UK angel investing statistics, 2026.

EIS and SEIS, by the HMRC numbers.

HMRC publishes how many companies raised money under each scheme and how much, by tax year. The latest release is May 2026.

2,430

companies raised SEIS money in 2024-25, £276m between them.

Source: HMRC, EIS and SEIS statistics, May 2026

3,735

companies raised EIS money in 2024-25, £1,575m between them.

Source: HMRC, EIS and SEIS statistics, May 2026

£1.85bn

raised under the two schemes in 2024-25 combined.

Source: HMRC, EIS and SEIS statistics, May 2026

+73%

growth in SEIS money raised from 2022-23 to 2024-25; companies up 32%.

Source: HMRC, EIS and SEIS statistics, May 2025 and May 2026

-20%

change in EIS money raised over the same two years, across 510 fewer companies.

Source: HMRC, EIS and SEIS statistics, May 2025 and May 2026

£113.6k

average SEIS raise per company in 2024-25, up from £87.2k in 2022-23, against a lifetime SEIS cap of £250,000 per company.

Source: HMRC series, Tero arithmetic

Cheque sizes, syndicates and holding periods.

The British Business Bank's market report is the only survey-based view of individual UK angels; the relief rates are HMRC's.

£25,000

median first cheque from a UK angel into a company.

Source: British Business Bank, UK Business Angel Market report

£7,500

median follow-on investment into the same company.

Source: British Business Bank, UK Business Angel Market report

79%

of angel investments are made through a syndicate or angel group.

Source: British Business Bank, UK Business Angel Market report

40%

of UK angels hold an investment for more than six years, twice the three-year EIS minimum.

Source: British Business Bank, UK Business Angel Market report

50% and 30%

income-tax relief rates under SEIS and EIS respectively, on up to £200,000 and £1m a year.

Source: HMRC, venture capital schemes guidance

27.5p

true downside per £1 of a SEIS investment for a 45% taxpayer who claims both reliefs; 38.5p under EIS.

Source: Tero relief arithmetic from the HMRC rates

What 894,494 companies' filings say about valuations.

Every UK share issue is filed on form SH01 with the price paid per share. Tero read the filings of every company incorporated in 2023 and priced the ones that raised venture money. Full method and findings in the Class of 2023 report.

894,494

companies were incorporated in the UK in 2023, and Tero read every one of their filings.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

30,675

of them filed at least one share allotment, and 1,674 raised priced venture money.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

£12.7bn

verified implied post-money value across those 1,674 companies, computed from the price per share in their SH01 filings.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

£2.5m

median implied valuation; the mean is £7.7m, pulled up by a small top.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

54%

of the verified value sits in the 107 companies valued at £25m or more; the bottom half of the cohort holds 7.4%.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

50%

of venture-backed 2023 companies are valued between £1m and £5m, the most common band.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

39%

raised a second priced round by the census date; 14% raised a third.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

1.17x

median step-up in price per share between consecutive rounds, across 428 round pairs; 14% of follow-on rounds priced below the previous one.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

£45.8bn

of claimed valuations across 28 companies had no external evidence and are excluded from every figure here.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

46%

of venture-backed 2023 companies are in London, with a median valuation of £3.1m; Cambridge's 26 companies have the highest median at £5.1m.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

480

software and SaaS companies, the largest sector, at a median valuation of £2.9m; the 129 AI and data companies price at £3.8m and step up 1.83x between rounds.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023

1.63x

median step-up for companies with founders under 30, against 1.01x for founders aged 45 to 54.

Source: Tero, The Class of 2023, founder age from the officers register

EIS and SEIS, three tax years.

Source: HMRC, Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme statistics, May 2026 release; 2022-23 from the May 2025 release. HMRC revises the latest two years upward for late returns.

Questions these figures answer

How much money is raised under EIS and SEIS each year?

In the 2024-25 tax year, 3,735 companies raised £1,575m under EIS and 2,430 companies raised £276m under SEIS, about £1.85bn combined, according to HMRC's May 2026 statistics.

What is the typical UK angel investment size?

The British Business Bank's UK Business Angel Market report puts the median first cheque at £25,000 with £7,500 of follow-on, and finds that 79% of angel investments go through a syndicate or angel group.

What is a typical valuation for a UK startup?

Among the 1,674 companies incorporated in 2023 that raised priced venture money, the median implied post-money valuation from their SH01 filings is £2.5m, and half sit between £1m and £5m. The mean is £7.7m.

How often do UK startups raise a down round?

Across 428 pairs of consecutive priced rounds filed by companies incorporated in 2023, 14% priced below the previous round. The median step-up was 1.17x.