London March 12 2023: The fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is starting to spread around the world.
SVB’s UK unit is set to be declared insolvent, has already ceased trading and is no longer taking new customers. Fears of contagion have also spread in Canada, where the bank’s loan book has doubled in the past year. Startup founders are panicking about accessing money and paying employees. On Saturday, the leaders of roughly 180 tech companies sent a letter calling on UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to intervene.
“The loss of deposits has the potential to cripple the sector and set the ecosystem back 20 years,” they said in the letter seen by Bloomberg. “Many businesses will be sent into involuntary liquidation overnight.”
The UK and Canada are just the beginning. SVB had branches in China, Denmark, Germany, India, Israel and Sweden, too. Founders are warning that the bank’s failure could wipe out startups around the world without government intervention. SVB’s joint venture in China, SPD Silicon Valley Bank Co., was seeking to calm local clients overnight by reminding them that operations have been independent and stable.
“This crisis will start on Monday and so we call on you to prevent it now,” UK startup founders and chief executive officers said in the letter to Hunt. The companies listed in the letter include Uncapped, Apian, Pockit and Pivotal Earth.
Hunt spoke with the governor of the Bank of England about the situation on Saturday morning, and the economic secretary to the Treasury was due to hold a roundtable with affected firms later in the day, the Treasury said.
Underscoring the challenge governments face in getting a handle of the full extent of the fallout: The UK Treasury has begun canvassing startups, asking how much they have on deposit, their approximate cash burn and their access to banking facilities at SVB and beyond, two people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Treasury declined to comment on the survey.
Uncapped, a financial tech startup that lends to other startups, said it’s launching an emergency funding program to help companies meet payroll and other obligations, as well as longer-term bridge loans to help with working capital.
UK tech startup association Coadec said on Twitter that “panic” is setting in as it is clear SVB’s collapse “could have a significant impact on the UK’s tech startup ecosystem.” The group said it has been in engaging with “Treasury and No. 10 about the potential impact” and “work has been going on overnight on policy options.”
Alexander Fitzgerald, founder of broadband startup Cuckoo and a former Treasury official, noted that the finances of British startups are already stretched due to a slowdown in venture capital funding market. “British startups need the Treasury to step in fast,” he said.
In Canada, SVB Financial Group’s unit in the country reported C$435 ($314 million) in secured loans last year, double the C$212 million a year earlier, regulatory filings show. Its customers include e-commerce software provider Shopify Inc. and pharmaceutical company HLS Therapeutics Inc., according to a previous statement by the bank.
Toronto-based advertising-tech firm AcuityAds Holdings Inc. revealed on Saturday it had $55 million in deposits at SVB, amounting to more than 90% of its cash. The firm had halted trading of its stock Friday after a 14% slump, citing the “unfolding situation” with Silicon Valley Bank.
