Our fourth in a series of thought leadership reports, Understanding the UK’s high-growth AI companies, has been published in partnership with Beauhurst and funded by the UK Government, to provide a detailed view of the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence industry.
This thought leadership report explores the regional distribution and development of the UK’s 1,797 active, high-growth AI companies, exploring the concentration of over 57% of these organisations (1,027), within London.
Key industries that numerous AI companies operate in, such as the software-as-a-service (SaaS), internet platforms and mobile apps sectors have inherently received sizable equity investment and grant funding. This report provides details on the capital and innovation within this space, considering that AI companies secured a remarkable £3.21b in equity funding, across 2022 alone.
Insights into public and private funding, through grants and wider direct investment are displaying consistent growth trends, with sustained increments through funding rounds / grant provision across the past decade. 179 high-growth AI companies have successfully achieved exits, either in the form of an acquisition or initial public offering (IPO), between 2013 and 2022 – 46 of these (25.7%), took place in 2022.
AI has remained a highly relevant and common technology for a while, however its rapid evolution and recent promotion, has been a significant driver of various company exits and substantial investment into the sector. The UK government maintains a pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, but consciously aims to balance responsible innovation with public trust.
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