More than France and Germany combined, this brings the money raised by UK tech firms over the past five-years to £97bn.
While capital has been harder to raise this year, as interest rates have climbed and investors have become more cautious when it come to the tech sector, Dealroom suggests that the UK’s tech industry is now worth $1trn, making it the third country behind the US and China to reach this milestone and cementing it as the top European innovation environment.
By comparison, Germany’s tech sector is worth $467.2bn and France’s $307.5bn.
The UK’s tech sector continues to attract significant venture capital, more than its European competitors, and since 2000 the UK has generated 144 ‘unicorns’ – start-ups valued at more than $1bn – and 237 ‘future corns’ – companies valued at more than $250m and on track to become unicorns.
Last year there were 116 unicorns and 204 future corns.
“UK tech has remained resilient in the face of global headwinds, and we completed the year as one of the world’s leading digital business locations,” said digital minister Paul Scully. He added, “This reflects our pro-innovation approach to tech legislation, support for start-ups, and goal to enhance digital skills.”
UK-based funds raised £9.2bn in 2022 to assist fast-growing enterprises and start-ups, marginally ahead of 2021’s total and Dealroom’s data suggests that innovation is spreading across the UK.
Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Oxford have two or more unicorns, while Cambridge has become the world’s third most important science hub, behind San Francisco and Boston, with Oxford fifth.
