UK venture funding reaches $23.6B: Jenny Edwards, Managing Director, Head of NatWest Venture Banking

UK startups raised around $23.6B last year, bringing venture funding back close to previous highs and signalling renewed momentum in the ecosystem. At the same time, investment is concentrating around larger rounds and AI companies, while the long-standing challenge of helping UK startups scale into global companies remains.Jenny Edwards is Head of Venture Banking at NatWest, working with founders and investors as the bank builds out its venture offering to support companies through the next phase of growth.If you want to go deeper into the data behind this, NatWest has published the Future of UK Innovation report:https://www.linkedin.com/posts/natwest-commercial-and-institutional_a-pivotal-moment-for-growthpdf-activity-7434925234081828864-C3RRThe Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkSponsors:SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/Omni: The AI analytics platform trusted by fast-growing companies like Perplexity, Synthesia, and dbt Labs. Check them out here: https://omni.co/Venture Comet: The platform that gives startups and scale-ups real-time equity tracking, daily business insights and automated management information. Check them out here: https://venturecomet.com/Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction3:16 - 2026 outlook and AI enablement5:56 - Key bottlenecks for founders8:37 - Impact of IPOs on the UK market12:37 - AI vs. non-AI founders18:10 - Fast-growing tech hubs in the UK