Foreign Office appoints Joe White as US tech envoy

Tech entrepreneur and investor Joe White has been appointed as Her Majesty's Consul-General to San Francisco and also Britain's technology envoy to the US.

It is the first time the two roles have been merged together, as the Foreign Office looks to boost relations between the two tech sectors.

The role is thought to be a "high-level activity" not just in San Francisco but also in Washington, DC, as technology is said to be high on the political agenda for the president-elect, Joe Biden.

White's combined responsibilities will be to lead the consulate, manage relationships, and support the UK's ambassador to the US on areas of shared interest, including technology and entrepreneurship. It will also involve supporting the trade commissioner to promote the UK as a partner of choice in trade, investment, and research and development.

White has over 20-years of experience as an investor in Silicon Valley and his new "enhanced" role will be to support an innovative post-pandemic global economy, according to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

"The UK and the US are the largest investors in each other's economies and this important appointment further underlines our commitment to the tech sector," Raab said.

White is married to fellow UK investor and entrepreneur Wendy Tan White. The couple co-founded eCommerce platform Moonfruit, which was exited in 2012. He has served as a general partner of Entrepreneur First, an early-stage deep tech fund for which he has raised $200 million. He is also the co-chair of GBx, a curated network of UK-based entrepreneurs, as well as an advisor for the UK Behavioural Insights Team on the social impact of technology products.

"It is an honour to represent the UK at this critical time, and a pleasure to support our world-renowned tech sector which continues to go from strength to strength," said White. "I am looking forward to working closely with UK government tech teams in the US and in the UK, to further our growing and important relationship."