Manchester is biggest tech hub outside of South East and London

Tech companies based in Manchester raised the highest amount of funding in the UK outside of London and the South East according to new data. 

Recorded by Dealroom, the data found that Manchester retained its title as the north’s biggest tech hub with a record £532m funding in 2022, outperforming major European hubs such as Rome, Brussels and Lisbon.

Paul Scully, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said: ‘Manchester’s thriving tech start-up scene is packed with innovation, fuelled by record levels of funding from 2022 and is outperforming much larger cities on the continent. 

‘There are huge opportunities in this city to forge a high-skilled, high-paid career in tech, and my discussions with the region’s business leaders will inform our work to grow the talent pipeline so these industries of the future continue to shine on the global stage.’ 

Whilst London-based companies still received the vast majority of funding in 2022, Manchester saw a 50% growth on 2021 with Dealroom estimating that there are over 1,600 startups and scaleups in the area employing about 60,000 people. 

The biggest funding for a tech venture in the city came from BE.EV, an electric vehicle charging company that raised £110m in October last year to expand EV charging infrastructure in the country. Other large fundraisers in Manchester included Freedom Fibre which raised £84m towards a high-speed broadband rollout in collaboration with Salford based TalkTalk. 

Overall, data collected in the report showed that tech businesses in the city have raised over £1.8bn in venture capital funding over the last five years with movement set to continue throughout 2023 following the recent move by Booking.com and the expansion of Starling Bank. 

The news comes shortly after a Centre for Cities report outlined Manchester as one of the UK’s key cities that could house investment districts to support tech and innovation. A new tech hub to aid startups in the city has also recently moved closer to fruition as the council looks to redevelop the old Campfield Market buildings.

Photo by William McCue