Asia Pacific investors set to pour millions into UK Tech after biggest post-Brexit trade deal

Cutting edge British tech firms are set to pitch for multi-million-pound deals with Asia Pacific (APAC) investors today just weeks after the UK agreed to join the CPTPP – a £9 trillion combined GDP trade bloc in the Indo-Pacific.

As part of the biggest APAC delegation to ever visit London Tech Week, investors representing funds of over £100bn will meet with UK tech companies as they seek cash injections into innovative new projects, ranging from fintech and clean tech to life sciences and Artificial Intelligence.

As day one (Monday 12 June) of the UK’s largest technology event gets underway, business deals have already been secured with APAC investors and tech firms, with the Minister for Investment, Lord Johnson, kicking off further investment talks later today at the London Eye.

This includes a strategic partnership between Malaysian company Sunway Group – one of Southeast Asia’s leading conglomerates – and Cambridge-based venture capitalist firm Deeptech Labs, enabling them to accelerate the growth of net zero technologies and open new avenues for UK startups in the APAC region.

The signing of the new partnership will take place on the banks of the River Thames before more lucrative deals are struck on the London Eye, as 25 tech firms have 30 minutes to pitch their latest innovations to investors before their pods circle back to the ground.

Minister for Investment Lord Johnson said:

London Tech Week is a huge opportunity to show that we are a science and technology superpower, and that the UK is the number one place to invest.

Just weeks after successfully negotiating our biggest post-Brexit trade deal with the CPTPP, we are seeing huge interest from investors in the region, with millions of pounds being invested into world-leading British tech.

Creating closer ties with our friends in the Asia Pacific region is creating enormous opportunities for inward investment, as the UK sits at the cutting edge of innovation in science and technology.

Various APAC tech firms are also announcing they will move their HQs to the UK in a further vote of confidence that we have the best credentials as a place to do business. This includes Japanese startups Datagusto and Qufooit, as well as booking platform Enrolmy in New Zealand, with further potential announcements through the week.

Extra support is also being announced by the Government to grow tech exports to Asia Pacific and facilitate more investment.

A new contract has been awarded to Oxfordshire-based Intralink to run the new UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme as part of the UK’s Digital Trade Network (DTN), which will help UK tech companies and entrepreneurs to trade in the APAC region. The DTN itself will also expand to Taiwan and Vietnam to ensure UK exporters can access digital tech expertise and help with market access and digital trading systems.

Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy Paul Scully MP said:

Seamless collaboration with our global counterparts is the key that will unlock the potential of our leading start-up community, and in turn the UK’s future as a science and technology superpower. This is why Intralink’s work with the Digital Trade Network to bring together the UK and Asian tech communities is fundamental to our shared success.

Natalie Black, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, said:

This record-breaking delegation from Asia Pacific demonstrates our deepening relationship with nations across the CPTPP.

At this year’s London Tech Week, we are seeing delegations of startups brought over by the Japanese government and our first ever delegation from Vietnam, demonstrating how the UK is the tech powerhouse of the CPTPP.

I look forward to seeing the UK’s trillion-dollar tech sector thrive in the region through our expanded Digital Trade Network.

The new UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme will increase UK digital tech exports to APAC markets by increasing private sector investment in UK tech companies and strengthening trading relationships between the UK and APAC countries.

An Australian tech mission is also included in the 600-strong APAC delegation, looking to maximise benefits of the UK-Australia free trade agreement that came into force last month.

Janet Coyle CBE, Managing Director of Grow London, London & Partners said:

The relationship between UK tech companies and APAC investors is crucial for unlocking growth opportunities and helping businesses expand into new markets across both regions. I am looking forward to introducing some of our best tech talent to investors from the Asia-Pacific region during London Tech Week. The interest we’ve seen from international companies and investors in this year’s London Tech Week demonstrates the global appeal of the UK’s tech sector.