Venture capital (VC) investors continue to deploy record amounts of money into Scottish scaleup companies with more than £322.3 million raised in the first half of 2021 — according to Venture Pulse, a quarterly report published by KPMG Private Enterprise.

The research, published using data supplied by PitchBook, recorded more than £258 million invested into fast growth Scottish businesses in the second quarter of 2021.

About 60 deals were completed in Q2 2021, up from 20 in the previous quarter.

Providers of consumer products and services, as well as healthcare businesses, attracted the largest deals in Q2 2021, including £36.17 million raised by Glasgow-based culinary tech business, Enough, in a deal led by Nutreco and Olympic Investments.

Edinburgh-based Current Health, a healthcare tech firm, also attracted more than £31.42 million in a deal led by Northpond Ventures.

Later stage deals continued to attract the most investment in Scotland, but interest in earlier stage deals grew with more businesses beginning to raise Series A and smaller rounds.

 Amy Burnett, senior manager, KPMG Private Enterprise, said: “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, certain sectors in Scotland, such as healthcare technology, have flourished.

“Scotland has maintained its reputation as an incubator of innovation with a vibrant technology scene, highly skilled workforce, and supportive business environment, and is increasingly attractive to investors.

“A mix of homegrown talent and overseas firms putting roots down in Scotland permanently is driving investment. It’s important we continue to support these firms, with one eye on sectors that appeal to VCs and are helping increase investment during our recovery from Covid-19.”