The boss of a £1.5bn British AI business said listing in London is “not a great idea”, highlighting the challenge facing the Square Mile as it seeks to attract more tech companies.
Victor Riparbelli, the chief executive and co-founder of Synthesia, claimed the UK and Europe had a “big problem” in securing blockbuster listings, as he stressed that reform is needed to halt an ongoing exodus to the US.
“We have a big problem in Europe,” he said. “We don’t have a stock exchange that is attractive to list on.
“The London Stock Exchange has weird transaction fees and not enough liquidity. It is clearly from a business perspective, not a great idea to list on the London Stock Exchange. That is something I think we should try and fix.”
Victor Riparbelli, the chief executive of Synthesia, claims the UK and Europe had a ‘big problem’ securing blockbuster listings - Justin Tallis/Getty Images He said that while a UK listing made sense for companies focused on domestic customers, those with a global reach were more likely to look across the Atlantic.
He added: “There are structural issues around listing in the UK that do not seem very attractive when we get to that point to go public.”
Founded in 2017 by Danish entrepreneur Mr Riparbelli, along with Steffen Tjerrild and computer scientists Lourdes Agapito and Matthias Niessner, Synthesia has grown rapidly by making highly realistic AI avatars.
These avatars are used by businesses to create AI videos, with the characters capable of delivering training videos or presentations.
They can also be used for marketing videos or customer communications.
The start-up was valued at $2.1bn (£1.5bn) earlier this year after raising $180m from investors including US fund NEA, Google Ventures and Nvidia.
Mr Riparbelli said Synthesia was still some way off going public, but added: “We are getting to the stage where we start to think about it.”
It comes as Synthesia plots a major expansion in London, recently moving into a new headquarters that could double its headcount to 400.
Despite Mr Riparbelli’s reluctance to list in London, he insisted that he wanted to keep the company based in the capital.
Pressure has been mounting on the London Stock Exchange in recent years after a surge in companies leaving for America.
This includes Wise, one of the most valuable technology companies in the UK, which unveiled plans last month to shift its primary listing to New York.
Meanwhile, Synthesia was among dozens of AI start-ups earlier this week demanding a freeze on Europe’s planned new AI rules, warning they threaten to stymie fast-growing companies.
Mr Riparbelli said Brussels was at risk of “shooting itself in the foot” with overly strict AI regulation, compared to Britain, which has taken a “health stance”.
Story ContinuesA spokesman for the London Stock Exchange said it is supportive of plans to scrap some stamp duty fees in Britain, which they said has a “pervasive impact on liquidity in UK capital markets”.
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