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Asian investors have increased their investments in UK technology.
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In the first six months of this year, more Asian wealth was invested in U.K. digital businesses than in the entire year of 2020. Asian and Middle Eastern investors poured GBP1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) into UK IT companies in the first half of the year, compared to GBP1 billion ($1.4 billion) in 2020.
According to data from Dealroom.co and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Digital Economy Council, 577 U.K. firms have received Asian funding thus far. Farfetch and Checkout.com, as well as the recently floated Cazoo and Arrival, are among them.
Chinese investors have rushed to purchase up a fresh wave of U.K. digital businesses in the last five years. While the Japanese are the top Asian investors in U.K. IT firms, thanks to Softbank’s funding, their proportion has been progressively falling as Chinese investors have stepped in.
The number of Chinese billionaires and millionaires is fast increasing, and Singapore and Hong Kong, where they keep their money, are now the second and fourth largest investors in U.K. IT businesses, respectively. The United Arab Emirates, the Middle East’s largest wealth powerhouse, comes in third.
The flood of cash has been welcomed by Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who described it as a “huge compliment to have a region that has been at the forefront of tech and innovation for decades to believe so strongly in what we’ve built here in the UK and to want to be a part of that.”
In the United Kingdom, fundraising set a new high last year. The tech sector raised more over $15 billion, up $200 million from the previous year.
Many companies’ valuations have already risen this year. Dealroom.co forecast 132 unicorns, or start-ups valued at more than $1 million, in May.
While the UK hasn’t developed any tech behemoths on the size of Apple or Amazon, it has specialized in fields like fintech and healthtech.
Financial technology has raised more money in the United Kingdom than any other sector, as seen by the successful offering and subsequent $13 billion valuation of Transferwise, a money transfer startup, last week.
Many investors are turning their focus to the United Kingdom due to the declining appeal of Asian digital enterprises.

TransferWise’s CEO and co-founder, Taavet Hinrikus, is now a billionaire after the company’s successful… [+] IPO on the London Stock Exchange.
Getty Images/Getty Images/Getty Images/Getty Images/Getty Images
Didi, the ride hailing service, has now been banned in China due to data security concerns. Its stock, which only began trading in New York at the end of June, has lost a third of its value since then.
It comes after Alibaba was fined $2.8 billion for anti-competitive behavior and Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO) was canceled due to concerns about its lending practices.
A slew of other Chinese internet companies and apps have also been investigated and banned. Many Asian investors have shied away from local IT enterprises due to the combined scrutiny of Chinese regulators, pushing them to go elsewhere.

Cheng Wei, the founder and CEO of Didi, a ride-hailing app, speaks at the company’s 2015 launch.
Getty Images/Visual China Group
However, Chinese investment is being scrutinized more closely. Nexperia, a Chinese company, purchased Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the United Kingdom, earlier this month.
Many members of parliament were against the transaction, including Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, who wrote to UK Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng, saying it “represents a substantial economic and national security issue.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought a review of the agreement, which was eventually approved on July 5, demonstrating that Chinese investment in British technology will continue unabated in the second half of 2021./nRead More

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