How London kept its post-Brexit mojo as a tech investment hub
London has surged ahead of European rivals as a tech investment hub and has become the only City on the continent to climb into the top 10 for venture capital investment globally, according to a new report.
In a new ranking of the best cities for venture capital investment globally, rated on areas like deal value and quantity of exits, London surged ahead of its peers to claim seventh spot globally.
San Francisco claimed the top spot, with New York in third and Beijing third. The top 10 was dominated by US and Chinese firms.
London scored highly on areas like deal count and exit count, where it notched 11,090 and 608, respectively. Its overall ‘development score’ was 63.8, well ahead the next European country Berlin with 51.8,
“There was a lack of European locations when analysing the top 20 developed ecosystems,” said Nalin Patel, an analyst at Pitchbook.
“London was the only European city to break into the top 10, reaching seventh place. In 16th place, Berlin was the only other European city.”
The rankings may settle some nerves in the UK as fears grow that it is letting its status as a hub for startups slip and allowing cities like Paris and Berlin to gain ground.
Ministers have mounted an offensive to promote the UK as a “science and tech superpower” but the sector has been rocked by an economic downturn over the past 18 months.
Rising interest rates and soaring inflation have choked off the flow of cash to venture capital firms and hammered startup valuations.
The UK has minted only one new billion-dollar ‘unicorn’ firm so far this year in a sign of the sharp funding drop-off that has hit startup valuations globally, data compiled for City A.M. has revealed.