By Gaia Freydefont
Industry research specialists Beauhurst have confirmed that despite the economic uncertainties of the past two years, investors in the UK have continued to pour money into private companies.
In 2021, investors placed over double the amount of capital to private UK companies compared to 2020, constituting a rise in deal value from £11.3b to £22.7b, and an increase in deal volume from 2,283 to 2,679.
This activity represents an astonishing 100% increase in deal value, and a 17% increase in deal volume from 2020.
As the population was staying home during the third full lockdown, the first quarter of 2021 was definitely the busiest in terms of the number of deals, as 760 deals were announced in the months between January and March.
Deal volume slowed in the second and third quarters, but gained momentum in the fourth quarter, as 667 deals were announced between the months of October and December.
Some of the biggest deals of year include Revolut, which acquired US firm Wanted and London-based firm Nobly, securing £1.27 billion in equity investment so far, raising £578 million in 2021.
In the fintech sector, Monzo has secured £927 million worth of equity funding across 17 rounds, and raised £359 million in 2021, while SaltPay raised two equity funding rounds to date and made acquisitions of four companies: Borgun, Pagaqui, Tutuka and Paymentology, raising £358 million in 2021.
Medtech company CMR Surgical raised nine equity funding rounds to date, making a staggering £743 million in total, and raised £432 in deals in 2021.
However, deal value and volume recorded for 2021 is actually even higher as these figures do not include unannounced rounds, which are equity fundraising deals which are not announced to the public and are often issued with significant time lag.
In an effort to avoid inaccurate analyses, unannounced deals are usually excluded from the data pack, but actually represent a huge portion of activity, as unannounced equity fundraising made up approximately 70% of the number of deals and 30% of the value of deals.
The actual volume and value of deals made in 2021 is £26.5 billion or more, across 6,873 rounds, with more coming in each week, representing astounding growth in the past year and an encouraging prospect for equity finance going forward.