The Mystery of UK Start-up Valuation

I had highlighted the benefits of starting a business in the UK in an earlier article - 11 UK start-up benefits that may make you wonder why you are still in a corporate job. A couple of the aspects of start-ups discussed in this article include the SEIS and EIS schemes which significantly reduce the downside of angel investors, and R&D credit reducing the burn-rate and improving margins of start-ups, etc. Additionally, the cost of running a business and the revenue potential at present is much higher in the UK, and especially London.

All of the above should lead to UK start-ups being in demand and hence commanding valuations better than their peers in other countries. But astonishingly, based on data provided by Angel.co (which should not be considered perfect), the valuation of start-ups in the UK and London is significantly lower than in other locales.

Below is the comparison table:

Other locations:

There are, of course, other factors to consider, which include quality of talent and market potential. And it is also important to emphasise that these figures are ultimately based on a limited dataset, but this should certainly provide some food for thought.