Bristol is one of the most successful cities in Europe for attracting tech investment in 2022, a new report has revealed.
The city was named among the top 20 European tech hubs for venture capital funding after its technology firms raised a huge £220m in the first five months of the year.
According to the data by Dealroom, analysed for the UK’s Digital Economy Council, UK tech companies raised more venture capital funding in the first five months of 2022 than in the whole of 2020.
It puts the UK second to the US globally when it comes to start-up investment and means that UK start-ups are now outperforming those in China, France and India when it comes to attracting funding. The news comes as London Tech Week begins on Monday (June 13).
In Bristol, one notable raise was ClearBank, the UK’s new clearing bank, which secured £181m in March. Other smaller raises have also taken place, including offshore subsea firm Rovco, which secured £15.2m in a Series B fundraising round. Developer marketplace platform Deazy also secured £5m from Puma Private Equity.
London has dominated tech investment in Europe this year, raising £8.6bn, double Paris (£3.9bn) and over four times the amount of Berlin (£1.9bn).
So far, more than 950 UK tech start-ups and scale-ups have raised £12.4bn in 2022, compared to £12bn in 2020. In a record-breaking first quarter, UK tech raised £9bn, up from £6.3bn the same time last year.
The influx of capital means the UK is now home to 122 unicorns - firms worth $1bn - including Bristol-based chipmaker Graphcore.
Fintech is the strongest sector for tech investment in the UK so far this year, with £6.2bn raised, followed by healthtech, with around £791m invested.
Yoram Wijngaarde, founder and chief executive at Dealroom, said: “Despite the wider global challenges that have led to a slow down in public markets, private tech investment in the UK is continuing to grow.
“The UK has cemented its reputation as one of the best places to invest in fintech, with more fintech investment going into the country in the first part of this year compared to even the Bay Area.
"Nearly everything will be affected by the downturn we’ve entered into, but overall the UK tech sector is in a strong position than it's ever been before in terms of breadth and depth of the entire ecosystem.”
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