London Tech Week adds Founders Stage for 2026

By AI, Created 4:47 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – London Tech Week 2026 is launching a Founders Stage at Olympia London from June 8-10 to focus on AI disruption, tighter funding conditions and how European startups can scale. The program brings together 50 unicorn founders plus investors, policymakers and operators as the ecosystem faces slower capital and sharper competition.

Why it matters: - London Tech Week is using its 2026 event to zero in on the hardest parts of building a tech company in Europe right now: AI disruption, capital scarcity, regulation and scaling. - The Founders Stage is meant to give startups practical guidance on how to build, fund and grow in a more disciplined market. - The agenda also puts underrepresented founders and human-centered uses of AI into the center of the conversation.

What happened: - London Tech Week 2026 announced a new Founders Stage for its event on June 8-10 at Olympia London. - The stage sits within Startup World and brings together 20 unicorn founders on stage and 50 unicorn founders across all six stages of the event. - Speakers include Alan Chang of Fuse Energy, Alex Kendall of Wayve and Anne Boden, former CEO and founder of Starling Bank. - The program is built around founders, operators, investors and policymakers discussing the realities of building technology companies in the UK and across Europe.

The details: - The agenda covers AI infrastructure, health tech, fintech, commerce, founder resilience and access to growth capital. - Tom Adeyoola, executive chair of Innovate UK, opens the program. - The Next Wave of AI: Building, Scaling and Winning from the UK features Jacomo Corbo of PhysicsX, Tamar Gomez of Ankar AI and Kanishka Narayan MP, minister for AI and online safety. - Riding The Entrepreneurial Rodeo brings together Emmie Faust of Female Founders Rise, Sofia Nunes, co-founder of Mambu, and Timo Boldt, founder of Gousto. - From Volatility to Velocity features Lucy Liu, co-founder and president of Airwallex, on the shift from hypergrowth to profitability. - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger includes Deepika Bodapati of Athelas / Commure and Ali Parsa of Quadrivia on AI, health tech and advanced computation. - Other sessions include The New Reality of Startup Value, Do I Really Need To Raise? From Bootstrapped to Unicorn, Where Will The Next £100bn of Spinout Value Come From? and Is The Value of Venture Capital Changing? - Speakers in the capital-focused sessions include Carrie Babcock of British Business Bank, Matt Miller of Evantic Capital, Laura Modiano of OpenAI, Ben Blume of Atomico, Suranga Chandratillake of Balderton Capital, Bryan Kim of Andreessen Horowitz and Mike Collins of Alumni Ventures. - The Untapped Talent Wave Powering Global Growth will examine barriers facing underrepresented founders and what policy, capital and ecosystem action could unlock broader participation. - AI That Helps Humans Thrive will feature Serena Dayal of Athena Capital, Dr Toyin Ajayi of Cityblock Health, Eynat Guez of Papaya Global and Dr Michelle He of Abound on how AI can expand access to healthcare, work and financial opportunity. - Carolyn Dawson OBE, CEO of Founders Forum Group and lead for London Tech Week, said the stage is designed to reflect the realities of scaling with clarity, resilience and competitive edge.

Between the lines: - The lineup suggests London Tech Week wants to position the UK as a place where startups can still build through tougher capital markets, not just raise money in them. - The mix of founders, policymakers and investors signals a broader pitch: Europe’s next wave of companies may need policy support, technical depth and operational discipline as much as ambition. - The focus on untapped talent and AI for human benefit also shows the event is trying to frame growth as both an economic and social issue.

What’s next: - London Tech Week 2026 runs June 8-10 at Olympia London, with fringe events across London from June 8-12. - The full agenda is live, and delegate registration is open at the London Tech Week website. - Organizers say the Founders Stage is built around the conversations founders need to have now as Europe enters what they call a decisive decade for technology.

The bottom line: - London Tech Week 2026 is turning its founder track into a response to the market founders actually face: harder funding, faster AI change and a bigger need to scale with discipline.