The groups that seem to be frequently ignored, are the growing amount of serious yet micro startups, which are quietly chipping away building profitable businesses by keeping keen and staying lean and focusing specifically on a niche in the market with no incentive to seek out investor cash.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, London based tech companies captured £151m of investment, representing 72% of the value of the market for the whole quarter. This is representative of 93 London tech companies receiving growth, compared to, for example, just 10 in Oxford.

What if these companies were to invest the equivalent amount of Corporation Tax they are saving, by supporting those start ups which at present cannot raise funding?

It is the start of the final week for the startups inside The Irish Times. Later this month the startups will compete for the €50,000 investment pri...

It is week six of eight for the startups inside The Irish Times. Each has entered the The Irish Times Digital Challenge in the hope of launching new products and services with the 153 year old news paper, and each hopes to be the winner of the €50,000 convertible loan note prize from DFJ Espirit. However, with two weeks to go, it's getting tough.

It's halfway point for the eight week experiment in which five startups take space inside The Irish Times. It's crunch time for several of the startups.

The rise of London's tech scene brings up an age old question: is Silicon Valley unique, and can its success be repeated elsewhere? At one point, Boston was the next Silicon Valley. And then Seattle.

Does size matter? Just ask Israel. Israel is a tiny country both in terms of its physical size, being just over 800 square miles in size, and its population (weighing in at just over 7.8 million). Yet despite its small size Israel consistently punches high above its weight economically.

In his autumn statement George Osborne signalled that he would make changes to the UK's VC landscape, to stimulate more seed investment and start-ups. The initial response has been welcoming, but will the changes really help the UK to be more competitive with Silicon Valley?