3 top VC investors for tech companies
UK tech is booming. The UK is Europe’s top scaling tech nation and is increasingly attracting attention from venture capital investors at home and abroad.
Last year, VC investment in UK tech reached an all-time high of £10.1bn, a 44% increase from 2018. The UK is now 3rd in the world for tech unicorns, behind only the US and China, with 77 companies valued at over $1bn. 95 companies are valued at $250-$800m.
Every month, we look at top tech companies who are taking the world by storm. The startups and scaleups that are making waves, and helping the UK become renowned for its tech scene globally.
In this post though, we’re gonna take a look at some of the venture capital investors who back these tech companies. The investors that are helping to turn startups into unicorns, and support companies on their mission to innovate with technology and improve lives.
So, here’s 3 top venture capital investors that are fueling UK tech – with some awesome companies on their portfolios.
Venture capital investor #1 – Balderton
Balderton is Europe’s leading early-stage venture capital investor, focused exclusively on European founded technology companies. They invest in companies with the potential to disrupt huge industries, and the ambition to scale globally.
Balderton believes that the next European giant will be a technology company. They say, “For a millennium, Europe was the cradle of innovation. Yet today, only a few of its largest enterprises are technology companies. We believe this will change.
“The continent’s long tradition of innovation and substantial engineering talent, along with ten years of ecosystem development, have come together to create an environment where startups can scale to become large companies with global impact.”
Balderton supports companies from start to exit. They’ve a network of globally-connected executives, who have real-world experience of founding and building technology companies from startup to IPO.
Founded in 2000, UK-based Balderton has raised eight funds over 20 years, totalling $3bn. They have a track-record of backing breakthrough companies ranging from MySQL to Betfair, and The Hut Group to Yoox Net-a-Porter. Companies such as Revolut, Workable, Citymapper, and Bookatable also feature on their portfolio.
Find out more about Balderton: www.balderton.com
Venture capital investor #2 – Accel
Accel is a leading venture capital firm that invests in people and their companies from the earliest days through all phases of private company growth.
They back tech-based startups with the potential to become world-class and category-defining businesses.
Powering a global community of entrepreneurs, Accel believes “greatness doesn’t have a stereotype”. The firm seeks to understand entrepreneurs as individuals, appreciate their originality, and play to their strengths.
Accel raised a £440m fund last year, its sixth to be invested in early-stage startups in Europe and Israel. They’re continuing to focus on UK growth companies following investments in Monzo, GoCardless, Soldo, Tessian, and WorldRemit.
According to Accel, the UK continues to be attractive because of the depth of its talent pool in software and artificial intelligence.
Founded in 1983, Accel is a U.S.-based venture capital firm. Though it has a well-established London office celebrating 20 years this year. Atlassian, Braintree, Cloudera, CrowdStrike, DJI, Dropbox, Dropcam, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, FreshWorks, Jet, Qualtrics, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, UiPath and Vox Media are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 35 years.
Find out more about Accel: www.accel.com
Venture capital investor #3 – Vitruvian Partners
Vitruvian Partners are an international investment firm that supports ambitious and talented entrepreneurs and companies to achieve their goals.
They target growth capital and management buyout deals, investing between €25m-€250m in companies typically valued between €75m-€1bn+.
The team has over 250 years of combined investment experience and a successful track record of creating value in their investments. With 85+ investments made and over €5bn of assets under management.
With headquarters in London, Vitruvian Partners was founded in 2006 by a team of experienced investment professionals. Skyscanner, Transferwise, Just Eat, OAG, and carwow are just some of the companies on their UK and Ireland portfolio.
Find out more about Vitruvian Partners: www.vitruvianpartners.com
Expect UK tech companies to keep garnering the attention of venture capital investors globally – and expect to see these VC names again.