Business · Economy · 6 hrs ago
UK startups are sold abroad, raising questions about venture capital
A paper from the UK thinktank Common Wealth says Britain’s venture capital system helps send successful startups to foreign buyers.
The Financial Times calculated that 300 valuable UK companies were bought by foreign firms, mostly American, over the past decade.
One example is DeepMind, founded in London in 2010 and sold to Google four years later.
The paper argues that selling startups abroad makes it harder to build UK tech giants, which could otherwise acquire and grow new companies.
It warns that adding more money for startups, including through pension funds, may raise their sale prices without keeping ownership or control in Britain.
The authors also say a focus on investor profits can favour businesses that promise lucrative sales over those that meet social needs.
They propose directing investment towards public needs and domestic capacity, pointing to Brazil’s public investment in healthcare and locally produced vaccines as an example.
The Guardian argues that Britain’s sale of technology companies to foreign buyers can undermine efforts to build domestic technology giants.
The Financial Times calculates that 300 British companies went to foreign buyers, mostly American, over the past decade.
A Common Wealth paper says the UK’s venture capital system prioritises profitable exits over building British-owned companies and meeting social needs.
The paper argues that more investment alone may raise sale prices without ensuring British ownership or control.
It proposes directing investment towards social purposes and building domestic capacity.
- Who
- Common Wealth published the paper, and The Guardian argued for its proposals. UK startups and their investors are also central to the story.
- What
- The article examines the sale of UK startups abroad and questions whether venture capital helps build domestic technology companies.
- When
- The Guardian published its editorial on 12 November 2026. The paper discusses company exits from 2010 to 2023.
- Where
- The United Kingdom; some UK companies were sold to foreign buyers, mostly in the United States.
- Why
- The editorial says overseas sales can enrich investors while making it harder to build British technology companies and retain ownership of innovation.
Common Wealth paper and Guardian editorial
Conventional view on venture capital
Capital and growth
Common Wealth paper and Guardian editorial
The paper says that more startup funding may inflate sale prices without securing British ownership or control.
Conventional view on venture capital
The conventional view is that startups struggle to grow because they lack capital.
Purpose of investment
Common Wealth paper and Guardian editorial
The paper argues for investment directed towards social purposes and building domestic capacity.
Conventional view on venture capital
The article says UK venture capitalists might see their role as pursuing their own interests rather than building British technology.
DeepMind was founded in London.
Google acquired DeepMind, four years after it was founded.
US and European incumbents benefited from the exit of the 38 biggest UK venture-capital-backed technology firms, according to the paper.
Almost three-quarters of Covid vaccine doses administered in Brazil had been produced at home.
- Foreign acquisitions
- 300 UK companies bought by foreign buyers, mostly American, over the past decade, according to the Financial Times
- Largest VC-backed exits
- 38 UK technology firms exited between 2010 and 2023
- DeepMind
- Founded in London in 2010; acquired by Google in 2014
- Brazil vaccine production
- Almost three-quarters of Covid vaccine doses administered by August 2021 had been produced at home
- Paper
- We Aren’t the Champions, by thinktank Common Wealth
1 source
What people are saying
as long as the UK is subordinated to US cash, getting startups to a heavyweight size will be a sisyphean task
Putting cash into startups risks inflating eventual sale prices without securing British ownership or control.
Britain should retain ownership of its innovations.
Making the fulfilment of social needs a motor of economic development would give Labour a purpose beyond managing scarcity.
Posts on X
Britain keeps losing its most valuable companies. 300 of them have been sold to foreign (mostly US) buyers in the last decade. What if we had a system that scaled innovation here in the UK — rather than turning it into a vehicle for US investor profit?