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- London is leading European fintech by the total amount of funding and the number of unicorns.
- The UK now lags behind just the US and China for the number of current and "realized" unicorns.
- London now has more fintech unicorns than San Francisco.
Fintech is booming and London's calling.
The UK now has no equal in Europe and is on track to match the powerhouses of China and the Bay Area for the number of unicorns, or billion-dollar private companies in its market.
It's been a meteoric rise for London, which has seen $5 billion in VC investment in the first half of 2019, the most on record. In 2018, VC investment in the UK was more than that of Germany, France, and Sweden combined, according to Tech Nation figures. London now has more fintech unicorns (18) than San Francisco (15).
A mix of progressive regulation, access to talent, and increased levels of funding have helped deflect the looming specter of Brexit. One of London's most well-known VCs, Eileen Burbidge, says that a third of Europe's unicorns got their start in London and 30% of what she calls "future unicorns" are based in the UK.
"There's never been a better time to be working in the UK digital tech sector," said Burbidge, chair of Tech Nation and partner at Passion Capital. "We are really punching above our weight. I'm confident that we will be producing many more world-class fintech companies, uniting our country's expertise in financial services and deep tech, along with world-leading digital tech companies across all categories."
Below is a series of notable investments made in 2019 and a series of charts demonstrating London's prominence in tech circles:
Tech Nation/dealroom.co
Notable investments in the first half of 2019.
