Venture capital funding in the UK lifted to a record high during the first half of this year, bolstered by a hunger for tech investments.

VC funding rose to £4.3bn during the first half of 2019, a 45pc year on year increase, according to Workthere, the serviced-office arm of Savills estate agent.

The average deal size for UK VC investment doubled to £5.9m in the first half of the year with 724 deals done – down 37pc in volume from the 1,147 deals recorded in the first six months of 2018. Investors have been favouring larger, later funding rounds. A recent White Star Capital survey said that UK VC investors were increasingly getting involved of funding rounds of $100m or more.

Technology was the biggest investment category in the first half, accounting for 60pc of all VC funding, a 44pc year-on-year increase.

And fintech in particular has accounted for eight out of the top 10 venture capital funding deals so far this year, according to Workthere, compared with just three last year.

This year has already been predicted to be a record 12 months for VC investment.

Read: This year set to be record one for funding UK start-ups and scale-ups

Bristol in the South-West was the number-one hotspot for increased VC funding, seeing a 97pc rise in investment.

Other key regions include market leader London, Edinburgh and Cambridge, which saw increases of 81pc, 41pc and 28pc respectively.

Workthere said: “VC investment, especially for smaller companies and start-up ventures, is often a fundamental part of overall growth, which includes headcount and expansion. We discovered that in line with the surge in VC investment, these regions have also witnessed a YOY increase in take-up from serviced office providers who have recognised the potential for start-ups and scaling smaller businesses to expand.”

Further reading

How to pitch to a venture capitalist – a Growth Business guide