Parkwalk has been named as the top investor into spinouts for 2021, completing 31 deals, in the latest research on ‘Equity Investment into UK Spinouts’, a report carried out by Beauhurst. The report also states that UK university spin-outs have secured record levels of funding. In 2021, these startups raised £2.5bn in equity investment, a nearly 70% jump from the year before.

The findings from the report were also featured in an article in The Telegraph ‘Record funding for university ‘spin-outs’ – read the full article here.

Parkwalk has once again commissioned research into equity investment into the UK spinout sector over the past year. This year’s report shows an increased appetite for first-time equity deals and a record level of overall funding for spinouts. Whilst this is a positive step in the right direction for the sector, the report highlights that despite the world leading research produced here in the UK, deeptech is still hugely underfunded at the scaleup stage, especially from UK investors.

Key findings from the report:

  • Spin-outs earned £2.5bn in equity investment in 2021, up 69pc from the £1.5bn in the previous year and a five-fold increase on investment in 2012
  • A record 102 new companies received funding, with scale-ups attracting one in every ten pounds invested in private companies
  • A total of 3,207 equity deals between 2012 and 2021
  • There was £10.9bn of equity investment secured by spinouts between 2012 and 2021
  • A record 40% of deals involved participation from international investors, which shows that the technologies spinning out of the UK’s universities are attractive enough to lure investors from abroad

Moray Wright, CEO, Parkwalk said: “This year’s report shows an increased appetite for first-time equity deals and a record level of overall funding for spinouts. But…We still believe that despite the world leading research produced here in the UK, deeptech is still hugely underfunded at the scaleup stage, especially from UK investors.”

Download the full Beauhurst report here.