Capital for startups has become scarcer. If the rest of 2024 plays out in the same way as the first quarter, total investment volumes might be as low as £12.8bn for the UK’s private companies.
That’s a fall of 55% from the annual peak of £28.4bn in 2021. It’s hard to put a positive spin on those numbers when taken as a whole. But we need to remember that some very different companies and very different inventors sit under that headline figure.
If you’re in the right sector, prospects look considerably rosier.
One of the more eye-catching trends from Beauhurst’s data is the increasing relevance of deep tech businesses to the UK’s startup economy. Deep tech has gone from representing 5% of investment in 2012 to 22% so far this year. That’s not to say the sector hasn’t seen its own downturn: investment is down from the 2021 high too, but the drop has been less severe – hence the growing share….
