UK businesses secured a total of $4.75bn in 2015 from 400 deals with 113 of those deals in October to Decemebr, accounting for 43 per cent of all European VC activity in the final quarter.
The data from KPMG and CB Insights showed that two thirds of investments into European companies during the period were made into technology firms, including a $100m investment into restaurant delivery service Deliveroo led by DST Global and Greenoaks Capital.
The UK’s record VC numbers are in stark contrast to the global picture where there was a 30 per cent drop in VC activity over the same period to $27.2bn – the lowest levels since early 2013.
Patrick Imbach, head of KPMG’s high tech growth team, said: “Investment in the UK’s burgeoning technology sector has increased over the course of 2015 to record levels.
“Not only is this is an indication of the sheer quality of investment opportunities in the UK, but also symptomatic of the fact that valuations here are still perceived to be moderate when compared to the valuations of their sector counterparts in the US and Asia.”
