Venture capital deals on increase

Venture capital (VC) investment in Scottish scale-ups remained robust and resilient in the second quarter.

The latest data from KPMG Private Enterprise’s Global Venture Pulse Survey reveals there were 22 VC deals in Scotland between April and June of this year, up from 18 in the first quarter with a combined value of at least £62 million, up from £32m in Q1.

Growth-hungry scaleups based in Edinburgh were the biggest beneficiaries of funding this quarter, with a total of 13 deals, followed by Glasgow with two deals.

The largest deal involved Aberdeen-based NodThera, with almost £44m in venture funding to support studies and drug discovery efforts in the treatment of diseases driven by chronic inflammation.

“However, the mood right now is generally positive”

Amy Burnett, manager with KPMG Private Enterprise in Scotland, said: “The scale-up sector in Scotland has been flourishing for some time, but growing political uncertainty driven by Brexit and the sudden arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic, threatened to completely halt investment.

“The latest set of data reinforces the resilience of the country’s growthhungry tech scale-ups and the confidence investors have in the Scottish market.

“While the figures are reassuring, there’s still a strong degree of nervousness. We’ve been warning for some time that early and seed stage deals could be the biggest victim of future uncertainty.

“However, the mood right now is generally positive, both scale-ups and investors appear committed to weather the storm.”