Global investment in tech start-ups rose after a record year last year, with London reaffirming its dominant position in Europe, according to research released on Thursday by technology promotion body British Capital.

Tech start-ups raised $675 billion globally in 2021, doubling year on year, according to data published by London & Partners and provided by consultancy Dealroom.

Despite the pandemic and Brexit, London is at the forefront of Europe: the British capital alone raised a record $25.5 billion out of a total of 115 billion on the continent, more than double the number of cases in the two cases.

London is ranked fourth globally, far behind the world number one, the San Francisco area (100.9 billion), but ahead of Berlin (11.1 billion) on the continent, the only other European city to slip into the top 10.

New “Unicorns”

Nationwide, UK tech companies raised $39.8 billion last year, far ahead of Germany ($19.9 billion) and France ($12.9 billion).

British “tech” was fueled by a sharp increase in funding rounds of over $100 million last year and more new “unicorns” (a start-up valued at more than a billion dollars, editor’s note) compared to previous years Was marked: they are now 75, that is, 20 more than in 2020.

Checkout.com, a British fintech specializing in payments services, announced on Wednesday that it had raised its valuation to 40 billion after raising a billion dollars already last year.

According to press reports, thus making it the first place among British fintechs.

According to the study, the total value of London “tech” companies established since 2000 exceeded $500 billion (+70%) last year.