According to research, UK start-ups have attracted $15 billion in venture capital investment so far this year – the highest in Europe.
A report from HSBC Innovation Banking (formerly Silicon Valley Bank UK) and Dealroom shows that UK start-ups came ahead of France and Germany, which raised $8 billion and $7 billion respectively. In the third quarter alone, $4.9 billion was invested in British start-ups – a 14 percent increase on the second quarter.
It means that globally, Britain is behind only the US and China when it comes to venture capital funding for start-ups, with $127 billion and $39 billion respectively invested this year.
Encouragingly, early-stage financing remains strong – particularly in biotech, deep tech and climate tech – with $4.8 billion expected to have been invested in pre-seed, seed and series by the end of the year A phases.
Perhaps less encouraging, from the government’s point of view, is that US investors were the largest source of capital for UK start-ups in the last quarter at 37 per cent – evidence that young British companies are increasingly looking abroad for funding.
This trend was one of the catalysts for Britain to introduce funds into venture capital from the pension fund sector – in line with the Canadian model – creating the possibility of higher returns for pension schemes from riskier investments in fast-growing start-ups. In July, nine pension fund providers signed the government’s pledge, pledging to invest 5 percent in start-ups.
British investors came second after the US, accounting for 31 percent of capital, European investors accounted for 9 percent, Asia 4 percent and the rest of the world 20 percent.
More about venture capital
BP Ventures to Invest $200 Million in Dozens of Green Energy Startups – The venture capital arm of energy giant BP will deploy 90% of its investment capacity in disruptive green energy technology
Venture Capital Trusts – a guide for growth companies – Venture Capital Trusts currently manage £6 billion of investment in UK start-ups invested in more than 1,000 companies. But what is a VCT and how does it differ from regular venture capital?
#Britain #takes #top #spot #Europe #venture #capital #funding #Growth #Business
