The tech sector in Cardiff has raised £7.4m in growth capital so far this year in disclosed deals, as new figures show the valuation of the UK-wide sector has reached the $1 trillion mark.
Cardiff is in the top UK 10 cities in the UK with £7.4m of investment raised to date in 2022, according to the figures calculated by Dealroom and analysed for the UK’s Digital Economy Council.
Of the deals the largest was into fintech firm Delio, with a £6.1m equity round. The other investments were into SmallSpark Space Systems and TropCo.
However, deal flow and values were higher in many competitor UK cities in Q1. Manchester (six deals) had a total value of £16m, Edinburgh (13 deals) a value £84m, Belfast (4 deals) a value of £10.9m, and Glasgow (four deals) a value of £36m.
Cardiff tech’s sector did outperform Bristol with its six deals and a value of £2.9m and Newcastle £2.5m with three deals.
As expected, with its high tech business population, London has seen the most deals so far this year with 184 with a combined value of £5.3bn, followed by Oxford, whose those six deals had a value of £84m. Cambridge (8 deals) has so far this year generated total deal flow value of £80m.
The value of deals in Cardiff represented 0.11% of the UK tech sector fundraising total of £6.5bn. For the year to date the funding raising amount for Wales, (eight deals) is £10m.
Last year the tech sector in Cardiff raised £82m, with £108m for Wales as a whole.
Of the latest $1 trillion valuation the sector in Wales is valued at $14.7bn, or 1.5% of UK total.
Cardiff is home to one ‘futurecorn’ - a high-growth tech company predicted to be worth $1 billion in valuation in the next few years - in the form of fintech venture Sonovate. The business provides finance and tech solutions to recruitment agencies and other businesses to engage contractors and freelancers.
Gareth Lewis, co-founder and chief executive at Delio, said: “The Welsh tech scene has seen an exciting period of growth, and it is really encouraging to see more home-grown businesses thrive. Now it is time to take this progress to the next level and strengthen our reputation on the international stage. At Delio, we have the pleasure of working with over 90 financial institutions worldwide, and we’re not alone in this. It is important to celebrate how many companies across Wales are beginning to operate on a global level.”
UK Government Digital Minister Chris Philp said: “The UK tech industry has gone from strength to strength in the past few years and all this hard work and dedication is paying off now that it’s become the third ecosystem in the world to reach $1 trillion in value. It’s brilliant to see how every tech company in the UK, from early-stage startup to global leading decacorn ($10bn plus valuations), has a part to play in lifting up the ecosystem and making it thrive.”
Of the UK’s 13 tech-based decacorns, one is Cardiff headquartered loans to home insurance firm Admiral. It as market capital just over $10bn (£7.7bn)
Yoram Wijngaarde, founder and chief executive at Dealroom, said: “The UK is only the third country in the world to reach this $1 trillion valuation milestone. The explosion in venture capital investment started by the pandemic amid the overwhelming demand for digital services for healthcare, education and food delivery has helped spur on this growth but the foundations were laid long before 2020.
"As companies and investors grapple with the global challenges of 2022 from the Russian Ukraine war to the ongoing supply chain crisis and the cost of living rises, it’ll be interesting to see how tech ecosystems like the UK’s adapt and adjust.”
