London’s women tech founders look to Silicon Valley for investment and expansion

Fifteen of London’s fastest growing women-led technology start-ups will be part of a trade mission to the Bay Area next week to explore investment, export and expansion opportunities in the West Coast of the United States.

 

The four-day trade mission led by the Mayor’s International Business Programme and Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK) will provide the founders with the opportunity to pitch to West Coast venture capital firms, learn from US founders about scaling their businesses globally and meet with high profile executives at Google, Facebook and Box. 

 

According to London & Partners investment data, 2017 was a record year for venture capital funding into UK tech companies from Bay Area investors, with British tech firms receiving over £1.6bn worth of funding compared with the £908m invested in 2017 and almost three times the £538m raised in 2016¹. UK companies have also received significantly more investment from the Bay Area than their European counterparts, with UK firms attracting over four times the amount invested in France (£214m), Germany (£394m) and Sweden (£263m) last year.

 

The fifteen businesses joining the trade mission represent some of the UK’s most exciting high-growth companies, growing at an average rate of over 75 per cent per annum (based on the past three years) and collectively employing almost 400 people.

 

Separate analysis of PitchBook’s investment data revealed the 46 women-led companies that have participated in the SVC2UK trade missions have raised more than £300 million (£304.7m total) in VC funding, with four of the companies being acquired after their participation in the programme.

 

The fifteen businesses and founders joining the programme include: