17 Apr EAST OF ENGLAND START-UPS BEGIN YEAR WITH £680 MILLION VC INVESTMENT IN Q1
VC investment into the East of England’s start-up and scaling businesses increased in the opening quarter of 2025, according to the latest KPMG Private Enterprise Venture Pulse report.
Having raised £480 million in the final quarter of 2024, business in the region received £680 million from VC investors in the first three months of this year – a 41% increase.
39 investments were concluded in the region, highlighting sustained appetite among VC investors looking to support the East of England’s burgeoning start-up community. Deals were driven mostly by the region’s Information Technology and healthcare sectors, which saw 15 and 14 deals respectively, making up 74% of total deals.
Standout raises included two biotechnology companies based in Cambridge, with £55.5 million for Maxion Therapeutics and £25 million for TRIMTECH Therapeutics, as well as fresh funding for Ctrl AI, an AI and Machine Learning business headquartered in Norwich.
Joe Faulkner, East Anglia Senior Partner at KPMG UK, said: “It’s promising to see a notable rise in VC investment across the East of England over the last three months, reflecting strong investor appetite for the region’s innovation-led sectors. Deal values rose significantly for life sciences and biotechnology, further cementing the East’s world-class influence in biotech and health innovation.
“This momentum speaks to the depth of talent and commercial potential in the East of England, which is increasingly seen as a strategic hub for high-growth businesses. With continued public and private investment into the Cambridge-Oxford Arc, we would hope to these investments yield more long-term opportunities for growth, research and commercialisation.”
National outlook
National investment figures revealed that a shift towards larger investments helped the UK to keep its title of number one in Europe.
The UK remain number one in Europe for venture capital (VC) investors despite a fall in both overall investment and number of deals, according to new figures.
The latest KPMG Private Enterprise Venture Pulse report showed that the UK continues to come out on top across the EU with a total of £4.1 billion raised across 507 deals during the first quarter of 2025, securing four out of the top 10 deals including the biggest in Europe after London-based AI drug discovery Isomorphic Labs scooped a £453m award.
This was also partly driven by strong investment in the health and biotech sector during Q1 2025, including UK-based Verdiva Bio securing £309 million and Cera £113 million.
However, overall, the quarter recorded a fall when compared to Q4 2024 in both the overall level of investment (from £4.4bn to £4.1bn) and total volume of UK VC deals (from 569 to 507) – driven by investor confidence currently being aligned with more established, proven start-ups given uncertain market conditions and ongoing lack of exits.
Nicole Lowe, UK Head of KPMG’s Emerging Giants practice, said: “In a financial climate that is currently fluctuating on a daily basis following the recent activation of tariffs across the globe, investors are backing companies that offer the fastest path to profitability.
“This has made it challenging for UK startups in IP rich areas as these are longer term investment areas, which, while not favourable at this moment, could actually provide excellent opportunities in the coming weeks, months and years.
“This switch could indicate we are at risk of missing out on important investment in these sectors, which are key to driving long-term economic growth and supporting our future workforce, and therefore should ensure we all be doing as much as we can to make these investments as attractive as possible.”
