Manchester saw an increase of investment of £48m from 2018 to 2019, up 277 per cent to £181m
Manchester is the fastest growing tech city in Europe with investment more than doubling within one year, according to government funded industry body Tech Nation.
In the annual Tech Nation Report, it was revealed that Manchester saw an increase of investment of £48m from 2018 to 2019, up 277 per cent to £181m.
In the north west as a whole, the report found there had been a total venture capital investment of £600m in 2019, with £77m invested in emerging tech and £25m investment in artificial intelligence from 2015 to 2019.
The report also found the median digital technology salary in the north west was £35,000.
Liverpool saw a 150 per cent increase of VC investment into digital tech companies in the same period, from £15.4m to £38.5m.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "It's great to see the north west's tech sector continuing its tremendous growth. Manchester is the fastest growing tech city in Europe and Liverpool saw a 150 per cent increase in investment into its tech companies last year.
"We're investing in digital skills, cyber security and research and development, as well as regional infrastructure such as gigabit speed broadband and 5G to keep up this momentum."
Tech Nation said the digital tech sector GVA grew nearly six times faster than the rest of the UK economy in 2018, contributing £149bn to the UK economy and accounting for 7.7 per cent of UK GVA.
Some 25 per cent of Europe's top 20 highest investment tech cities in 2019 are in the UK - Manchester, London, Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge.
Tech Nation chief executive Gerard Grech said: “In a rapidly changing world, the UK is a shining light for tech entrepreneurs, investors and employees, with jobs in the digital sector now accounting for 9% of its national economy.
Some of the biggest UK successes; the 77 so-called tech unicorns, are $1bn valued companies now inspiring others, and there are an additional 95 tech businesses across the UK primed to be scaling over the coming years.”
He added: “We need to stay responsive, with smart regulation, ever increasing access to growth capital and new markets.
“Every effort we put in now will repay many times over, as the past few years have already shown.”
Tech Nation, which receives 80 per cent of its funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has also chosen Altrincham-based Matillon and wejo to join its Future Fifty 8.0 programme for late-stage tech companies.
The aim of the programme is to support companies in achieving global ambitions, creating jobs and opportunities across the UK, and inspiring the next generation of tech entrepreneurs, founders and businesses.
Wejo chief executive Richard Barlow said: “We are proud of our North West roots. We started as a small team based near Chester and now innovate on a global scale, in an industry that's typically led by the Silicon Valley pack.
“We are excited to be selected to join the Future Fifty 8.0 programme, alongside an impressive cohort.
“As the North West continues to gain prominence in the tech industry, we expect to see many more North West businesses follow in our footsteps in the coming years.”
Mr Grech said: “As one of Europe's longest and most successful scaling programmes for late stage scale-ups with 163 companies collectively raising £6.1bn so far on Tech Nation's Future Fifty, I'm thrilled to see such an impressive array of companies such as Monzo, MSquaredLasers and BenevolentAI from across the UK join an impressive alum.
“The companies joining Future Fifty 8.0 today have already raised over £1.4bn, and already employ nearly 6,000 people - Tech Nation's ambitions for what they can achieve are as big as the entrepreneurs themselves.”
Source: Business Live UK