Written by Elizabeth Howcroft
LONDON (Reuters) – Venture capital investment in British companies fell in the first three months of 2024, making it the worst quarter for British fundraising since the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, a report said on Tuesday. It became clear.
UK startups raised $3.9 billion in funding in the first quarter of 2024, down from $4.8 billion in the previous quarter and the highest since the second quarter of 2020, according to a report from HSBC Innovation Banking and Dealroom. It became a low level.
HSBC Innovation Banking said in a statement that UK venture capital investment “stabilized following a sharp global reset” in the second half of 2022.
Venture capital investment surged during the coronavirus pandemic, with companies raising record amounts of money, but global capital flows have slowed since then as rising interest rates made investors more risk-averse. Generally depleted.
The UK fintech sector received the most funding in the first quarter of 2024, with $1.4 billion in funding for digital bank Monzo announced in March.
According to the report, the UK ranks third in the world for investment in start-ups, behind the US and China, but ahead of India.
More than half of venture capital investment in UK companies comes from overseas, the report said. The data shows that so far in 2024, only 36% of capital flows will come from domestic investors, down from as much as 64% in 2013.
The body representing UK fintech companies on Monday called on the government to take further steps to encourage domestic investors to pour money into the sector.
HSBC Innovation Banking is a subsidiary of HSBC, formerly the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank, established in June 2023.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Ross Russell)
