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Not dead yet: This is true both of the U.K.’s capacity to attract venture capital dollars, and of the promise of autonomous cars. — Anna
Still leading
VC firm Atomico projects that the amount of venture capital invested in European startups this year will be 52% lower than in 2021. I already wrote about these findings, but there’s a key nuance to the information that we haven’t unpacked yet: discrepancies between countries.
While the slowdown is visible across Europe, Atomico noted that Dealroom and Crunchbase data on capital invested during the first half of this year shows a steeper year-on-year decline in the U.K. than in other leading European countries.
Compared to France and Germany, where tallies are respectively 55% and 44% lower than in H1 2022, the U.K. fell further: 57%.
It is perfectly valid to focus on this sharper decrease as some did. But I would argue it’s saying the glass is half empty, when the opposite is also true.
In Atomico’s words: “The U.K. had the furthest to fall.” Its venture investment tally in H1 2022 was far ahead of any other country in the region; and even a steeper fall hasn’t changed this leadership.
The U.K., Atomico noted, “remains the number one European country with H1 [2023] investment volumes of $7.4 billion, compared to $4.6 billion in France and $4.5 billion in Germany.”
This comparison is important: Despite what some may want you to think, and in spite of Brexit, the U.K. remains in the pole position among Europe’s top three ecosystems.
Political sway
Having spent part of the week interacting with the U.K’s tech scene, I can confirm that reports of its death are greatly exaggerated. VCs keep flocking to London for dealmaking, and many are happy to call it home.
The latest move is a16z’s: The firm picked London for a16z crypto’s first international office, set to be led by general partner Sriram Krishnan. And it makes it clear that its conversations with British policymakers and regulators played a role in the decision.
“During our discussions it has become clear that the U.K. government sees the promise of web3, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggesting the U.K. can become a hub of web3 innovation,” a16z crypto managing partner Chris Dixon wrote.
Whether you share a16z’s bullishness on crypto overall, or on the U.K. as a crypto hub, the fact that its decision was influenced by political stances is noteworthy. Will Sunak’s newly announced AI Summit similarly sway the pendulum, but with tech giants? Recent news seems to indicate that it could be the case.
Looser regulation on AI is one way the U.K. could differentiate itself from members of the European Union, which is taking a stronger stance on privacy. However, French President Emmanuel Macron hopes that the EU will manage to both regulate and invest in AI, and announced €500 million in new funding to create French “AI champions.”
Ride my car
If you think that your autonomous ride is taking forever to materialize, you are not alone. But don’t despair: “The dream of not having to drive ourselves around is not dead,” TC+ editor in chief, Alex Wilhelm, reported. Looking at several companies working on this endeavor, he observed encouraging progress toward making cars capable of driving themselves.