In 2022 the UK technology sector raised £24bn – the most of any country in Europe, but down on the £29.4billion raised in 2021. The funding in 2022 tailed off towards the end of the year with the impact of the deteriorating economic situation. However 2023 has started well with some significant investments across the sector.
Oxford based medical imaging company, Perspectum, raised £30million. This round was led by Oppenheimer Holdings with one of the other investors being British Patient Capital at £8.7million. British Patient Capital is the commercial subsidiary of the Government owned British Business Bank, which in its most recent financial year deployed £341million, including investments in Nucleome Therapeutics and Oxford Quantum Circuits.
A further Oxfordshire based quantum computing company, Oxford Ionics, has also just announced its successful raise of £30million, this time led by Oxford Science Enterprises.
Fintech and particularly insurance tech related businesses have been getting a higher profile now alongside the more “lab-based” tech companies. These are typically making significant use of the power of A. One such is Superscript which has just announced a successful fundraise of £45million led by BHL Land.
So does this mean that all will be rosy for technology businesses seeking funding in the UK in 2023? Despite these significant deals and the clear pull of UK innovation for money over the last couple of years, the market is definitely showing signs of increased fragility. There is still money around but the earlier stage entities are having more difficulty in raising smaller amounts and typically when they do so it’s at lower valuations. In reality, deals will continue to be done - albeit probably not in the volumes over 2021 and 2022 - but the uncertainties in the wider economy are likely to play out in there being increased uncertainties in the investment market.
