Here’s what tech entrepreneurs really think about Brexit

It’s been 18 months since the historic vote on Brexit and let’s face it – on the surface, little has changed.

But nowhere is change felt faster than by startups. On the morning of the budget, we checked in with some Britain’s smartest entrepreneurs to find out what’s really happening on the front lines of Brexit Britain.

Damian Kimmelman

Damian Kimmelman is the CEO and co-founder of Duedil, the business intelligence platform often described as “the Bloomberg for private businesses”. He’s originally from the United States and employs 80 people.

Article 50 has only accelerated our European expansion plans. Clearly trade must continue if we are to create thriving businesses and prosperous economies.

DueDil provides the context that helps businesses find opportunities and mitigate risks – and there is a real opportunity for us to play a role in facilitating cross-border trade.

There are opportunities in any type of market, but the best opportunities can be found in a bearish market. However, for businesses to capitalise on the opportunities in front of them, they must do so confidently with their eyes wide open.

There’s a huge opportunity for us to bring together businesses through the common language of data and recast trust across borders.

The good news is that we’re beginning to see European countries including France, Germany, Benelux and the Nordic countries opening up their private company data.

Together with the UK and Ireland, that’s 52 million business profiles that are being opened-up, making it easier for businesses to engage in new cross-border trade deals. We can expect to see more countries to follow suit in the coming year.

It is a positive start, but what we need is more consistency and greater depth of information across different countries.

Romi Savova

Romi Savova is the founder of CEO of PensionBee, the new way to save for the future. She’s originally from Bulgaria and employs 30 people in London.

We’ve grown significantly over the past 18 months, so we’ve been lucky not to feel the immediate repercussions of Brexit.

The fluctuating pound has had a slight impact on our savers pots, but so far any impact has been short-term – much like it tends to be with long-term, diversified investments.

People’s pension values could take a dip if we don’t get a handle on Brexit, so it’s essential that the government get on the same page.

For the good of savers and the wider economy, we’re hoping for a Budget that gives us some clarity. Markets don’t like uncertainty, so the Chancellor should be doing all he can to counter that.

Bogdan Maran

Bogdan Maran is the co-founder of Splento, the smart platform for booking photographers online. He’s originally from Romania and employs 16 people in London and hundreds of freelance photographers across the world.

I think the most important factor is the devaluation of the pound.

It makes it increasingly difficult to find good photographers in Europe and US. The second one is the uncertainty of work relationships and workforce.

Working in an international team, and focusing on expanding on 3 different continents in parallel, planning ahead is crucial.

This is no longer possible, unfortunately.

Elizabeth Varley

Elizabeth Varley is the co-founder of TechHub, one of London’s first co-working spaces. She’s originally from Australia and employs 30 people.

The challenge we’ve found with Brexit in real terms is we’ve had two Europeans turn down roles with us because of the current uncertainty.

People who want to make a career with a company want to know they’ll have the opportunity to grow with the business if they’ve made a commitment to uprooting their lives to join us in London.