Coadec (The Coalition for a Digital Economy)

What Coadec (The Coalition for a Digital Economy) does

The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec), operating under the brand 'Startup Coalition,' is a UK-based nonprofit policy advocacy organization founded in 2010. It serves as the policy voice of UK digital startups and scaleups, focusing on three core advocacy pillars: Access to Talent (enabling startups to hire from both domestic and international pools), Access to Finance (supporting founder incentives and a robust UK VC market), and Regulation (advocating for innovation-friendly policy frameworks across both horizontal tech regulation and sector-specific issues such as fintech). The organization represents the collective interests of the UK tech ecosystem to policymakers, producing detailed, solution-oriented policy recommendations rather than high-level commentary.

Startup Coalition does not operate as a commercial product company; its primary deliverables are policy publications and advocacy outputs. Recent outputs include the inaugural AI Index (January 2026), the first comprehensive profile of the UK's top 1,000 AI startups and scaleups by raise, showing £20.2 billion in cumulative funding and £45 billion+ in combined valuations; the AI Vision for Fintech, a formal response to the Mills Review on generative AI in financial advice (February 2026); and the 'Hidden in Plain Sight' report on open source AI policy co-published with Mozilla (April 2026), which sets out seven policy reforms to unlock the UK open source AI ecosystem. These publications function as both thought leadership and instruments of policy influence.

The organization's business model relies on membership fees, voluntary contributions, and community support from the UK tech ecosystem. Distribution and engagement occur through a website-based membership and support program, a no-cost newsletter, content and research publications, and community events. Leadership comprises Mike Butcher as Founder, Jeffrey Lynn as Chairman, and Guy Levin as Executive Director. The organization operates from a single headquarters at 4 Plough Yard, London EC2A 3LP, and serves only the United Kingdom market.

Name

Coadec (The Coalition for a Digital Economy)

Legal name

The Coalition for a Digital Economy

Website

https://coadec.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Coadec, operating as Startup Coalition, is a UK nonprofit founded in 2010 that advocates to policymakers on behalf of UK tech startups and scaleups across three pillars: Access to Talent, Access to Finance, and Regulation, producing policy reports such as the AI Index and open source AI work with Mozilla.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership and Support: Organization appears to rely on membership fees and support from the startup community. The website includes a 'Support us' page suggesting voluntary contributions or paid membership as a revenue mechanism.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Coadec, operating as Startup Coalition, is a nonprofit policy advocacy organization representing UK technology startups and scaleups to government and regulators. It focuses on three policy areas—Access to Talent (hiring from home and abroad), Access to Finance (founder incentives and VC markets), and Regulation (innovation-friendly policy)—and produces research reports such as the AI Index, AI Vision for Fintech, and Hidden in Plain Sight to inform policymakers.

Product overview

Coadec (The Coalition for a Digital Economy), also known as Startup Coalition, is a policy advocacy organization for UK tech startups and scaleups — not a product company. It does not offer commercial software products or services. Its activities center on policy work in three areas: Access to Talent (hiring), Access to Finance (VC market and incentives), and Regulation (innovation-friendly policy). It publishes research reports such as The AI Index (a profile of UK AI startups), AI Vision for Fintech (response to the Mills Review), and Hidden in Plain Sight (open source AI policy report, in partnership with Mozilla). These are policy documents, not commercial products or modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,000 AI startups and scaleups with £20.2 billion raised and £45 billion+ valuations represented through AI Index research

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MozillacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Published joint report 'Hidden in Plain Sight: How Governments Can Unlock the Next Wave of Open Source AI Innovation' arguing that open source AI has become geostrategically critical infrastructure. The partnership produced seven policy reform recommendations to unlock the UK's open source AI ecosystem.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla is Coadec's named partner on the 'Hidden in Plain Sight' open-source AI policy report — relevant as a peer stakeholder working at the intersection of technology and policy research, with comparable functions in policy publication and government engagement.
• Nesta: Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation producing research and policy recommendations on technology, the economy, and the future of work — comparable as a UK-based ecosystem thought-producer publishing reports that influence the same policy debates Coadec engages in.

Direct peers

• techUK: techUK is the principal UK technology industry association, advocating to government on technology regulation, talent policy, and access to finance — directly overlapping Coadec's three policy pillars and serving an overlapping UK tech-startup and scaleup constituency.
• Innovate Finance: Innovate Finance is the UK fintech trade association that convenes startups, scaleups, and policymakers — closely comparable to Coadec's 'AI Vision for Fintech' response to the Mills Review and its focus on access to talent and finance for a specific tech vertical.

Broad incumbents

• Innovate UK: Innovate UK is the UK's national innovation agency funding and supporting tech SMEs — a broad incumbent addressing finance, talent, and innovation outcomes relevant to Coadec's constituency but doing so as a government grant body rather than as a startup-led coalition.
• Confederation of British Industry (CBI): The CBI is a broad UK business confederation engaging policymakers on talent, finance, and regulation across all sectors — comparable as a larger, broader lobbying body whose tech-related work competes for the same policymaker mindshare that Coadec targets.

Regional players

• DIGITALEUROPE: DIGITALEUROPE represents the digital industry to EU institutions on regulation, talent, and innovation policy — directly comparable as a regional peak industry body performing the same upstream policy advocacy role that Coadec performs in the UK.

Emerging players

• Startup Genome: Startup Genome produces recurring global reports profiling startup ecosystems (e.g., Global Startup Ecosystem Report) and is directly comparable to Coadec's AI Index methodology of surveying and mapping startup populations to inform policy and investment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/coadec
• Facebookfacebook.com/Coadec
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-coalition-for-a-digital-economy-coadec-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Coadec (The Coalition for a Digital Economy)