UK startups and scaleups secured $9bn (£6.8bn) in venture capital funding in Q3 of 2025, marking the second-highest Q3 total on record and the strongest since 2021, according to new analysis from HSBC Innovation Banking UK and Dealroom.
With year-to-date investment now at £13bn – equalling 2024’s full-year total – the UK is on track to deliver its best funding year since 2022. This year is projected to close at £17.4bn.
Investor appetite for large-scale rounds accelerated in Q3 with 12 deals of £75.3m or more – this almost matches the total of 14 from the previous two quarters combined.
Revolut’s landmark £1.5bn raise and NScale’s £753m investment round mark the first time that innovative UK firms have secured multiple billion-dollar rounds in a single year since 2022.
Fintech remained the UK’s most funded innovation sector, attracting £4bn this year. In Q3, Xelix secured £120m in its Series B round and Tide raised £90m. Even excluding Revolut, fintech investment outpaced healthcare, the second-largest sector, which secured £2.4bn.
Series A activity also reached a seven-quarter high, with 46 rounds completed.
“UK venture capital has rebounded with strength across all stages this year,” says Simon Bumfrey, head of banking at HSBC Innovation Banking UK. “The return of billion-dollar mega rounds alongside record early-stage activity signals renewed investor confidence in the UK’s innovation economy.
“Fintech remains the UK’s flagship sector, while the strength of healthtech and other high-growth areas demonstrates the breadth of our ecosystem. With regional hubs also attracting a growing share of capital, the UK is proving itself not only as Europe’s leading tech hub but a global centre where innovative ideas scale into successful, impactful businesses.”
The UK also continues to raise more venture capital than any other European country. The £13bn invested so far this year is greater than the combined totals of the top two, three and four, with France at £4.7bn, Germany at £4.5bn and Switzerland at £2bn.
Investment continued to spread beyond London at pace too. Of the 1,458 funding rounds recorded in 2025, 45% were completed outside of the capital. The top regional hubs for VC funding were Cambridge at £1.5bn, Oxford at £305m and Cardiff-Newport at £130m.
