UK tech industry could see investment from Asia double due to Brexit and Donald Trump

Asian investors could turn their back on America and channel billions of pounds worth of investment into Britain’s tech sector following the election of US President Donald Trump, according to a leading advisory firm.

Europe’s tech sector could see investment from Asia, and in particular China, double to a record £93bn this year, with the UK taking a significant slice of the capital.  Trump’s threat of punitive trade tariffs against China, coupled with cheaper UK deals driven by the Brexit-hit pound will drive the trend, analysts say.

Much of the sentiment and rhetoric since the US election should concern any Asian corporate, whether it is true or not, there is a general feeling in the US that Asian corporates have benefited too much from US trade, and the fact is Asian corporates and investors are likely to be less welcome in the US in the next four years than in the last eight.

European tech firms are crying out for more late-stage funding, while a large number of quality tech companies will be searching for a cash-injection in order to break even.  All of this comes together to indicate that 2017 may become a “watershed year” for Asian investment into European technology.

Interestingly, the most active ‘European’ destination may be the UK, since there is a growing interest in British companies from US and Asian firms looking to capitalise on sterling’s collapse following the EU referendum result.  For example, Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank completed the biggest investment from Asia into the UK when it secured a £24 billion tie-up with ARM Holdings last year.

According to a leading VC fund Manager, “Much of European tech is already more international than the US, making adaptation for Asian markets easier and less risky – because of smaller home markets European tech companies build platforms and models which are inherently more international than US counterparts”.

Last year Asian capital into European tech reached an all-time high of US$58 billion (£46 billion).

Source: UK tech industry could see investment from Asia double due to Brexit and Donald Trump

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.