Venture capital investment in British startups and scaleups reaches £9bn in 2024
Research by the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) – finds that the venture capital (VC) industry played a bigger role in the UK economy in 2024, increasing both investment and fundraising activity compared to 2023.
Venture Capital in the UK 2025, which launches today at the BVCA’s Accelerate conference, finds that:
- The total amount invested in British businesses by VC funds, co-investors and financial institutions was £9bn in 2024 - a 12.5% rise compared to 2023.
- As of 2025, VC supports over 378,000 jobs across the UK - a 20% rise compared with 2023.
- As of 2025, over 9,000 businesses are backed by VC in the UK - 11% more than in 2023.
The report confirms that venture capital makes long term investments, finding that the holding period for VC investments exited in 2024 rose to 6.7 years. This long-term investment gives business a platform on which to scale, improving productivity, upskilling employees and generating jobs.
VC investment plays an important role in the IT and communications sector, with 36% of jobs backed by the industry located in this sector. Businesses in the professional, scientific and technical sector (13%), and in the finance & insurance sector (10%), also represented a significant proportion of jobs in VC-backed businesses.
2024 a robust year for fundraising
VC funds managed from the UK had a robust year in 2024 with the total amount raised reaching £4bn, almost double the amount raised in 2023 (£2.3bn). This was underpinned by the strong fundraising performance of several large UK based managers. 2024 also saw a rise in the number of venture funds raising capital: from 44 in 2023 to 48 in 2024, demonstrating continued investor confidence in this type of investment.
To retain the UK’s status as Europe’s leading hub for VC, the BVCA is calling for the Government to:
Ensure the tax credits system is consistent and efficient. The UK’s regime needs to be competitive with other international jurisdictions. The BVCA welcomes the announcements related to R&D in the Budget. The Government must help improve the regime and increase uptake of advance assurance claims.
Increase limits on accessing funds through SEIS, EIS & VCTs. The annual and lifetime investment limits have not increased in line with inflation and should be increased to reflect the needs of early-stage companies. The investment limits for Knowledge Intensive Company test should also be increased considerably. Regional EIS and VCT funds are particularly constrained by the 7-year rule. Raising this limit would provide more opportunities for scale up and growth.
Support new and emerging managers by expanding the BBB’s Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) programme. New and emerging managers still find it challenging to raise capital from Limited Partners. Venture capital funds that do receive ECF backing face a challenge when the funds have reached the maximum amount of ECF investment but are too small to receive investment from other BBB programmes. Expanding the size and number of investments the ECF can make will help to build the pipeline of future venture capital firms.
Expand the BBB’s Nations and Regions Investment Funds. The BBB plays a significant role crowding in regional and growth funding in the venture capital and tech investment ecosystem, as it does in supporting the pensions and growth agenda. The BBB’s Nations and Regions Investment Funds (NRIF) should be expanded to continue its valuable support for innovative companies across the UK.
Address legal and regulatory barriers for emerging VC funds in the UK. For example, the Registered Venture Capital fund (“RVECA”) regime, the UK on-shored version of the EU’s EuVECA created after Brexit, should be reformed in a number of ways to make it more competitive and reduce the costs for VC fund managers. High costs to set up a new fund should be mitigated through using a more standardised approach to fund documentation, as the BVCA already does for companies looking for VC investment.
Michael Moore, Chief Executive of the BVCA said:
“With one of the largest hubs for the industry in the world, UK venture capital is driving forward some of the most innovative and exciting businesses that will redefine the economy of the future.
“From ensuring the tax system remains competitive internationally to making sure the government pensions reforms are introduced effectively, this industry must continue to be nurtured so that the UK retains its status as Europe’s leading hub for venture capital.”
Notes to Editors
A copy of Venture capital in the UK 2025 can be found here.
Case studies
Quantexa
Quantexa is a global AI, data and analytics software company pioneering Decision Intelligence to empower organizations to make trusted operational decisions with data in context. Using the latest advancements in AI, Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform helps organizations uncover hidden risk and new opportunities by unifying siloed data and turning it into the most trusted, reusable resource. It solves major challenges across data management, customer intelligence, KYC, financial crime, risk, fraud, and security, throughout the customer lifecycle.
Albion led the first round in 2017 alongside HSBC, one year after the company was founded. The company recently completed a c.£140m Series F investment round in 2025, which values the British tech company at £2bn.
Bettering Our World (BOW)
Originally spun-out from the University of Sheffield in 2020, BOW offers a software platform that handles the complexities of robotics and allows developers to focus on innovation and creativity instead of technical challenges. The company is developing ‘robot-agnostic’ software development kit (SDK) to bridge the gap between diverse robotic systems, enabling integration and operation across multiple platforms, regardless of operating system or manufacturer.
Earlier this year the company announced that Raspberry-Pi Co-Founder Liz Upton had joined the company as Chair. BOW is currently working with OEMs, software development houses and research and development teams to address the core issues of portability between different makes and classes of robots.
Media contacts
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BVCA Press Office
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About the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is the industry body and public policy advocate for the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) (private capital) industry in the UK. With a membership of over 600 firms, we represent the vast majority of all UK-based private capital firms, as well as their professional advisers and a large base of UK and global investors. The private equity and venture capital industry has a vital role to play in driving national and regional growth. Currently over 13,000 companies, employing more than 2.5 million people, are backed by private equity and venture capital investment in the UK.
