The UK has quietly developed into the world's third-largest innovation economy, behind only the US and China, according to Saul Klein, co-founder and chair of Phoenix Court. Despite this growth, British science and technology businesses are reportedly forced to raise over 80 per cent of their scale-up capital from overseas investors.
Klein highlights a challenge in creating conditions for these businesses to scale domestically, noting that the Mansion House Group has invested in less than 1 per cent of Britain's growth economy. He suggests that without a change in mindset, British citizens and savers may not benefit from this growth, with returns instead flowing to international investors.
A pilot scale-up fund, Solar, launched three years ago in partnership with M&G's Catalyst programme and the British Business Bank, has demonstrated the potential of domestic investment. This fund has backed 18 companies across various sectors, including AI, automotive, and financial services, which collectively generate an aggregate revenue of £5bn and have created over 8,500 high-value jobs across the country. These companies include well-known names like Motorway, Monzo, and Tide.
Despite the success of such initiatives and a pipeline of investment opportunities, only 17 per cent of investors in the Solar fund's scale-up rounds were UK-based. Klein argues that British savers, through the asset allocators of the Mansion House accord, should benefit from the UK's innovation economy.