UK accelerators are miles ahead of European counterparts with €15.5m invested last year

The UK has been revealed as the European country whose accelerators invested the largest amount of capital in start-ups in 2016, with a total of €15.5m invested last year according to the latest European Accelerator Report from Gust.

The UK also saw more start-ups take part in its accelerators than any other European country, with 992 businesses accelerated in 2016. While this is a decrease from 2015’s total of 1,124, the total amount invested by UK accelerators in 2016 marks a staggering 55% increase on the total investment made in 2015.

The report ranked Spain as the country whose accelerators had made the second-biggest total investment in 2016, with a total of €7.5m invested in participating start-ups.

When compared to the rest of the world, UK accelerators ranked third in terms of the biggest total investment made and the number of businesses accelerated, following behind the US and Canada on both of these counts.

Often financed by corporates, start-up accelerators offer benefits such as funding, mentorship, relevant resources and office space to help young businesses supercharge their development.

In April 2017, data from Nesta and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy revealed that the amount of accelerators active in the UK has increased in recent years to support the growing number of start-ups launching in the country, with 163 accelerators, 11 pre-accelerators and seven virtual accelerators in action at the time the data was released.

Currently, more than half of these are based in London, while others tend to locate in business hubs including Bristol, Cambridge, Birmingham and Manchester, and a significant concentration can be found in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

David S. Rose, CEO at Gust, commented: “As accelerators have become an invaluable experience for many successful founders and start-ups, it is critical to analyse and understand their development.”