Venture capitalists invested more money than ever into start-ups last year
Summary
Venture capitalists invested more than $675 billion in start-ups worldwide in 2021, doubling 2020s previous all-time high, according to data published Thursday by VC analysis firm Dealroom and British promo agency London & Partners. Despite the pandemic, the number of so-called "unicorns" continued to rise at a clip last year, with some 133 start-ups in the San Francisco Bay Area seeing their valuations climb to over $1 billion, followed by 69 in New York, 21 in Greater Boston, 20 in London, 16 in Bengaluru and 15 in Berlin. In total, start-ups in the U.K. capital raised $25.5 billion from VCs last year, up from $11.2 billion in 2020, and there are now 75 unicorns in London, with recent additions including mobile banking app Starling Bank and insuretech start-up Marshmallow. "This data shows that London is not only a brilliant place for entrepreneurs to start businesses, but also to grow them to a global scale." Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and 83North all closed big new funds, while well-known U.S. VC firms including Lightspeed and General Catalyst set up offices in the city.