European investor fears about a Brexit have been realised
Venture capital investments in European start-ups fell by a third from $4.3bn in the second quarter of 2015 to $2.8bn in the second quarter of 2016, ahead of the UK’s vote to leave the EU.
The news encapsulates the sense of anxiety over the UK’s exit from the European Union. A fear that certainly came to pass.
According to the Financial Times, citing preliminary data from Pitchbook, the UK was the most popular destination for venture capital funds, capturing the lion’s share of funding, with start-ups raising $994m of the $2.8bn invested during the quarter.
Fall in value of later-stage venture capital rounds
However, the number of companies receiving venture capital investment fell by 47pc across all regions as venture capital firms gave, on average, more money to each company they funded.
Venture capital invested in later-stage rounds fell from $2.8bn to $1.2bn in the second quarter.
Early-stage venture capital investments saw a slight uptick – including angel and seed funding – with funds increasing from $351m to $398m.
London image via Shutterstock
