresented in the tech sector.

In addition to the Digital Growth Grant, the Department also continues to support equality and diversity initiatives in the tech ecosystem more widely, including via its funding to the Tech Talent Charter (TTC). Government has supported the Tech Talent Charter (TTC) since 2017 and this funding has enabled TTC to support over 800 organisations to drive diversity and inclusion in their workforces.