London dominates tech start-up investment in Europe

UK tech investment is on a high and London-based firms attracted the lion’s share of funding, according to a market survey by London & Partners.

British tech firms attracted more venture capital funding than any other European country in 2017.

According to data compiled for London & Partners by PitchBook, venture capital investment into the UK’s tech sector reached an all-time high in 2017 with UK firms attracting £2.9bn.

This was almost double the total amount invested in 2016.

London-based tech firms accounted for around 80% of all UK venture capital tech funding in 2017, raising £2.45bn.

Some of the biggest deals last year included a £391m Series B investment into Improbable, Deliveroo (£364m) and Truphone (£255m).

London’s artificial intelligence (AI) companies saw high levels of funding in 2017.

Big deals for companies such as Babylon Health (£47.56m), Callsign (£26.92m) and Starship Technologies (£13.95m) saw investment in London AI companies reach over £200m – increasing over 50% on 2016 funding levels.

This trend was replicated nationally, with UK AI companies raising a record £488m last year and double the amount raised (£232m) in 2016.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, writes:

“These record investment figures are further proof that London is the undisputed tech capital of Europe and I am committed to ensuring we take over from Silicon Valley as the world’s leading tech hub.”

“Technology entrepreneurs and businesses are attracted to our great city for its diverse talent pool and unique business ecosystem and I am determined that London remains open to investment and the best tech talent from all over the world.”

Financial technologies (Fintech) was the leading sector for investment with UK firms attracting a record £1.34bn in VC funding.