The British Business Bank partnered with Beauhurst to provide an assessment of equity finance markets to UK smaller businesses. The report covers equity investment from a wide range of funding sources including Venture Capital funds, business angels, and crowdfunding platforms to give an overall picture of equity funding conditions. The report found:
- 2015 was a strong year for equity finance with deals numbers increasing by 5% from 2014 to 1,270 and total investment value increasing by 58% to £3.5bn, although the market is showing some signs of softening in Q4 2015.
- Equity investments remain concentrated in London with London receiving 47% of all equity deals by number and 57% by value in 2015, despite only 21% of high growth businesses being located in this region.
- Technology remains the largest sector in receipt of equity finance receiving £1.6bn of equity funding in 2015.
Download the Small Business Equity Investment Tracker 2016