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• Equity investment deals into UK companies with international founders fallen year-on-year since 2021, with value raised down more than a third • Number of businesses with international entrepreneurs peaked in 2023, raising concern about UK’s global attractiveness |
High-growth UK companies with an international founder have seen a pronounced decline in investment, with sums raised down 36 per cent since 2021, according to analysis by Rathbones, one of the UK’s leading wealth and asset management groups.
Rathbones analysed filings at Companies House to find that the number of deals into UK companies with non-UK resident founders is at its lowest level since 2020, down to 1,086 with £6.5 billion raised from a 2021 peak of 2,035 with £10.3 billion raised, a 36.2% fall in value.
It also found that the number of active companies with international founders declined in 2024 for the first time in more than a decade, dropping to 7,364 from a 2023 high of 7,431. The figure has grown from just 4,203 in 2016, highlighting how sharply international interest in the UK had risen before a recent slowdown.
The new downward trend suggests a marked cooling of business activity in the UK from non-UK residents, pointing to a more challenging environment for attracting global talent and raising concerns about inward investment in the UK.
As part of the same research, Rathbones recently detailed how nearly 6,000 high-growth business owners – led by those in sectors like technology and software - left the UK between January 2024 and January 2026.
Michelle White, Head of Private Office at Rathbones, said there a number of factors that might deter international investors. She said: “While the UK continues to be a recognised centre for innovation and globally minded entrepreneurship, this fall in investment activity is a real warning sign. These shifts mirror what we are seeing among internationally mobile clients — increasingly, people with greater wealth are more globally mobile and this trend is shaping investment in UK companies.
“Rising interest rates since 2021, alongside the abolition of the non dom regime and phasing out of Business Investment Relief, have also introduced new uncertainties for internationally minded founders weighing the UK against other global hubs. For the UK to remain internationally competitive, we must attract and retain the founders and wealth creators who drive long term growth.”
Rathbones’ analysis also found that tech and digital sectors attract the highest proportion of internationally mobile founders, with Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, trading platforms and challenger banking among the sectors with most non-UK resident founders. Others, including research intensive fields such as graphene, synthetic biology, quantum technology and biotechnology continue to draw global specialists through the UK’s university and innovation hubs.
Earlier this year, coinciding with the opening of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Camilla Stowell, CEO Wealth, warned of the increasing and complex risks facing internationally mobile professionals and business owners.
