Equity investment declined in 2022, driven by a downturn in the second half of the year
£16.7bn
of equity invested into the UK’s smaller businesses in 2022, a decline of 11% compared to 2021
2,702
announced deals in 2022, down 7% compared to 2021
£8.2bn
of growth stage investment in 2022, down 25% compared to 2021
47%
decline in total small business equity investment during the second half of 2022, compared to the first half
A record year for university spinouts
12%
of total equity investment in 2022 went to university spinouts, at a value of £2bn
£8.9m
average deal size for university spinouts, 33% higher than the wider market
8%
of total equity deals in 2022 were in university spinouts, totalling 226 deals
Cambridge University
had the highest number of spinout deals in 2022 (33), followed by the University of Oxford (31) and the University of Edinburgh (15)
Key strengths and opportunities for the UK in clean tech, life sciences and nanotech
11%
fall in overall equity investment value for tech companies in 2022
50%
increase in cleantech investment to £0.9bn in 2022, bucking the trend of the wider equity market
£10.5bn
of equity investment into UK life sciences companies during 2020-22, more than Germany, France and Canada combined
13%
of global venture capital investment into nanotech in 2020-22 went to the UK, the third largest share by country
British Business Bank more likely to support tech and university spinouts
15%
of all UK equity investment was supported by the British Business Bank in 2020-2022
13%
of all UK equity deals were supported by the British Business Bank in 2020-2022
48%
of Bank-supported deals were in the tech sector, compared to 42% across the overall market in 2020-22
12%
of Bank-supported deals were for university spinouts, compared to 9% of wider market deals in 2020-22