Funding flows for UK tech landscape

Venture capital funding fuelling IT industry development

Venture capital funding of UK and Irish technology companies reached new heights in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest data from corporate finance firm Ascendant.

During Q2, £1.42bn was invested in 182 deals of more than £0.5m by 235 investors at an average deal size of £7.8m.

This represents a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of deals and a 122 per cent year-on-year increase in the total quarterly value which was 62 per cent higher than the previous record high of £873m set in Q1 2016.

Private investors participated in 36 per cent of deals, while crowdfunding platforms financed 13 per cent of deals.

The most active regions were London and Ireland which were responsible for 65 per cent and 10 per cent of deals respectively.

The likes of RedOwl has raised $21.6m in venture capital funding, Juniper Networks has secured $228.9m in the last five years, while a host of cybersecurity start-ups have raised money.