London among world's top startup hubs

London continues to thrive as a technology powerhouse despite Brexit and the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a new survey has revealed.

The latest research has found the British capital is still one of the world's top locations to grow a technology business outside the United States' Silicon Valley.

According to the annual Global Startup Ecosystem Report that is compiled by Startup Genome, London maintained its second-place ranking, tied with New York, for a second year in a row. The findings reveal the UK capital's startup ecosystem is by far the largest in Europe, with a total value of $142.7 billion.

Beijing was ranked fourth, and Shenzhen climbed the ranks to break into the top 20 at number 19.

The report looked into the leading 140 startup ecosystems based on seven success factors, including performance, talent, and connectedness.

"London's fundamental strengths in talent, global connectedness, and access to funding are the reasons it continues to feature highly in our rankings and remains the number one startup hub in Europe," JF Gauthier, founder and CEO of Startup Genome, said. "It's important for startup hubs all over the world to connect to top ecosystems. As a top-three ecosystem, London has an important role to play in galvanizing the global startup community."

London, the report says, is one of the best cities in the world from which to access funding, quality, and activity in the investment ecosystem.

There was also a record level of venture capital technology investment this year, the report said, with London's technology startups receiving $13.3 billion in the first seven months of 2021, compared to the $10.9 billion raised during the whole of 2020.

Eileen Burbidge, a partner at London venture capital company Passion Capital, said: "With world-class tech talent and sector expertise, London has an abundance of innovative entrepreneurs, startups and scale-ups which generate long-term value accretion."

The report also found fintech and edtech were two of London's strongest sub-sectors, with more than 2,000 fintech companies in the capital.

London is home to one of the largest edtech ecosystems in Europe, with an estimated value of $3.4 billion.

"For startups and high-growth companies looking at alternatives to Silicon Valley, London has access to high levels of funding, talent, and customers all in one city. As one of the world's leading hubs for innovation, we see a huge opportunity to collaborate with other international startup hubs," said Janet Coyle, managing director for business at London & Partners.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "In the face of Brexit and the global pandemic, London has demonstrated its resilience and proven itself once again to be one of the best places globally for tech innovations and startups."