UK remains European leader for tech investment in year since Brexit

The UK continues to dominant the European technology market, despite Brexit being triggered. Defying post-Brexit predictions, Britain remains the European hotspot for technology funding. In fact, the UK has received twice as much investment in technology firms than any other European neighbour since the referendum.

In total, some £2.4 billion worth of venture capital funding has been pushed into Britain’s technology companies since the vote, according to research from London & Partners, a branch of the London Mayor’s office. This was more than double the investment made in Germany and three times the amount poured into France. London in particular is securely established as the tech-centre of Europe, with 554 deals totalling £1.8 billion being made in the last 12 months. In comparison, Berlin has tied up £775 million worth of deals and Paris has secured £557 million in venture investment.

The figures go to show that investors are still willing to put their money into UK-based companies. “The Brexit vote has understandably created some uncertainty but it is no surprise to see that London continues to attract more than double the amount of investment than any other European city,” said Laura Citron, the chief executive of London & Partners.

The main reason for the investment would be the strong push from technology firms to make EU workers jobs secure in a post-Brexit Britain. The sector employs a large number of EU nationals and has focused its attentions on boosting the number of specialist workers in order to grant permanent visas to those who would be otherwise affected by the UK leaving the EU.

The research found that the first half of 2017 had seen a record £1.1bn of venture capital funding into London start-ups. For the UK as a whole it was £1.4bn, the third biggest on record.

The biggest investments this year have included the £388m that Japan’s SoftBank invested in the virtual simulation company Improbable, as well as financial technology groups Funding Circle, Zopa and Monzo.