AI startups banked 30% of UK VC funding in 2025 so far
News snapshot
- AI firms raised $2.4 billion of UK VC in H1
- Overall VC was up 3% to $8 billion
- Isomorphic Labs and Synthesia led top deals
Artificial intelligence startups captured a record 30% of all venture capital in the UK during the first half of 2025, that's according to a new report.
The report, jointly penned by HSBC Innovation Banking and Dealroom, said some $2.4 billion was raised for such ventures. In total, UK VC investment totalled around $8 billion, up 3%, from the preceding six months, it added.
Simon Bumfrey, head of banking at HSBC Innovation Banking UK, said it was "hugely exciting to see AI investment gathering pace".
Britain's largest AI funding rounds included a $600 million raise by Isomorphic Labs, a London-based Google Deepmind spin-out that uses its former parent's AlphaFold technology to predict biological interactions and is working on drug discovery ventures in partnership with Novartis and Eli Lilly.
The raise, closed in March, brought the value of the business in excess of $2.4 billion.
🚨🇬🇧 UK startups raised $8B in H1 2025 - more than France + Germany combined.
— Dealroom.co (@dealroomco) July 3, 2025
New report released today with @HSBCInnovation
AI alone accounted for 30% of UK VC, hitting a record $2.4B.
London leads, but AI deals are popping up from Cardiff to Glasgow.
The UK is Europe’s #1… pic.twitter.com/yPIbFRrCl4
AI media maker Synthesia (which allows users to create multilingual AI avatars that can act as virtual presenters and influencers) was another notable funding, raising $180 million in January, to double its value to $2.1 billion.
Synthesia earmarked the funds for investments into its 'agentic' video creation tool, as well as supporting larger roll-outs to customers in North America, Japan, and Australia.
Dealroom highlighted that among all fundings, health was the top sector with $2.3 billion banked, narrowly edging ahead of fintech
Health narrowly edged fintech as the top-funded sector, with both netting over $2.3 billion, followed by enterprise software firms which together banked $1.9 billion.
Among AI deals, most came in London, which had a 68% share of funds raised.
The HSBC and Dealroom report, the Q2 'Innovation Update', meanwhile, pointed to the UK leading Europe, with British start-ups raising more than France and Germany combined.
"The UK’s innovation economy continues to show resilience, attracting significant capital across all growth stages, and firmly holding onto its position as Europe’s leading tech hub despite broader geopolitical uncertainty,” Bumfrey commented.
