According to the technology and investment advisory firm, GP Bullhound: London is still home to the largest number of technology companies of 1 billion dollars in Europe, but maintaining that leadership after Brexit can be more difficult.
Currently, London hosts 13 unicorn businesses
That is more than Madrid, Stockholm and Amsterdam combined. The growing fintech technology sector of the capital of the United Kingdom is one of the main sources of expanding companies, since Monzo, TransferWise and Revolut are in the current harvest of unicorns in the city.
The GP Bullhound data includes technology companies that work in areas including artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data, cybersecurity, digital marketing and media, e-commerce, cloud computing, financial technology and healthcare technology.
It also predicts that the United Kingdom will house 25% of the new European companies of 1,000 million dollars created in the coming years. Taking into account that their own figures say that the United Kingdom now has 30% of the unicorns.
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, emphasized that the English capital remains open to business, talent and investments from around the world
According to his communication agency, “London is an excellent place to start, grow and scale an international business. From artificial intelligence to fintech, London is home to many interesting companies that are leading the way in the development of innovations and ideas to change the world. We are delighted to welcome more international companies than any other city and today’s figures show that London is open to investment and talent from around the world”.
Manish Madhvani, co-founder and managing partner of GP Bullhound added:
“London is the throbbing heart of the European technology scene, and it’s great to see so many unicorns that are currently here, along with several contenders who will probably achieve the next status. The challenge now is for London unicorns to get up and running, and crucially for investors to back them up with more resources so they can challenge the Silicon Valley dominance, which will lead Europe to get its first technological titan”.
Few question that the United Kingdom, and London in particular, is the main European technological center. Will it maintain this advantage after Brexit? In the last year, technological investment in the United Kingdom declined significantly, while investment in other European countries has increased.
Four out of ten technology companies have said they are considering moving or establishing operations outside of the UK as a result of Brexit.