> Cambridge is the leading regional tech city in the UK thanks to its combination of high levels of VC funding, venture capital rounds, advertised tech salaries, number of unicorns (tech companies worth more than $1 billion) and futurecorns, according to new analysis for the UK’s Digital Economy Council by Dealroom and the smarter job search engine Adzuna.
> Manchester was only narrowly beaten by Cambridge to the number two position, and Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are also in the top ten for capital raised, showing how the tech sector has spread across all regions and countries in the United Kingdom. **The number of jobs in Manchester increased by 164.6% in 2021** and the **highest advertised average salaries outside London were in Edinburgh – £58,405**.
> **With more money than ever flowing into UK tech – £29.4 billion this year, up 2.3x from last year’s figures of £11.5 billion** – almost £9bn of all VC invested went into startups and scaleups outside London and the South East and the regions are home to nine of the 29 unicorns formed this year.
> The combined value of UK tech companies founded since 2000* is now £540 bn, **after the biggest year-on-year increase since 2013/14**.
> This regional growth took place against the backdrop of an incredible year for the UK tech industry. **Tech investment grew 2.3x this year, the highest growth since 2013 to 2014 when it grew from $2 billion (£1.5 billion) to $4.6 billion (£3.5) billion**.
> **UK tech captured more than a third of investment into Europe**
> The £29.4bn raised by UK startups and scale-ups was **double the figure raised in Germany (£14.7billion) and almost three times that raised by France companies (£9.7 billion)**.
> UK tech investment accounted for a third of the total £89.5 billion that flowed into the European tech ecosystem this year.
> **UK venture capital firms have also had a record year and raised £7 billion** with record-breaking fundraisings from London firms including Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, 83North and Eight Road Ventures.
> **More US investment**
> The majority of the money coming into UK tech is from the US, with 37% of all funding coming from the States, **up from 31.5% last year, with the majority of it going into fintech and health tech companies**. Over 28% of UK venture funding came from domestic capital. Competition for deals among VC funds is heating up as more US venture funds launch offices in the UK, including Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital.
> **More unicorns created than ever before + more than France and Germany combined**
> More funding means more unicorns, with 29 created this year including the e-commerce platform Depop, car selling platform Motorway, insurance disrupter Marshmallow, and the challenger bank Starling Bank.
> This takes the UK’s total unicorn figure to 115 meaning 25% of the UK’s total unicorns were created in 2021 alone.
> **The UK has more unicorns than France (31) and Germany (56) combined**.
> **30% of new unicorns created this year are outside of London**
> Nine out of the 29 unicorns created this year are outside of London including Interactive Investor in Glasgow, Vertical Aerospace in Bristol and Touchlight Genetics in Hampton. Of all the unicorns created in the UK, 35% are outside of London and 35% of futurecorns are also based outside of the capital, suggesting that the growth in tech in the regions will continue strongly in the next five years.
> **Record IPO capital raising in London since 2007**
> The publication of Lord Hill’s UK Listings Review in March supported a strong year for the London markets, with **118 companies choosing to list in the UK raising over £16.8bn (YTD), the most capital raised since 2007**.
> #This made the UK the most active venue globally for IPOs outside the US and Greater China.
> **The London Stock Exchange has hosted more than twice as many transactions as the next most active European market, with a combined £49.0bn raised through IPOs and Follow-On Issuance**.
> The 37 tech and consumer internet companies that have listed this year achieved a combined market cap of £31bn. The London Stock Exchange has also supported 30 founder-led companies to list this year.
> Standout performers such as Oxford Nanopore and Wise have demonstrated the significant appetite from investors for quoted high-growth companies and this positive momentum is set to continue into 2022.
> The value of UK tech companies that exited via IPO, SPAC or acquisition reached a record £84bn, in a year which saw IPOs and SPAC listings for companies including Deliveroo, Darktrace, Cazoo, Arrival, Babylon and Depop.
> **More job opportunities in London and outside**
> The increased levels of money going into UK tech also mean companies are in need of trained technical and business staff. There has been a 50% rise in overall UK tech job vacancies advertised this year compared to 2020’s figures, with advertised tech vacancies hitting 160,887 in November. Currently, tech vacancies make up 12% of all available jobs in the UK, with just over 50% of these jobs available outside of London and the South East.
> Software developers are still the most in-demand tech job across the UK. **These positions make up 9% of all tech jobs with prospective developers being offered an average salary of £64,318, a 12% increase on 2020’s figures**. Specialist staff such as java developers and IT systems architects continue to be able to command high salaries with the average advertised wage for these roles being £80,076 and £93,004 respectively.
> **Increase in R&D**
> The government has increased its investment in R&D to £20bn by 2024-25, in order to support the UK’s research institutions, universities and businesses with an aim to increase this to £22bn by 2026-27.
> This investment is aimed at securing the UK’s future as a global science superpower, supporting businesses as they transition to becoming more innovative and productive and creating highly skilled jobs across the country.
> **At the same time, there has been increased private investment in deep tech firms, totalling £6.2bn in 2021, up from £2.8bn in 2020**.
> One of the biggest deep tech deals of the year was the £396m Series D raise by AI drug discovery company Exscientia, of Oxford, which helped the company achieve unicorn status.
> Matthew Scullion, CEO of Matillion, based in Manchester said:
> These figures are evidence that high-growth start-ups are thriving all across the UK, and it’s no surprise to see Matillion’s home of Manchester appearing so highly. While the city has not always had the playbooks, flow of capital, or awareness that we can build unicorns, the data shows that’s changing and doing so rapidly. We’re very proud to have played our part in this upwards trajectory, as the region’s most recent (and only enterprise software) unicorn, and we hope we can play our part in making the flywheel spin even faster in over the coming years.
> Nigel Toon, Co-Founder and CEO at Graphcore, based in Bristol said:
> **There is no longer any debate over whether you can build a multi-billion dollar tech business in the UK**. The investments made over the past few years into startups and scaleups across the country are producing outstanding results and I look forward to seeing how ecosystems like Bristol’s grow and thrive over many years to come.
> Alex Ferrara, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners, said:
> We know great companies can come from anywhere, but the UK’s track record as the leading tech hub in Europe is so consistent that we are delighted to be here on the ground in London. **The UK is forging a reputation for itself in many sectors, not least cloud computing, financial technology and DeFI, and we think that many more outstanding global companies will be born here**.
Imagine posting literal Boris govt. propaganda. Scraping the bottom of the barrel there.
4 comments
Tell me, my fellow Euros, is this based or not?
> Cambridge is the leading regional tech city in the UK thanks to its combination of high levels of VC funding, venture capital rounds, advertised tech salaries, number of unicorns (tech companies worth more than $1 billion) and futurecorns, according to new analysis for the UK’s Digital Economy Council by Dealroom and the smarter job search engine Adzuna.
> Manchester was only narrowly beaten by Cambridge to the number two position, and Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are also in the top ten for capital raised, showing how the tech sector has spread across all regions and countries in the United Kingdom. **The number of jobs in Manchester increased by 164.6% in 2021** and the **highest advertised average salaries outside London were in Edinburgh – £58,405**.
> **With more money than ever flowing into UK tech – £29.4 billion this year, up 2.3x from last year’s figures of £11.5 billion** – almost £9bn of all VC invested went into startups and scaleups outside London and the South East and the regions are home to nine of the 29 unicorns formed this year.
> The combined value of UK tech companies founded since 2000* is now £540 bn, **after the biggest year-on-year increase since 2013/14**.
> Levelling Up Power Tech League 2021:
1. Cambridge
2. Manchester
3. Oxford
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol
6. Leeds
7. Birmingham
8. Newcastle
9. Cardiff
10. Belfast
> **Record investment in UK tech**
> This regional growth took place against the backdrop of an incredible year for the UK tech industry. **Tech investment grew 2.3x this year, the highest growth since 2013 to 2014 when it grew from $2 billion (£1.5 billion) to $4.6 billion (£3.5) billion**.
> **UK tech captured more than a third of investment into Europe**
> The £29.4bn raised by UK startups and scale-ups was **double the figure raised in Germany (£14.7billion) and almost three times that raised by France companies (£9.7 billion)**.
> UK tech investment accounted for a third of the total £89.5 billion that flowed into the European tech ecosystem this year.
> **UK venture capital firms have also had a record year and raised £7 billion** with record-breaking fundraisings from London firms including Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, 83North and Eight Road Ventures.
> **More US investment**
> The majority of the money coming into UK tech is from the US, with 37% of all funding coming from the States, **up from 31.5% last year, with the majority of it going into fintech and health tech companies**. Over 28% of UK venture funding came from domestic capital. Competition for deals among VC funds is heating up as more US venture funds launch offices in the UK, including Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital.
> **More unicorns created than ever before + more than France and Germany combined**
> More funding means more unicorns, with 29 created this year including the e-commerce platform Depop, car selling platform Motorway, insurance disrupter Marshmallow, and the challenger bank Starling Bank.
> This takes the UK’s total unicorn figure to 115 meaning 25% of the UK’s total unicorns were created in 2021 alone.
> **The UK has more unicorns than France (31) and Germany (56) combined**.
> **30% of new unicorns created this year are outside of London**
> Nine out of the 29 unicorns created this year are outside of London including Interactive Investor in Glasgow, Vertical Aerospace in Bristol and Touchlight Genetics in Hampton. Of all the unicorns created in the UK, 35% are outside of London and 35% of futurecorns are also based outside of the capital, suggesting that the growth in tech in the regions will continue strongly in the next five years.
> **Record IPO capital raising in London since 2007**
> The publication of Lord Hill’s UK Listings Review in March supported a strong year for the London markets, with **118 companies choosing to list in the UK raising over £16.8bn (YTD), the most capital raised since 2007**.
> #This made the UK the most active venue globally for IPOs outside the US and Greater China.
> **The London Stock Exchange has hosted more than twice as many transactions as the next most active European market, with a combined £49.0bn raised through IPOs and Follow-On Issuance**.
> The 37 tech and consumer internet companies that have listed this year achieved a combined market cap of £31bn. The London Stock Exchange has also supported 30 founder-led companies to list this year.
> Standout performers such as Oxford Nanopore and Wise have demonstrated the significant appetite from investors for quoted high-growth companies and this positive momentum is set to continue into 2022.
> The value of UK tech companies that exited via IPO, SPAC or acquisition reached a record £84bn, in a year which saw IPOs and SPAC listings for companies including Deliveroo, Darktrace, Cazoo, Arrival, Babylon and Depop.
> **More job opportunities in London and outside**
> The increased levels of money going into UK tech also mean companies are in need of trained technical and business staff. There has been a 50% rise in overall UK tech job vacancies advertised this year compared to 2020’s figures, with advertised tech vacancies hitting 160,887 in November. Currently, tech vacancies make up 12% of all available jobs in the UK, with just over 50% of these jobs available outside of London and the South East.
> Software developers are still the most in-demand tech job across the UK. **These positions make up 9% of all tech jobs with prospective developers being offered an average salary of £64,318, a 12% increase on 2020’s figures**. Specialist staff such as java developers and IT systems architects continue to be able to command high salaries with the average advertised wage for these roles being £80,076 and £93,004 respectively.
> **Increase in R&D**
> The government has increased its investment in R&D to £20bn by 2024-25, in order to support the UK’s research institutions, universities and businesses with an aim to increase this to £22bn by 2026-27.
> This investment is aimed at securing the UK’s future as a global science superpower, supporting businesses as they transition to becoming more innovative and productive and creating highly skilled jobs across the country.
> **At the same time, there has been increased private investment in deep tech firms, totalling £6.2bn in 2021, up from £2.8bn in 2020**.
> One of the biggest deep tech deals of the year was the £396m Series D raise by AI drug discovery company Exscientia, of Oxford, which helped the company achieve unicorn status.
> Matthew Scullion, CEO of Matillion, based in Manchester said:
> These figures are evidence that high-growth start-ups are thriving all across the UK, and it’s no surprise to see Matillion’s home of Manchester appearing so highly. While the city has not always had the playbooks, flow of capital, or awareness that we can build unicorns, the data shows that’s changing and doing so rapidly. We’re very proud to have played our part in this upwards trajectory, as the region’s most recent (and only enterprise software) unicorn, and we hope we can play our part in making the flywheel spin even faster in over the coming years.
> Nigel Toon, Co-Founder and CEO at Graphcore, based in Bristol said:
> **There is no longer any debate over whether you can build a multi-billion dollar tech business in the UK**. The investments made over the past few years into startups and scaleups across the country are producing outstanding results and I look forward to seeing how ecosystems like Bristol’s grow and thrive over many years to come.
> Alex Ferrara, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners, said:
> We know great companies can come from anywhere, but the UK’s track record as the leading tech hub in Europe is so consistent that we are delighted to be here on the ground in London. **The UK is forging a reputation for itself in many sectors, not least cloud computing, financial technology and DeFI, and we think that many more outstanding global companies will be born here**.
Imagine posting literal Boris govt. propaganda. Scraping the bottom of the barrel there.
There’s a fierce whiff of Boris belch off that.
Some copium material