According to research data, in the first seven months of this year, a record £5.5bn in foreign investment was attracted by the tech industry of the United Kingdom. The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said that the investment in the UK was greater than the amount invested per capita in the tech sector in the United States in the same period.

The UK tech sector is the leader in terms of funding and according to experts foreign investors are being drawn towards the UK tech sector because of the weaker pound. Further according to the study, the most investment in the period was done by US and Asian companies. Together, a total of $3.7bn (£3.02bn; €3.31bn) was invested in the UK tech sector in the first seven months of the current year which was more than the total investments made in the sector for the entire of 2018 which was at $2.9bn.

This bit of news is surprisingly good for the UK economy because previous reports have indicated a drop in the overall foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK partly because of the political uncertainty surrounding the exit of the UK form the European Union. FDI inflow in the UK hit a six-year low in June according to the Department for International Trade.

“These fantastic figures show the confidence overseas investors have in UK tech, with investment flows from the US and Asia at an all-time high. We have a long-standing reputation for innovation and the statistics endorse our reputation as one of the best places in the world to start and grow a digital business,” said culture secretary Nicky Morgan said while commenting on the tech investment figures.

In recent times, tech companies from the UK have been trading more abroad specifically in the markets of Asia in search of funds and capital.

“I’ve seen a lot more requests from UK start-ups tapping Asian markets capital financing in comparison to a year ago,” said Aditya Mathur, founder and managing director of Singapore based venture capital fund elev8.vc. “They typically want access to the Asian market that is large and diverse, and for that they need an Asian investor to help them understand these markets, and also provide the kind of financing they’re looking for.”

Analysts say that Asian investors are also able to hedge the risks of the trade war by investing in UK tech firms.

“Foreign investment into both the US and Chinese tech sectors has gone down because of the trade war and because Europe has provided several attractive investment opportunities lately” said Yoram Wijngaarde, founder and chief executive of Dealroom, the company that pulled together the figures for the research. “The UK provides an attractive opportunity for funds looking to grow their investments.”

One of the major and recent investments in this sector was that by Japan’s Softbank in Britain’s Greensill worth $800m. the UK company is engaged in providing short term loans to companies to help companies tide over their need for money for operations.

Another UK company OakNorth Bank, a digital-only bank that offers loans for small and medium-sized companies, also received a total investment of $400m form Softbank and the Singapore-based Clermont Group.

(Adapted from BBC.com)

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