The UK is setting the standard as a leading ecosystem for ethical and values-driven innovation by leveraging the nation’s strong science and technological foundation.
• Over 3 million people are employed by top-tier companies in the UK’s technology sector, developing a new generation of talent.
According to recent data from Dealroom for the Digital Economy Council, the UK IT sector will end the year as Europe’s leading ecosystem, maintaining its position as the main competitor to the US and China amid a global backdrop of challenging economic conditions.
Fast-growing UK IT companies raised nearly record amounts of money (£24 billion) in 2022, surpassing the combined totals of France (£11.8 billion) and Germany (£9.1 billion).
The entire amount raised over the previous five years now stands at around £100 billion (£97 billion).
According to additional statistics released today, the UK has: • More high-growth businesses than its European counterparts, having produced 144 unicorns, 237 futurecorns, and more than 85,000 startups and scale-ups
• Attracted VC firms from throughout the world, including General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Lightspeed; • More venture capital investment than its European counterparts; • A forward-thinking approach to legislation fostering digital innovation and competition;
• Eight cities, including Edinburgh, Nottingham, and Oxford, have more than two unicorns.
The most recent statistics, gathered by Dealroom for the Digital Economy Council, highlight the development of the UK’s digital sector as a hub for global innovation and as a European Silicon Valley.
These factors are directing the growth of the nation’s tech ecosystem, which today supports 3 million jobs.
Continual expansion and investment have created a worldwide tech powerhouse.
UK tech reached the $1 trillion valuation milestone earlier this year thanks to steady growth, becoming only the third nation after the US and China to do so.
As a result, the UK IT sector is valued more than twice as much as that of Germany ($467.2 billion) and three times as much as that of France ($307.5 billion), and it continues to outpace its European counterparts in terms of overall funding, unicorns, and startup counts.
Due to this, the UK has created nearly 400 high-growth firms since 2000, totaling more than $250 million.
This includes 237 futurecorns, rapidly developing companies expected to overtake unicorns as the most valuable corporations in the next years, and 144 unicorns, or enterprises valued at $1 billion or more.
The updated statistics indicate how the ecosystem is developing; at this point last year, there were 116 unicorns and 204 futurecorns.
setting the stage for value-driven growth
The UK’s emphasis on fusing innovation with standards and principles has contributed to the country’s success in developing such a broad and diverse ICT ecosystem.
In order to take a less centralised approach than the EU and reflect how AI is used in different sectors, the UK revealed a new method to regulating AI earlier this year that is based on fundamental concepts like safety, openness, and justice.
The government would also give the Digital Markets Unit legal authority to increase competition and level the playing field for challenger tech companies, the chancellor added.
All of this contributes to setting up the ideal environment for advancing research, technology, and growth.
introducing technology to young people
Nearly 3,000 edtech businesses have received a total of £1.7 billion in funding over the last five years, demonstrating the importance of upskilling and reskilling in the UK’s technological leadership.
The goal of organisations like Academy, Code First Girls, Immersive Labs, and Multiverse is to make it possible for people of all ages to acquire the skills necessary to succeed in tech positions, including those in tech apprenticeships, coding, development, and cyber security.
Adzuna, a more intelligent job search engine, reports that UK businesses are hiring more people for entry-level tech positions as they try to attract and develop a new generation of tech talent. This year, the number of such positions has increased from 6,596 in November of last year to over 15,000 this year.
leading in terms of impact
Although the UK continues to be the leading nation outside of the US for fintech investment (almost £10 billion raised this year), it is also emerging as a major centre for impact tech, or businesses developing technological solutions to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In the UK, there are around 1,200 impact IT businesses that have raised £3.12 billion in funding so far this year, topping the previous record of £3 billion.
The majority of funding goes toward green energy, as seen in the £258 million investment in Newcleo, a business that is working to create safe uranium recycling technology.
GrowUp Farms, a vertical farming firm that utilises technology to grow food more sustainably, raised £100 million, while scaleups addressing healthcare inequity, like Cera, which brings technical innovation to social care, raised £263 million.
Impact tech today employs more than 53,500 people, up from 37,500 the year before because to the consistent inflow of investment.
Regional advantages are crucial.
Eight towns in the nation now have two or more unicorn businesses, including Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Oxford. This shows how widely distributed innovation is across the nation.
These fast-growing companies are revolutionising industries like finance (Interactive Investor democratises investing), sustainable transportation (Vertical Aerospace develops electric-powered aircraft), medical research (Oxford Nanopore develops portable DNA sequencing), and electronic device development (CSR – semiconductors).
More than France (36) and Germany (63) put together, these locations are home to 112 unicorn enterprises, highlighting the UK’s excellent pipeline of future global digital leaders.
With over 500 alumni founders collecting more than $10 million in capital, Cambridge was recently crowned the top university in the world for creating successful tech founders, surpassing Harvard and MIT.
With 410, Oxford came in third.
Due to their substantial tech and science focuses, Bristol (173), Nottingham (100), and London (98) all made it into the top 20.
identifying the upcoming global innovation sources
This is also what draws foreign investors to London and the UK, where they can access the expanding network of entrepreneurs in the new Silicon Valley.
Following the creation of new offices here last year, US investors General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Lightspeed have extended their teams in the UK in 2022, while global firm New Enterprise Associates appointed its first UK-based partner in October.
While early this year, European investor Earlybird VC built a new office in London.
The UK-based funds have had another successful year of fundraising, raising a total of £9.2 billion this year, up from £9 billion at the same time in 2021.