Tech businesses in the North secured growth聽investments of 拢207.6m in the third quarter of 2017,聽double the value of the previous three months and almost four times the value in the same period last year.
The data, analysed by KPMG鈥檚 Northern tech sector team, shows that there were 45 growth investments made between June and September 2017, as well as 26 acquisitions.
The three largest North West deals by value were the minority stake purchase of The Hut Group by Old Mutual for 拢125m; the 拢20m raised by on-demand online GP surgery Push Doctor; and NorthEdge鈥檚 拢20m minority stake acquisition of facial animation software firm Cubic Motion.
鈥淲ith over 拢200m of invested funds, this is the most heavily invested quarter since we began our analysis a year ago,鈥� said Graham Pearce, KPMG鈥檚 tech sector lead for the North.
鈥淭estament to the fact that a rise in Northern tech investment is not just down to one or two extraordinary ventures, Q3 has also seen the highest number of transactions of the past twelve months.鈥�
KPMG found software had a particularly strong quarter with 拢30.4m invested in 17 companies, closely followed by internet and media businesses, with 拢29.2m invested in 13 companies.
On a rise in investment from overseas, Pearce added: 鈥淥verseas investment in UK tech has historically been London-centric, but a number of recent investments across the North West have seen significant overseas interest, with funds flowing in from tech enterprises and financial investors across the US, Europe and Asia.
鈥淭he size of these investments is not minor; for example, the recent 拢20.2m PushDoctor fundraise in Manchester saw participation from Silicon Valley-based Partech Ventures and Paris-based Seventure Partners.鈥�
The聽Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, which opened in February 2017, made four investments of under 拢1m in Northern tech start-ups in the third quarter, with three in Yorkshire and one in the North East.
There were 26 completed acquisitions in the three-month period, a 79 per cent increase on Q3 2016.
“This suggests confidence in the M&A market returned to the Northern tech sector in the year after the shock of the Brexit vote,” Pearce said.