INDIA is the fourth-ranked destination for London technology firms looking to expand outside the UK over the past 10 years, behind Australia, Germany and the US, according to official data released on Monday (10).
London & Partners, the mayor of London’s inward investment agency, also found that London was the top city globally for tech foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past 10 years.
Bengaluru emerged in sixth place as a hub for tech companies looking to expand internationally. That was ahead of New York City, Dublin, Shanghai and Beijing, according to the data released to mark the start of London Tech Week 2019, said to be Europe’s largest crowd-sourced festival of technology and innovation.
Between April 2009 and March 2019, Indian investments into London involved 36 projects by 22 companies, with a capex of nearly £523 million.
India, while ranked fourth in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) into London, created 5,310 jobs, ahead of second-ranked Germany with 1,911 jobs and third-ranked Australia with 1,526 jobs. The US was the top-ranked country with 183 projects in the past decade, creating 11,074 jobs in the UK.
“Today’s figures offer further proof that London is a fantastic place to grow and scale an international technology business,” said Laura Citron, CEO of London & Partners, co-founders of London Tech Week.
“London not only offers access a high concentration of growth capital, talent, corporate HQs and some of the world’s most early adopting consumers, but it is a city that international entrepreneurs can genuinely be part of. We are a global, open community and always will be,” Citron added.
“London Tech Week is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate our city’s strengths to a global audience. I look forward to an exciting week of events,” said London mayor Sadiq Khan.
“As our city’s tech ecosystem continues to grow, it is important that we encourage greater exclusivity and diversity across the technology sector and ensure that London stays open to investment and talent from around the world,” he added.
Tech Week is expected to attract around 55,000 global visitors, from over 90 different countries including India, as well as 700 trade delegation representatives.
In the past year, 91 international tech firms expanded or set up an operation in the UK capital with total investments worth £864m – more than the number of new tech investment projects in Singapore (79), Paris (46) and New York (32).
London’s attractiveness as a top destination for an international tech company was further boosted by the news that the city’s tech firms received £2.56 billion in venture capital funding in the first half of 2019, representing a record when compared with the first six months of any year previously.
