London leads as most attractive European tech hub for San Fran investors

According to investment data released by London & Partners, the UK is the leading European destination for Silicon Valley investors.

British tech companies have been to said raise more venture capital than any other European country. In the last five years, UK tech companies have supposedly received more venture capital investment from West Coast investors than France, Germany and Ireland.

Silicon Valley investors are continuing to pump huge sums of money into UK companies despite Brexit talks. This year has seen a record $1.13bn raised alone.

Sherry Coutu CBE, co-founder of SVC2UK and serial entrepreneur, said: “With some of the 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.

“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.

“London will continue to be a diverse, outward looking city and we look forward to welcoming our friends from the Valley to encourage greater collaboration between the two centres.”

In addition, the investment data revealed that London’s tech companies received most 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) representing the next most popular cities for Silicon Valley investors.

London’s venture capital market has been boosted by the number of unicorn companies based in the capital, with separate research from investment firm GP Bullhound revealing that London is home to more unicorns than any other European city.

Manish Madhvani, CEO and founder of GP Bullhound, added: “London’s digital economy has demonstrated unprecedented levels of talent, ambition, and investment, delivering an exceptional cohort of billion-dollar businesses.

“These pioneers have been critical to the rise of European tech and will drive the industry forward to create companies of scale to rival the US and Asia.”

London & Partners is Sadiq Khan’s - the Mayor of London - official promotional agency, with a purpose of supporting and promoting London as a city built for investment, work, study and leisure.