Last year, investors poured $900 million into London’s startup industry in an effort to drive the next generation of London’s financial dominance in Europe.

Because, you know, it was a part of the European Union. But after voters chose to leave the Union, the future of that investment, as well as one of the most pioneering startup spaces in London, is uncertain.

Level39 is a technological incubator of open work spaces and millennial entrepreneurs situated in London. The startups it houses have been rethinking every aspect of money, from checking accounts to crowdfunding to the complex networks that power the world’s stock exchange.

But they are wondering if they should stay or go. The Washington Post continues:

The debate is one of the many ways a British exit, or Brexit, has upended the country’s economy — and probably no industry more than finance. Banks saw steep drops in their stock prices in the days after the referendum. Now, even as the market panic subsides, Brexit is raising existential questions about London’s future as one of the world’s great financial capitals.

“We’ve got a healthy ecosystem,” said Lawrence Wintermeyer, head of Innovate Finance, which represents financial technology firms. “And now? A serious blow has been dealt to London as a financial center as a result of the referendum.”

The financial sector is one of the largest industries in Britain, driving nearly 12 percent of the economy. It employs about 1 million people, and 1 million more work in ancillary fields such as law, accounting, consulting — and, increasingly, technology. Alain Falys co-founded mobile payment and rewards app Yoyo Wallet in London three years ago, and the company is an industry success story that is now becoming one of Brexit’s cautionary tales.

Businesses across the United Kingdom are worried that Brexit will lead to limits on immigration, a stance that would hit the heavily international financial community particularly hard. At Bankable, for example, one of the start-ups housed at Level39, the chief executive is French and the employees hail from Thailand, Nepal, the United States, Italy and France. Only two are British.

One of the central underpinnings of the European alliance is that residents can move and work freely among member nations. Companies can hire workers across the E.U. without filing cumbersome paperwork or applying for special visas, processes that can take weeks to complete. But it’s unclear what E.U. immigrants’ status will be once Britain abandons the partnership or how difficult it might become to hire new workers.

With the UK’s future uncertain in every aspect, leaders need to figure out what the next steps are (and fast) before any serious casualties are dealt.

[source: washingtonpost]