Following a near-record breaking start to the year, venture capital investment activity in the UK has hit a four year high, with first-half levels more than double numbers seen this time 12 months ago.

Start-ups focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) remain the main factor in this rise in investment, with particular focus on London being the hub for tech innovation. A total of £10.7 billion of the £14.2 billion raised so far this year centred about the city, up from £4.4 billion in 2025.

The first six months of the year have also seen a spike in billion-plus megadeals, with three in total and experts predicting the UK is now becoming home to the ‘megadeal’ in Europe, with more expected this year and beyond.

These megadeals were for London-based firms, including frontier AI drug discovery platform Isomorphic Labs (£1.5 billion), £1.48 billion for AI infrastructure company Nscale and autonomous driving business Wayve (£1.1 billion).

A total of 1,153 deals were completed in Q1 and Q2 of 2026, worth a combined £14.2 billion and a major jump of more than 100% in value on the same period in the previous year – which saw start-ups share £6.7 billion across 1,572 deals.

This is the largest amount invested in UK start-ups across a half year period in the past four years (when £14.8 billion was raised in the first half of 2022), and only marginally missing out on being the most invested in half year since records began in 2017.

Analysis of the investment data, taken from KPMG’s quarterly Venture Pulse report, highlighted these half year results has cemented London as a global top three hub for venture capital investors.

Anna Purchas, London Office Senior Partner at KPMG UK, said: “The impressive rise in London’s venture capital investment so far this year is a significant vote of confidence in the capital and the strength of its innovation ecosystem. AI is clearly driving much of that momentum, but attracting investment is only part of the equation, the bigger challenge is helping businesses turn that capital into sustainable growth and successfully scale into global markets.

“Taking on that challenge means connecting start-ups with the right mentors and networks, but also with established businesses that can become early customers and help them test and demonstrate their technologies in the real world. Strong accelerators and university partnerships can also provide further expertise and technical credibility.

“Creating those connections will be crucial if today’s investment is to translate into lasting businesses, jobs and ultimately growth for London and the wider UK.”