Coadec follows Silicon Valley Bank UK and goes for a new look

On the day that Silicon Valley Bank UK traded in its old branding, the startup group that helped save it from collapse in March has announced a refresh of its own.

Coadec, which played a key role in lobbying the government to step in and help negotiate a sale of the ailing startup lender, will shed its old name and become the Startup Coalition, it announced this evening.

The lobby group has also ramped up its expansion and made a number of new hires to its steering board to bolster its offer to startups.

Dom Hallas, boss of the Startup Coalition, said he was “incredibly proud” of what the group had achieved but “the success of British tech so far means it faces new challenges”.

“Our new hires and board members will enable us to offer more to startups, but despite the shiny new name, our team remains hyper-focused on making policy better,” he added.

Among the new hires is a new Head of Tech Regulation, Kirti Nuthi, joining to primarily focus on AI regulation.

A new steering board will also include the managing partner of Seedcamp, Carlos Espinal; the founders of startups Nplan and Resi – Dev Amratia and Alex Depledge; and the COO of Entrepreneur First, Tom Shinner. Research expert in entrepreneurialism and private equity at the LSE, Professor Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe, will also join the board.

The rebrand comes after SVB UK announced it would trade in its branding to become HSBC Innovation Banking, part of a global push for the group to push into the start-up, venture capital and tech spaces.