Venture capital raised in West Midlands jumps by nearly 80% in latest figures

A total of £69.8 million worth of venture capital (VC) investment was raised by Midlands businesses between October and December 2024, up 78% from the £39.3 million raised in Q3, according to KPMG’s latest Venture Pulse report.

Twenty two transactions were completed across the region, up from 18 in the previous quarter. Deals were spread evenly across the region, with the highest volumes taking place in Birmingham.

£48.2 million, the majority of the total regional figure, was generated by VC investment into Quanta Dialysis, a Warwick-based medical device manufacturer that improves the dialysis experiences of patients undergoing kidney care.

“It’s great to see Midlands firms continuing to attract significant VC interest during Q4, which is testament to the region’s thriving private business ecosystem," said Andy Bostock, Birmingham Office Senior Partner at KPMG. 

"And while the massive increase in investment values has been shaped by one major deal, the underlying figures suggest good levels of investment across the board.

“The quality of scaling businesses in the region remains as strong as ever, with investors remaining supportive and standing ready to inject capital into the most innovative companies.”

This latest data follows KPMG’s recent KPE Barometer, which revealed that at least one in five (23%) of the Midlands’ private business owners see venture capital as a means to finance business diversification this year.

More broadly, the IT sector, specifically software companies, saw the highest investment volume in the Midlands, with £16.5 million invested into a total of eight companies, spanning financial, network management and communications software.

The UK attracted the highest level of VC investment in Europe in 2024, following a strong end to the year.

Nationally, a total of £15.5 billion VC investment was raised after funding in Q4 jumped by more than a third from £3.1 billion to £4.4 billion. This was driven largely by $1.3 billion raised by Greenscale, a London-based AI data centre firm. A total of 569 businesses made up the £4.4 billion investment, including £409 million raised by Insider and £303 million raised by Lighthouse.

These results come just weeks after KPMG published its first ever KPE Barometer, which revealed that over 90% of Britain’s private business owners are confident of growth in 2025.

Nicole Lowe, UK Head of KPMG’s Emerging Giants practice, said: “After a difficult Q3, it’s great to see the UK end the year as the top destination in Europe for VC investment.

“The strong rebound in Q4 has boosted optimism among investors looking ahead to the rest of 2025, with AI likely to remain at the forefront of those looking to invest.

“However, the impact of both global and domestic events such as the UK Budget measures and the new US President taking office could still contribute to a level of investor caution.”