The 30 Most Active UK Startup Investors – From Seed-Stage to Scale

Who are the most active UK startup investors? Discover the venture capital investors driving the next generation of innovators, from seed to scale. Plus, read more in The Tech Nation Report 2025.

The UK has cemented its position as Europe’s tech leader in 2025. Over 17,000 VC-backed startups now call the UK home, with a $1.2 trillion combined market valuation. 

According to The Tech Nation Report 2025, the state of the nation report on UK tech, UK tech startups have raised more than $7b so far in 2025. This year also marked the biggest first quarter fundraise of the last three years, UK startups are raising bigger rounds at each stage than they were last year, and companies are reaching unicorn status faster than ever before. 

At the crux of the UK’s exciting tech landscape are the active venture capital investors fuelling growth. We’re seeing breakthroughs in rapidly-growing sectors like deep tech, health tech, robotics and AI, backed by bold VC investors across the country. UK VCs also raised 66 new funds in 2024, worth $10.9b – 70% more than VCs in France and Germany combined. 

Outside London, exciting tech hubs are developing across the UK, in the Midlands, the East of England, and Scotland in particular.

The buzzing VC landscape, including exciting UK AI companies tipped for unicorn status, shows the UK’s potential to lead the global AI revolution, provided we create the conditions where our most promising companies can scale without looking elsewhere.

These top UK startup investors are working to plug the funding gap – across early-stage, growth, and late-stage rounds – and drive the growth of tech across the country.

Who are the Most Active UK startup investors?

SFC Capital, the UK’s leading SEIS fund, is the most prolific investor in early-stage startups, while Octopus Ventures is the most frequent investor in growth-stage startups, based on the number of VC rounds they have participated in over the past five years.

The Business Growth Fund leads the way for late-stage investments and, together with Octopus, is among the most active investors across all stages. Only two international firms feature and both are headquartered in the US: Insight Partners at growth stage and BlackRock at late stage.

Here are the top 10 most active investors by VC rounds participated in the last five years (2020-2025):

Early Stage (Seed, Series A)

1. SFC Capital 

HQ: UK
Type: Angel, VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 456

2. Mercia Asset Management

HQ: UK
Type: PE, VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 165

3. Scottish Enterprise Growth Investments

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 139

4. Fuel Ventures

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 132

5. Seedcamp

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 127

6. Haatch

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 118

7. Octopus Ventures

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series A
Number of rounds: 103

8. Business Growth Fund

HQ: UK
Type: PE, VC
Preferred round: Growth Equity
Number of rounds: 94

9. Maven Capital Partners

HQ: UK
Type: PE
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 82

10. Ascension

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 73

Growth Stage (Series B, Series C)

1. Octopus Ventures

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series A
Number of rounds: 26

2. Molten Ventures

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series B
Number of rounds: 24

3. British Patient Capital

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series B
Number of rounds: 21

4. Latitude

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series B
Number of rounds: 18

5. Business Growth Fund

HQ: UK
Type: PE, VC
Preferred round: Growth Equity
Number of rounds: 18

6. Index Ventures

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series A
Number of rounds: 16

7. Balderton Capital

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series A
Number of rounds: 15

8. Insight Partners

HQ: USA
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series B
Number of rounds: 14

9. IQ Capital

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 14

10. Oxford Science Enterprises

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 16

Late Stage (Series D+)

1. Business Growth Fund

HQ: UK
Type: PE, VC
Preferred round: Growth Equity
Number of rounds: 69

2. Maven Capital Partners

HQ: UK
Type: PE
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 34

3. LDC

HQ: UK
Type: PE
Preferred round: Acquisition
Number of rounds: 32

4. Foresight Group

HQ: UK
Type: PE
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 24

5. Mercia Asset Management

HQ: UK
Type: PE, VC
Preferred round: Seed
Number of rounds: 16

6. YFM Equity Partners

HQ: UK
Type: PE
Preferred round: Early VC
Number of rounds: 16

7. IW Capital

HQ: UK
Type: PE
Preferred round: Growth Equity
Number of rounds: 13

Balderton Capital

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series A
Number of rounds: 13

Octopus Ventures

HQ: UK
Type: VC
Preferred round: Series A
Number of rounds: 12

BlackRock

HQ: USA
Type: PE, VC
Preferred round: Growth Equity
Number of rounds: 11

Download our Tech Nation Report 2025: Unlocking the UK’s Growth Potential for the latest VC investment trends, founder insights, and a comprehensive overview of the UK tech sector.