Last month, the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) released a report examining the state of U.K. investment. At first glance, it made for worrisome reading up and down the country and all around London’s Silicon Roundabout. The data showed venture capital and private equity investment into U.K. businesses down more than 30%.
As ever with these kinds of statistics, commentators immediately searched for cause and effect. Europhiles decried it as a consequence of Brexit and further proof of the U.K.’s dwindling global reputation. Advocates of other European technology hubs, such as Paris, Berlin, and the Nordics, claimed that this showed their own ecosystems were catching up.
