London remains Europe’s top startup hub - report

The findings confirmed London’s status as the tech capital of Europe, with its ecosystem value being significantly higher than the likes of Berlin ($94bn) and Paris ($89bn).

The report ranks the leading 140 startup ecosystems globally based on seven success factors including talent, market reach and connectedness. Silicon Valley held onto the top spot this year while Boston and Beijing came in fourth and fifth, respectively. A number of other UK hubs also featured in the report’s Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems, including Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Durham.

The Global Startup Ecosystem report ranked London highly for access to funding, with the study recognising the UK capital’s strengths for access to early-stage investment and the amount of local investors. Separate research by Dealroom.Co for London & Partners shows that in the first five months of 2022, London tech companies have already attracted a record $11.3bn in venture capital funding – more than the total raised in the first six months of 2021 ($10.5bn) and any other year previously. London has so far attracted significantly more venture capital investment in 2022 than any other European city, receiving over double the amount of funding than Paris ($5bn) and Berlin ($2.4bn). The UK capital is also competitive on the global stage, ranking third for total money raised this year behind New York ($15.4bn) and Silicon Valley ($44.5bn).

In addition to record levels of funding, London has produced more unicorns startups and billion-dollar exits than any other European hub, according to the report. The UK capital is now home to 80 unicorns, more than the next three European unicorn hubs (Berlin, Paris and Stockholm) combined. So far this year, London has added six new unicorns to its total in 2022, including Paddle, Forterro, Payhawk, Tripledot Studios, Accelerant, and Learning Technologies Group.

“London is the undisputed tech and innovation capital of Europe, and this independent report demonstrates that our start-up ecosystem is also one of the most diverse and vibrant in the world,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. “The record levels of investment we’ve seen so far this year offers further proof that London’s tech sector continues to go from strength-to-strength. I’m looking forward to welcoming the global tech community for this year’s London Tech Week, a great opportunity for us to strengthen partnerships across the world and build a better London for everyone.”