Brexit Britain Powers Ahead Tech Investment In the UK Is 22% Larger Than Germany And France Put Together
UK leaves EU rivals trailing as Venture Capital Tech investment powers ahead
Being the start of the year the annual reports and rankings just keep coming — and so does the good news about the UK’s economic performance compared to its EU competitors.
Many of the league tables come out around the Christmas holiday and are given little coverage in the mainstream press — surfacing only in the specialist media. I make no apologies for rooting the good news out and telling you what the likes of the BBC choose to ignore.
The importance of tech industries cannot be underestimated. These mean as much to our economic future as the railways were for the Victorian era, and the arrival of mobile phone technology at the end of the 20th Century. “Tech” covers not just FinTech (which we reported on last week), but HealthTech, ClimateTech, AgriTech, EducationTech and other such sectors.
As a result of Tech innovation, the Tech sector is already contributing £149bn to the UK economy and is set to grow as we have a broader and deeper ecosystem than our European rivals. The value of start-ups and scale-ups in the UK is worth c.$585bn to the UK economy (up 120% against 2017) — and compares favourably to the $291bn of Germany, our next closest European rival.
Venture Capital investment rankings — by country
The UK is strengthening its position as number three in the world for Venture Capital tech investment, behind only the US in top place and China second. The UK’s investment level of $14.9bn is 22% higher than Germany and France’s put together ($12.2bn).
Top six-country rankings
- The United States $144.3bn
- China $44.5bn
- The United Kingdom $14.9bn
- India $13.3bn
- Germany $6.6bn
- France $5.6bn
Venture Capital investment rankings — by city
When it comes to Venture Capital worldwide the strong performance from US cities has pushed European players down the Top 10 rankings, with Berlin falling from 8th to 16th and Paris moving down from 13th to 15th. London, however, held its position — remaining ranked at 4th in the world after San Francisco, Beijing and New York.
London’s value of venture capital investment deals of $10.6bn is 60% higher than Paris and Berlin combined ($6.6bn).
World Top 10 city rankings
- San Francisco, CA $21.6bn
- Beijing, China $16.6bn
- New York, NY $15.2bn
- LONDON $10.6bn
- Shanghai, China $10.5bn
- Bangalore, India $7.1bn
- Mountain View, CA $5.8bn
- Cambridge, MA $5.3bn
- Boston, MA $5.1bn
- Santa Clara, CA $4.5bn
What is “Tech”?
Maybe after reading all those numbers you are still wondering what is Tech? Well to give you some examples it is an investment in companies developing drones for all sorts of purposes from engineering solutions to delivery systems to mapping and agriculture. It might be robotics or artificial intelligence in manufacturing or cryptocurrency development, health care or educational delivery. Anything that is digitised or electronically automated in all sorts of fields is “Tech”.
“It’s been another record-breaking year for UK tech with innovative British start-ups helping solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.
“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 French 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.
“Capitalising on this fantastic investment across the country is a crucial part of our mission to level up, so we are supporting businesses with pro-innovation policies and helping people to get the skills they need to thrive in this dynamic industry.
Chris Philp MP, Digital Minister, Department of Culture Media and Sport
Another day, another ranking and another outstanding performance by Team UK. It cannot be said often enough: do not believe all the doom and gloom peddled by Remainers and rejoiners. Like any country, the UK has its challenges to face but it is more than capable of rising to meet them.
The significance of the Tech investment figures is that thanks to Brexit the UK is in a position to pivot more easily to help the tech sector, be it in liberalising regulations that are now out of date or looking to make investment easier.
Surely we need regulation you say? Well yes, but is it all fit for purpose? There was a time when obtaining spectacles was restricted to monopoly provision through the NHS and restrictions to trade in the profession. It was deregulated and soon competition opened up the market and revolutionised how we bought our glasses — creating a huge industry, tens of thousands of jobs and greater prosperity.
We need to review our laws, many of which are inherited from the EU and establish if they are fit for purpose today and if they need to be changed. Doing this for the Tech sector will open up opportunities for greater innovation and advances.
If only we could use Artificial Intelligence to handle the vast amount of laws and regulations it could be done in double-quick time. There’s one Tech development we would all invest in…
Slaying the EU monster and Remainers cut by cut everyday😁
[Sources: Tech Nation, Dealroom 2021 [https://technation.io/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Tech_Nation_Report_2021_deck_v2.pdf]
