Deeptech: The Future of Compute 2025 (AlbionVC)

Summary

• Future of compute equity investment in the UK grew from £3 million in 2015 to £284 million by 2024.p.5
• In 2024, equity funding raised by UK deep tech companies increased to £5.19 billion, up from £4.49 billion in 2023.p.6
• Total investment in deep tech funding rounds over £2 million nearly doubled from £2.58 billion in 2019 to £4.68 billion in 2024.p.8
• SFC Capital was the most active venture capital investor in UK deep tech from 2023 to 2024, participating in 120 deals.p.9
• Grant funding awarded to deep tech startups totalled £2.15 billion across 7,558 awards between 2015 and 2024.p.13
• The University of Oxford produced 95 deep tech spinouts incorporated between 2015 and 2024, leading UK academic institutions.p.14

Key insights

1. Autonomous driving company Wayve was the top equity recipient in UK deep tech between 2023 and 2024, securing £833 million.p.11
2. In 2024, mega rounds of £10 million and above accounted for 38.7% of all equity deals in the future of compute sector.p.22
3. Grant funding awarded to deep tech companies experienced a 37.9% drop in value in 2024 compared to 2023.p.13
4. London leads UK deep tech activity, housing 2,351 active companies incorporated between 2015 and 2024.p.18
5. The largest UK deep tech exit in 2024 was cybersecurity company Darktrace, acquired by Thoma Bravo for £3.99 billion.p.17
6. Future of compute startups secure an average of £5.3 million more per deal than the broader deep tech cohort.p.20
7. Parkwalk Advisors was the top investor in future of compute deals exceeding £2 million between 2023 and 2024, with 8 deals.p.23
8. AI hardware developer Graphcore was acquired by SoftBank Group in 2024 for £462 million after raising £528 million in equity.p.27