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Who are the most active AI investors in the UK? Discover the 30 investors driving the growth of UK AI companies, from seed to scale.
The UK has established itself as Europe’s undisputed AI leader, home to more than 2,300 VC-backed AI companies with a combined market valuation of $230b.
Behind every AI breakthrough is bold investment capital – as seen in our Tech Nation UK AI Sector Spotlight 2025, which provides a comprehensive overview of the UK’s booming AI ecosystem. In Q1 2025, UK AI startups raised $1.03b in venture capital funding, the strongest first quarter for AI funding in the last three years.
The buzzing VC landscape, plus 23 UK AI unicorns and even more UK AI companies tipped for unicorn status, shows the UK’s potential to lead the global AI revolution. But, for UK AI founders, access to growth capital remains the biggest barrier to growth – one in three AI leaders we surveyed are actively considering relocating to access deeper capital pockets abroad.
These top AI investors are working to plug the funding gap – across early-stage, growth, and late-stage rounds – and drive the growth of UK AI:
SFC Capital, the UK’s leading SEIS fund, is the most prolific investor in early-stage AI startups, based on AI rounds participated in the last five years (2020-2025). The concentration of technical talent from top UK universities, combined with relatively lower startup costs compared to Silicon Valley has made the UK an obvious choice for early-stage AI investors.
HQ: United KingdomType: Angel, VCPreferred Round: SeedNumber of Rounds: 84
HQ: United KingdomType: PE, VCPreferred Round: SeedNumber of Rounds: 34
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred Round: SeedNumber of Rounds: 32
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred Round: Series ANumber of Rounds: 25
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred Round: SeedNumber of Rounds: 23
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred Round: SeedNumber of Rounds: 22
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred Round: Series ANumber of Rounds: 21
Seedcamp, Octopus Ventures, IQ Capital, and AlbionVC are especially active across early and growth stages. International investors are also most active in later-stage rounds with China’s Tencent number one for growth stage AI investment activity in the UK.
HQ: ChinaType: CorporatePreferred round: Series BNumber of rounds: 8
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred round: Series ANumber of rounds: 8
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred round: Series ANumber of rounds: 6
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred round: Series ANumber of rounds: 5
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred round: SeedNumber of rounds: 5
HQ: United KingdomType: CorporatePreferred round: Series BNumber of rounds: 5
Japan’s Vision Fund and SoftBank are among the most active backers of late-stage UK AI companies, with more private equity firms and corporate venture funds active in later-stage funding rounds.
HQ: United KingdomType: PE, VCPreferred round: Growth equityNumber of rounds: 7
HQ: JapanType: CorporatePreferred round: Series CNumber of rounds: 4
HQ: United KingdomType: PEPreferred round: SeedNumber of rounds: 4
HQ: United StatesType: PE, VCPreferred round: Series BNumber of rounds: 4
HQ: United KingdomType: CorporatePreferred round: Series CNumber of rounds: 4
HQ: JapanType: CorporatePreferred round: Series BNumber of rounds: 3
HQ: United KingdomType: PEPreferred round: SeedNumber of rounds: 3
HQ: United KingdomType: VCPreferred round: Series ANumber of rounds: 3
Download our Tech Nation UK AI Sector Spotlight 2025 for the latest investment trends, founder insights, and a comprehensive overview of the UK AI industry!
Main image: Rana Yared, Partner at Balderton Capital
