UK tech startups overtake Chinese counterparts as investment pours in
UK tech companies have raised more venture capital funding in the first five months of 2022 than in the whole of 2020.
This puts the country second to the US globally when it comes to startup investment and means that UK startups are outperforming those in China, France and India, when it comes to attracting funding, according to data by Dealroom analysed for the UK’s Digital Economy Council.
So far, more than 950 UK tech startups and scaleups have raised £12.4 billion in 2022, compared to £12 billion for the whole of 2020.
In a record breaking first quarter, UK tech raised £9 billion, up from £6.3 billion the same time last year, with the UK ahead of India and China when it comes to startup funding, as well as bringing in more than double the funding raised by French tech companies.
This means the UK is now home to 122 unicorns, with more than 20 cities and towns home to at least one unicorn, and 248 futurecorns. More than a third of the fastest growing next generation tech companies in Europe are now based in the UK.
London’s brilliant
London has dominated tech investment in Europe this year, raising £8.6 billion, double Paris (£3.9 billion) and over four times the amount of Berlin (£1.9 billion).
It’s not just London that is thriving in Europe - Bristol and Oxford both made it into the top 20 European tech hubs for investment raised this year, bagging £220 million and £248 million respectively.
FinTech dominates
FinTech has come out as the strongest sector for UK tech investment this year with £6.2 billion raised by FinTech startups and scaleups already this year.
Notable rounds included Checkout.com, which secured nearly £800 million in Series D funding in January to become the UK’s most valuable private FinTech and Paddle, a payments provider, which landed £162.2 million to become a unicorn earlier this year.
Increasingly international investors are backing UK tech. US investors have put more money into UK companies than they did in the whole of 2020, investing £6.1 billion this year compared to £6 billion in 2020, and Asian investors have taken part in 60 deals this year investing £2.3 billion.
Yoram Wijngaarde, Founder and CEO at Dealroom, says: “Despite the wider global challenges that have led to a slow down in public markets, private tech investment in the UK is continuing to grow.”
“The UK has cemented its reputation as one of the best places to invest in FinTech, with more FinTech investment going into the country in the first part of this year compared to even the Bay Area.”
“Nearly everything will be affected by the downturn we’ve entered into, but overall the UK tech sector is in a strong position than it's ever been before in terms of breadth and depth of the entire ecosystem.”
