UK tops the charts in second quarter for venture capital funding in Europe

The UK has regained its title as the top spot in Europe for venture capital investment in the second quarter of 2018.

A total of £1.55bn of venture capital money was invested into UK businesses in the second quarter, spanning across 244 deals with artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity and biotech as the most popular sectors for investment.

Data provided by KPMG revealed the UK accounted for 60 per cent of the region's top ten deals done in the last three months, including rounds for Revolut, Freeline Therapeutics, CMR Surgical, Liberis, Culture Trip and Crescendo Biologics.

Additionally, London-based companies attracted the most capital of anywhere in Europe, with the most recent quarter breaking the record for the third-highest quarterly sum of venture money being invested into the city to date.

This is compared to a total of just over £1.1bn being invested into the UK the first quarter of this year.

"The continued uncertainty in the macropolitical and macroeconomic environment does not appear to be substantially hampering appetite for investment in UK startups," said Patrick Imbach, head of KPMG's innovative startup practice.

"Hot on the heels of a blockbuster 2017, the UK is still seeing very healthy sums of venture capital invested as investors continue to feel under pressure to deploy funds, which in turn is driving a higher investment volume and higher valuations."

Recent research from PwC also unveiled London as the number one European exchange in the second quarter, where proceeds from public listings were up 25 per cent from the same period last year.

The technology sector accounted for 40 per cent of all money raised in the UK via public listings in that time, as Avast took the crown for London's largest tech initial public offering to date.

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