There's been lots of talk over the past few days about state aid and tech. Thought I'd add my two penneth (for what it's worth) about the potential impact on UK startups. Let's take the Govt explanation that they want to use this to invest in startups seriously, would it help?

State aid rules are a barrier for startups access to funds from Innovate UK (the undertaking in difficulty test seems genuinely unfit for purpose & doesn't really reflect venture-driven models) and has restricted room to manoeuver on schemes like the #FutureFund.

In the crisis - we saw this impact direct. But we also saw the Commission listen to startup concerns (raised by @coadec and others) and show flex in the temporary framework. https://www.ft.com/content/b66167cf-e27d-45fb-9d66-d4c113265b3f

The truth is that whilst state aid is one barrier, it's by no means the only barrier. And I'm not sure I could name many startups who would put state aid tweaks at the top of their wishlist. The impact of (for example) no deal over data flows is a much larger risk.

Separately, a huge uplift in state aid for startups isn't a substitute for a world-class innovation funding ecosystem. The 'public sector' support startups in the UK need isn't just more money for UKRI, it's more money from pension funds allocated to venture & growth investment.

So would flex on state aid help UK startups? In isolation, maybe. In the context of no deal, probably not. The truth is for No10 there's a bigger discussion at play about the role of the state in innovation that goes beyond state aid. We'll wait and see how it plays out.