UK Tech Firms Smash VC Investment Record

Britain’s technology firms attracted record-breaking investment in 2015 as the UK continued to be an increasingly popular place to support new business.

Data from London & Partners has revealed that UK firms attracted over £2.4bn worth of venture capital investment in 2015, the most successful year of the decade so far, and pushing the amount raised since 2010 to almost £6.8bn.

And Financial Technology (Fintech) companies proved extremely popular with investors, with companies such as Funding Circle, Zopa, TransferWise and WorldRemit all securing major investment, accounting for almost a quarter of all investment raised by London-based tech companies.

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Overall, London proved to be the location with the most investment, as tech companies based in the capital raised a record £1.56bn during 2015, a 69 percent increase on the £891m raised in 2014, and 63 percent of the total raised in the UK in this time.

Away from Fintech, the UK’s ecommerce sector also saw strong growth, with companies such as FarFetch, MADE.com and Secret Escapes all securing major investment

Investors from the United States proved to be particularly enamoured with London’s firms, as almost one third (29 percent) of all deals into London-based tech firms originating from US venture capital investors. However there was also strong support for the capital’s technology companies from local investors, as 50 percent of all venture capital deals originated from investors based in the UK.

“With a flourishing tech scene and one of the world’s leading financial centres, it is no surprise to see that London’s tech companies are attracting record levels of investment,” said Mayor of London Boris Johnson MP.

“Our world-class talent pool and our culture of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are helping the sector to grow from strength to strength. We can expect the capital’s tech sector to continue to generate jobs and growth for the city’s economy for many years to come.”

Last October, Mayor Johnson hailed London as “a true world centre” for Fintech, thanks largely to its rapid development and adoption of the technology, and announced closer links with the Japanese capital Tokyo in order to encourage further investment from that nation into London’s firms.

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