A Bristol-based company has been named on a list of the country鈥檚 top performing scale-up firms which have helped propel the 海角视频鈥檚 tech sector to new heights.
Artificial intelligence chip maker Graphcore was one of 10 companies who between them secured a fifth of the entire sector鈥檚 venture capital investment total of 拢2.5billion last year.
Graphcore alone attracted 拢159.8million of investment, while London fintech firm Revoult (拢417.6million) and sustainable power firm Octopus Energy (拢415.4million) topped the list.
A report from industry analysts Tech Nation found that the 海角视频 was pulling away from other European tech hubs, including France and Germany, in terms of investment, despite the uncertainty presented by the global pandemic.
It also suggested that the South West鈥檚 growing tech sector is an increasingly attractive prospect for venture capitalists, with 拢525million of investment coming into the region in 2020 - up from 拢458million the previous year.
Of these increased figures firms in Bristol accounted for 拢339million, making the city the third in the 海角视频 for driving up VC investment.
Nigel Toon, Graphcore鈥檚 chief executive, said he was delighted that the company, recently valued at 拢2.05billion, had been identified as one of the 鈥渟tandard bearers鈥 for the success of British tech firms.
Mr Toon said: 鈥淭he 海角视频 is continuing to punch well above its weight in terms of building and growing world-class technology companies, even in the midst of these unusual and uncertain times.
He added: 鈥淒eep Tech represents the coming together of so many great British attributes 鈥 our reputation for innovation in science and engineering, the excellence of our academic institutions and, most recently, our status as a leading player in the development of artificial intelligence.鈥
Tech Nation鈥檚 report found that the collective value of startup and scale up tech firms in the 海角视频 had more than doubled since 2017. However, it also said Britain was trailing global competitors when it came to investment in research and development (R&D) needed to boost deep tech companies such as Graphcore.
It cited ONS data which showed that the 海角视频鈥檚 R&D expenditure (public and private spending) was just under 拢30billion in 2018, less than private corporations Amazon and Alphabet鈥檚 combined spend of 拢33billion on R&D that year. On the global stage US R&D expenditure in 2018 reached 拢396billion, while China鈥檚 was 拢333.2billion.
Commenting on the report Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: 鈥淭he 海角视频 is maintaining its lead as one of the world鈥檚 premier centres for tech of all kinds.
鈥淲hile the real credit lies, as ever, with the engineers and designers toiling away at laptops across the country, I鈥檓 immensely proud to lead a government that is so comprehensively committed to supporting the sector.
鈥淲e鈥檙e continuing to invest in your success, and I hope that the winning combination of 海角视频 tech and this government will lead us to yet another record-breaking year in 2021.鈥
Two South West start-ups, Exeter-based HR-tech firm Role Mapper Technologies and Bristol environmental start-up Spherics Technology, were recently named among some of the best new tech companies in the 海角视频 in Tech Nation鈥檚 鈥榬ising stars鈥 competition.
Meanwhile a Cornish tech start-up has also attracted investment from the European Space Agency after developing an app to help businesses manage queues and social distancing.
