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Silicon Valley investors are piling their cash into British startups. In fact, the UK is the leading European destination for investors from the US tech hub, with 2017 set to be a record year for investment. In total Silicon Valley companies are expected to pump around $1.13 billion into startups in the UK.
The findings have been released to mark the start of Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK), a week-long series of events bringing together leading figures from the US and UK tech scenes. London tech companies received the majority of venture capital investment from the Bay area, accounting for over 90 per cent ($1.04bn) of the total amount raised by UK tech companies this year. Over the last five years, London tech firms have also raised considerably more capital ($2.5bn) than their European counterparts, with Stockholm ($1.4bn), Berlin ($641m) and Paris ($500m).
“With some of best global talent and a strong culture of entrepreneurship, the UK and Silicon Valley are two of the world’s leading places to start and scale a technology business," said Sherry Coutu who co-founded Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK).
"While London has grown to become Europe’s largest tech hub, we still have a way to go to emulate the success of Silicon Valley and there is a lot we can learn from each other. It is no surprise to see that British tech firms continue to attract more venture capital investment from the Bay area than any other European country and the figures released today suggest that Brexit has not had an impact.”
The report coincides with a separate survey which suggests 175,000 manufacturing jobs could be created by ‘digital and UK-led’ industrial revolution. A review by a group representing leading British companies called for a new commission to be established to drive digital technology and the skills needed for jobs of the future. The report claimed that manufacturing could be boosted by £455billion over 10 years and the sector could grow by up to 3 per cent a year.
