With Glasgow still bustling from the Glasgow Tech Fest held this month, it was a great opportunity for businesses and experts to meet and discuss all things 'tech'.

A particular highlight was Dealroom.co's presentation on their report on the tech ecosystem within Glasgow, which identified some of the key industry sectors within the Glasgow startup and scaleup community and noted record levels of investment last year.

Some key takeaways:

  • There are over 950 startups and scaleups in Glasgow;
  • 150+ of those startups are Health-tech focused; and
  • In Q1 of 2024, Glasgow startups surpassed £4.1 billion of combined enterprise value.

According to Dealroom.co's report, Glasgow received record levels of investment in 2023, with £170 million invested in breakout stage, early stage and late-stage startup businesses. Glasgow has seen Q1 of 2024 off to a great start, with £47million in startup venture capital investment.

A key sector receiving venture capital investment in Glasgow is the health-tech sector, which accounted for 51% of the total investment in Glasgow, receiving £86million in 2023 alone. This sector has been attracting venture capital investment for some time, and between 2019 and 2023:

  • Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals received £160million;
  • Medical device startups received £30million; and
  • Health platform startups received £21million.

Health startups are now valued at £1.1 billion, which is approximately 27% of Glasgow's ecosystem. In addition, since 1990 life sciences patents have accounted for 54% of all patent's granted in Glasgow, highlighting that Glasgow has for some time now been a hub for life sciences and health focused businesses.

The growth in this sector reported by Dealroom.co certainly reflects what we at Brodies have seen in recent years through our work advising investors backing spin-outs from the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde and on follow-on funding rounds. It is notable that the companies have been successful in attracting the attention of international investors such as those linked to large pharmaceutical companies as well as domestic VC firms.

For more information on Dealroom.co's industry report, please visit Glasgow tech ecosystem - 2024 | Dealroom.co

Our Expertise

Our teams are highly experienced in assisting both early stage and late-stage businesses. As a full service firm, we have experts across a range of sectors including Healthcare & Life Sciences and Technology, providing you with access to specialist industry knowledge, including commercial contracts and regulatory compliance. For more information on our sector expertise, please visit:

You can also find out more about our Corporate, Commercial and IP, Technology & Data teams.

If you would like to find out how we can support your business, please get in touch.

Contributors

Martin Sloan

Partner

Alison Bryce

Partner

Alasdair Dunn

Senior Associate

Rebecca Taylor

Associate