We are excited to announce that ten UK tech scaleups have completed the second cohort of Tech Nation’s International Fundraising Bootcamp. 

The Bootcamp prepared founders to raise VC funds internationally across Seed to Series C rounds and gave the companies the opportunity to connect with VCs and investors. The programme included four one-on-one interactive sessions to help founders improve and build their documentation, giving them the knowledge and guidance to navigate the fundraising process. 

Companies participating in the Bootcamp reported two key barriers they had previously experienced when looking to raise internationally: 1) investor knowledge, and 2) access to investors. 

This bootcamp was run in partnership with Fundraising Bootcamp. It runs alongside Tech Nation’s second cohort of the International Growth Programmes in Asia Pacific, as part of the UK Government’s Digital Trade Network to help more UK tech companies receive investment from the region and expand into new Asia Pacific markets. 

Francois Mazoudier, CEO of The Fundraising Bootcamp, said: “The UK tech ecosystem is on fire right now; we’re living in the most exciting era in tech, ever – a high concentration of talent, innovation, large capital pools and a great support system. 

“The world recognises our leadership position and values it massively, but it’s still very hard for startups and scaleups to raise capital, especially for first timers; UK founders and CEOs should look up and broaden their search terms when setting up their investor target lists.

“Asia Pacific and US investors are seeking to invest in UK companies, and can bring great value beyond cash. That’s why we, together with Tech Nation, value this Asia Pacific-focused Fundraising Bootcamp – showing how to attract the best investors, irrespective of geography, and get great companies to raise funds successfully.”

International capital in the UK

The UK tech ecosystem is already attracting significant international investment, with investment from outside the UK steadily increasing since 2016.

In the first half of 2021, international investment accounted for $23bn, compared to domestic investment at $8.9bn. The most active investors are from the USA, followed by Canada and Asia.

International investment is key in supporting the UK’s best tech companies’ growth, while also widening the investment pool and driving growth in jobs and capital.

Furthermore, international investors are more prominent in “mega-rounds” according to Tech Nation’s annual report, providing the capital needed to accelerate growth, while also providing the expertise and knowledge needed for companies to entering new international markets.

Lorena Puica, CEO at Bootcamp participant, syd™, said: “We are delighted to be part of the Tech Nation International Fundraising Bootcamp as this is perfectly aligned with our ongoing scaling plans across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. This International Fundraising Bootcamp is instrumental in this next phase of our global growth. I’m excited about the opportunities that this partnership will bring.” 

The companies

The 10 companies selected to take part in the bootcamp span more than seven subsectors of tech including fintech, AI, healthtech and HR tech. They are headquartered in all corners of the UK, with 60% from outside of London – including Manchester, Stoke-on-trent, Scotland and Wales. 50% of the companies have at least one female founder. 

• • Huler.io
    Huler.io is a digital launch pad to all of your employees’ tech, sites and deep links.

• • Versed AI 
    Versed AI provides companies with multi-tier supply chain visibility, surfacing previously unknown supply chain relationships down to tier-n. Using cutting edge Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning technology, we are able to identify multi-tier supply chain relationships, analyse complex networks to identify risk concentrations, and support intelligent decision-making.
    

• • TOffeeAM
    TOffeeAM is a design software for Advanced Manufacturing based on topology optimisation. It is cloud based and it re-designs engineering components for maximum performance.

• • Reath
    Reath’s Digital Passports for reuse make it easy for businesses to launch reusable/refillable packaging, at-scale and driven by data insights.

• • Scribestar  
    ScribeStar is a digital ecosystem for issuing and maintaining securities in capital markets, powered by structured data. The platform brings together issuers, lawyers, advisers, sponsors, exchanges, regulators, and others into a secure digital environment where this work can be done more efficiently, in less time, and at lower cost. The technology uses customised workflows to streamline the non-trading processes in capital markets, whilst making the documentation machine-readable and structuring the financial and non-financial information contained therein.

• • BankiFi
    BankiFi transforms banks’ mobile and internet banking channels from something purely transactional to where an SME runs their business by combining payments invoicing, accounting, and cash forecasting.

• • Squarebook
    SquareBook is the tech platform for equity fundraising. We’re the first independent, conflict-free provider of auction technology for companies to carry out IPOs and other raises.

• • Syd (i am Yiam)
    syd™ is a science-backed, all-in-one life quality platform designed to improve health, productivity, & retention.

If you are a UK scaleup ready to take your company overseas, register your interest for our support and upcoming programmes here.