Leicester founder Neel Thakrar speaks at House of Lords about funding disparities

Neel Thakrar, co-founder and CEO of Leicester-based startup tuck, has spoken at the House of Lords about funding for Asian founded startups, following a new report.

State of Asian Funding UK 2026, published by Bae HQ, highlighted regional funding disparities affecting founders outside London.

Neel noted that while 69 per cent of Asian-heritage Britons live outside London, only 16.2 per cent of funding to all-Asian founding teams goes to regions beyond the capital. The report revealed that 82.4 per cent of funding to Asian co-founded startups went to London-based companies.