Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Venture capitalist investments in London tech companies at record levels, say London promoters

06 Oct 2014, 4:24 pm

More than $1 billion of investments have been made in London-based technology businesses by venture capitalists this year, according to new figures.

The statistic, based on data recorded from the beginning of the year to the end of September on CB Insights' deals database, shows an increasing appetite from global investors to " capitalise on the growth of companies in London’s booming technology sector", London & Partners (L&P), the official promotional company for London, said.

L&P said that the total £1.021bn invested in London tech companies so far this year is up 30% on the $719 million raised by the businesses in the whole of 2013. It said that "initiatives aimed at fostering the growth of the capital’s technology cluster, such as Tech City and London Technology Week" had also helped the total investment figure so far recorded for 2014 exceed ten-fold the amount raised by London technology companies in 2010.

There are now more than 34,000 "digital technology firms" in London, research by Oxford Economics has found, with the figure expected to rise to 45,000 in the next ten years

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "These figures show, without any question, that this is an incredible period for technology firms in our city. Tech is blossoming and our reputation for innovation and discovery, allied with outstanding talent, is attracting record breaking levels of investment from around the globe."

According to L&P, peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Circle obtained the largest VC investment ($65m) during the third quarter of 2014 of any London tech business. Samir Desai, co-founder and chief executive of Funding Circle, said the latest investment would support the company's expansion into new international markets. Funding Circle expanded into the US market last year.

L&P said that increasing maturity in the London tech market is helping technology companies based in the city to access funding to support their growth plans more easily. It said an increasing number of VC funds have also elected to base themselves in London this year.