UK startup funding in 2014
European tech funding raised by UK startups during 2014.
In 2014, 568 startups in the UK closed 649 funding rounds and raised €3.3B in equity funding (excluding debt and grants). Debt rounds added €30M. Software was the most active sector, and Crowdcube was the most active investor. Data as of 6 Nov 2026.
Equity funding
€3.3B
excl. debt & grants · +€30M debt
Funding rounds
649
Companies
568
Top sector
Software
UK: last three years
change vs the year before| Year | Equity | Change | Rounds | Change | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | €1.2B | +32.2% | 409 | +45.0% | €5.3M |
| 2013 | €1.2B | -0.3% | 539 | +31.8% | €20M |
| 2014 | €3.3B | +175.7% | 649 | +20.4% | €30M |
Rank in Europe
#1
34.5% of European funding
Debt financing
€30M
0.9% of total
Top-10 round share
42.4%
of disclosed capital
Rounds ≥ €100M
4
Funding by month
€ raised vs rounds, by monthUK — funding by month, 2014 — interactive chart.
Data table
| Funding | Rounds | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | €117M | 54 |
| Feb | €172M | 48 |
| Mar | €422M | 83 |
| Apr | €343M | 55 |
| May | €169M | 58 |
| Jun | €147M | 61 |
| Jul | €813M | 57 |
| Aug | €107M | 40 |
| Sep | €293M | 66 |
| Oct | €212M | 51 |
| Nov | €372M | 35 |
| Dec | €141M | 41 |
Top sectors
by € raisedUK — top sectors by capital, 2014 — interactive chart.
Data table
| UK — top sectors by capital, 2014 | |
|---|---|
| Fintech | €668M |
| Telecom | €506M |
| Software | €494M |
| Marketing | €348M |
| Fashion | €281M |
| Healthtech | €241M |
| Energy | €238M |
| Cloud | €148M |
Stage mix
by € raisedUK — stage mix, 2014 — interactive chart.
Data table
| UK — stage mix, 2014 | |
|---|---|
| Other | €797M |
| Growth/Late | €766M |
| Series B | €390M |
| Series D+ | €380M |
| Series A | €357M |
| Series C | €306M |
| Early VC | €141M |
| Seed | €139M |
| Debt | €30M |
| Grant | €1.3M |
Exits & M&A
24 Acquisition · 2 Buyout · 1 Merger27 exits · €9.8B disclosed.
| TelecityGroup | Acquisition | Oct 2014 | €3.2B |
| Net-a-Porter | Merger | Nov 2014 | €3.1B |
| Pace | Acquisition | Oct 2014 | €1.9B |
| TheTrainline.com | Buyout | Jul 2014 | €540M |
| TradeFX | Acquisition | Nov 2014 | €458M |
| uSwitch | Acquisition | Nov 2014 | €192M |
Largest equity rounds
by disclosed amount, 2014| Company | Stage | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helios Towers Africa | Growth/Late | Jul 2014 | €461M |
| Seven Energy | Other | Apr 2014 | €230M |
| Monitise | Other | Mar 2014 | €152M |
| The Hut Group | Growth/Late | Jul 2014 | €125M |
| borro | Series D+ | Mar 2014 | €81M |
| Adaptimmune | Series A | Sep 2014 | €79M |
| Buyapowa | Other | Nov 2014 | €72M |
| euNetworks | Other | Oct 2014 | €70M |
| Virtus | Other | Sep 2014 | €70M |
| Powa Technologies | Series C | Nov 2014 | €64M |
Largest debt rounds
debt financing, 2014; not in the equity total| Company | Stage | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| ezbob | Debt | Feb 2014 | €8.8M |
| made.com | Debt | Oct 2014 | €6.4M |
| Momondo Group | Debt | Jun 2014 | €6.1M |
| Perfect Channel | Debt | Jul 2014 | €2.5M |
| Bitnet Technologies | Debt | Jan 2014 | €1.8M |
Top investors
most active in 2014, by deal count- Crowdcube46 deals
- Seedrs34 deals
- Wayra17 deals
- Index Ventures16 deals
- Octopus Ventures12 deals
- Balderton Capital11 deals
- Accel10 deals
- Seedcamp10 deals
- MMC Ventures9 deals
- Notion Capital9 deals
Source: Tech.eu Funding Explorer · data as of 6 Nov 2026 · licence CC BY 4.0 · Methodology