Silicon Valley invests $1.5bn in 'cheap' UK tech start-ups
Silicon Valley invested $1.54bn in British technology start-ups in 2017, taking advantage of the sliding value of the pound.
A report from the law firm Pennington Manches revealed that West Coast-based US firms struck 74 deals with UK start-ups in 2017, breaking the billion-dollar mark. The UK technology sector enjoyed a 62% increase in investment in 2017, while the number of deals has increased by 252% since 2011.
According to the report, the majority of the firms are based in the UK’s 'golden triangle' formed by London, Oxford and Cambridge. Since 2011, 79% of the companies invested in were based in this area.
The report also points out that most companies that Silicon Valley was interested belonged to the life science sector, taking $678m from the US West Coast since 2011, while hardware companies and medical tech followed with $297m and $83m respectively.
Many of these deals aim to help UK companies access the vast US tech market and their investors generally offer technical expertise to improve the product or the brand.
Brexit has influenced the increase in inward investment thanks to the devaluation of the pound since the referendum, though sterling has regained most of that ground as the Bank of England looks to raise rates and the agreement over the divorce deal nears completion. Some of the deals struck last year were done at a discount of nearly 20% for US capital investors.