British start-ups have raised more than $30 billion this year after funding rounds by the likes of Revolut and Hopin.
According to Dealroom data provider, fresh companies have received more than twice the amount of private capital as was amassed during the whole of last year.
The unprecedented output of banking and technology strengthens Britain s status as Europe's largest tech hub. It has outperformed France and Germany and stands third behind the United States and China in the early stage funding.
Young UK companies are benefiting from a global hunt for businesses with the potential to upend industries such as banking, energy and healthcare. The record low interest rates have further inflated the value of promising start-ups, creating vast wealth for founders and their backers.
The pandemic has created new opportunities for technology challengedrs as people turn to music and film streaming, games and online shopping and as companies redesigned their systems to enable home working. As economies emerged from the lockdowns, businesses raised their investment in technology to boost productivity and reach consumers online.
Britain has ten private technology companies valued at more than $10 billion, of which seven have reached the mark this year. Revolut, the banking application, is Britain s most valuable start-up. In July, it raised $33 billion at a valuation of $800 million.
European rivals are also developing multi-billion-dollar enterprises. In the summer Klarna, the buy now, pay later group, was valued at $46 billion with Northvolt, the battery producer raising $2.75 billion in the largest financing round yet for a European company. Financial technology received the largest share of the new capital. More than 300 companies have raised $11.2 billion since the start of the year, up from $5 billion last year. Prodigy Finance, which has loans to fund post-graduate degrees, banked $750 million from investors last month.
Healthcare technology companies have received $5.6 billion, more than twice last year s $2.5 billion figure. Exscientia and Oxford Nanopore secured significant tranches of new funding this year. The latter recently went public in London.
Private software companies have also borrowed $3.5 billion from investors. Hopin, the digital event company established two years ago, was valued with $7.8 billion in some places after receiving $450 million in fresh funds.