1、Review of 2025 Equity Deals?Periods of market adjustment are often described in terms of what is lost:fewer deals,slower momentum and weaker sentiment.Based on the data compiled in this report,it would be easy to say that UK founders and investors were increasingly cautious in 2025.Yet the more inst
2、ructive question for us all is not how much activity has fallen away,but what kind of activity endures.This years data suggests that the UK equity market is not retreating so much as refining its focus,and that founders remain firmly at the centre of that recalibration.As a national investor champio
3、ning the ambition of founders across the UK,the shift suggests a sharpening of focus:a clearer emphasis on strong fundamentals,truly differentiated technology and backing those teams with the resilience to build through the noise.While the overall number of deals eased again in 2025,the amount of ca
4、pital being deployed did not.Total equity investment rose modestly year on year,and average deal sizes continued to increase,passing 4m for the first time since 2021.Fewer businesses received follow-on capital in 2025,but those that did secured it with markedly higher investor conviction.That distin
5、ction matters.It signals confidence not only in the market as a whole,but in the quality,ambition,and ingenuity of the founders capable of raising capital in this environment.Nowhere is this clearer than at the point of entry.After several years of decline,first-time equity investment?03040608091012
6、14162021Will Clark Managing Director Mercia Ventures?rebounded sharply in 2025.Nearly 2,500 companies raised their first round,and the amount invested reached a new record,surpassing even the post-pandemic peak.These are not marginal cheques.First-round deal sizes are materially larger than in previ