Venture capital investment in Scotland’s fast-growth businesses soared to £181 million in first quarter of 2022, according to KPMG’s Venture Pulse Survey.

Scottish scaleups saw 41 deals completed in the first three months of this year.

During the same quarter of 2021, £64 million was raised, marking this year’s Q1 as a particularly strong start.

In the previous quarter (Q4 2021), 31 deals worth £97.6 million were recorded.

Last year, a total of £626 million of VC investment was raised by Scottish business.

The lion’s share of deals in Q1 2022 were in Edinburgh (20), followed by Glasgow (11), Dundee (4) and Livingston (2).

“Standout deals completed in the first quarter included £94 million raised by Edinburgh games developer Everywhere and £12.25 million of 4th round funding for private bank Hampden & Co,” said KPMG.

“Also, £5.07 million was raised by Glasgow based Katrick Technologies from Greenbackers Investment Capital.”

Amy Burnett, KPMG Private Enterprise Senior Manager in Scotland, said: “Despite concerns around the uncertainty in the economy, and with interest rates rising, Scotland continues to demonstrate resilience and adaptability in attracting VC investment. Fintech, B2B-focused services and healthtech remain top areas of investment.

“The power of our disruptive businesses to deliver impact on a global scale is more important than it’s ever been, and our innovators are a real success story.

“The collective focus on nurturing and supporting the Scottish scaleup ecosystem is great to see. It will no doubt help develop more exciting businesses in cities across Scotland and attract further global VC interest and investment.”