The Venture Capital Unit

Working closely with over 500 international investors, the UK government connects vetted UK companies with international investors. The UK government also provides assistance to overseas investors to establish UK based venture funds as well as supporting with introductions to Limited Partners based in the UK and receptive corporates.

Support for international venture capital funds

• the Venture Capital Unit provides introductions to brilliant UK companies that are soon to be seeking investors or raising over £5m with globally competitive propositions • we work across multiple sectors that are aligned with the UK Government’s strategy; supporting investment into prioritised knowledge-intensive, high growth UK sectors. These include: DeepTech – AI, Quantum, Robotics and Semi-Conductors, Life Sciences and Healthcare, CleanTech, FinTech, Cyber and Space • we collaborate with International and UK VC funds, Corporate Venture Capital, innovation hubs, university spin-outs, incubators and accelerators, to identify and review high growth potential companies that are seeking venture capital investment. If the conditions are met, we work directly in support of the company to provide introductions to international investors and help develop relationships • we also produce and share sector specific and investor-only “Lookbooks”, which are curated portfolios of some of the most innovative and exciting UK companies seeking funding in a particular sector • the Venture Capital Unit organises invitation-only, sector-specific showcase events, where international VC funds are introduced to the UK scale-up eco-system and are provided opportunities for presentations from leading UK companies which are pursuing funding

The UK as a Global Venture Capital Market

The UK has the second most active and capital-intensive Venture Capital market in the world, with £22 billion of venture capital deployed in 2022. In 2021, UK Venture Capital companies raised some £16 billion of additional capital, 80% of which was raised from international investors, predominantly from North America, Europe and Asia. In 2022, there were over 3,900 Venture Capital Deals in the UK, the median valuation per deal being £7.1 million and the largest individual deal being £745.2 million.

The UK is home to a growing concentration of companies in Life Sciences, FinTech and DeepTech – Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Semi-Conductors and Quantum Technologies. The UK has created 114 innovate companies that have a market value of more than US $1 billion.

The UK is home to four of the top ten universities in the world and between 2012 to 2017, the UK had five Universities in the global top ten for raising capital for companies that have been spun out of academic research. In 2022, the UK was ranked 4th from 132 economies that featured in the 2022 Global Innovation Index.

Contact the Venture Capital Unit

If you are an international investor seeking to identify and understand the investment opportunities presented by the UK’s wealth of talented, fast-growing technology sectors and collaborative opportunities with the UK Venture Capital Sector, the Venture Capital Unit would love to talk with you.

To find out more on how we can support your investment please email venturecapitalunit@trade.gov.uk