Venture capital (VC) investment into Scotland’s start-up and scale-up businesses increased in the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest KPMG Private Enterprise Venture Pulse report.
Scottish businesses raised £116.1 million in the third quarter of 2025 – up more than 200% from £36.2 million in Q2.
A total of 23 investments were completed between July and September, the same number as Q2, signalling the sustained confidence of VC investors in supporting Scotland’s small business ecosystem.
The largest raise was the £67.5 million investment in Stirling-based DL Mining, a leading cloud mining service platform. Software also dominated more broadly, with almost a third (30%) of Scottish VC investments in Q3 made into the sector.
The increase in VC investment comes as KPMG’s recent mid-year Private Enterprise Barometer found that the appetite for Scottish businesses pursuing equity finance is gaining momentum, with more than a quarter (29%) of the country’s businesses now open to VC investment.
Amy Burnett, KPMG Emerging Giants Scotland Lead
Amy Burnett, KPMG Emerging Giants Scotland Lead, said: “The quality, resilience and ambition of Scotland’s scale-up community continue to stand out, with another strong quarter for venture capital investment.
“Across sectors including technology, life sciences, energy and manufacturing, Scottish businesses are demonstrating real innovation and global growth potential. This diversity and drive are helping to attract investors’ attention and strengthen Scotland’s position as a leading hub for enterprise.
“At KPMG, we’re proud to support Scotland’s scaling business community through initiatives such as our ‘Access’ Series A preparation programme. In particular, we run Access - Founded by Her, which champions female entrepreneurs and helps them access the expertise, networks and funding needed to scale their ventures. It’s this kind of collaboration that will continue to power Scotland’s next generation of fast-growing businesses.”
National outlook
Nationally, KPMG revealed that the UK had bounced back in Q3 of this year following a Q2 which saw it record its slowest quarter of VC investment in five years.
New figures showed that investment levels jumped to £4.6 billion across 594 deals, up from £2.6 billion across 435 deals last quarter, thus making the UK number one in Europe when it came to VC investment in Q3.
The quarter was defined by a mega deal in the AI sector with NScale securing a £1.1 billion investment with other major deals including Rapyd Financial, which offers payments, mobile wallets, money transfers, card issuing, and fraud protection, netting £370 million and crypto and cloud infrastructure firm PS Miner landing £259 million.
Nicole Lowe, UK Head of KPMG’s Emerging Giants practice, said: “It is extremely encouraging and constructive to see the UK rebound strongly in Q3 with high levels of VC investment but what is most positive is the fact that the country is being recognised for its attractiveness when it comes to future investors. Something which continues to show a level of confidence in the country in this quarter and for many more to come.
“The deals during Q3 also continue to showcase the UK’s growing role in being a hub for frontier tech across a range of areas including AI and crypto.
“This is a massive shot in the arm of firms looking for investment across the UK and provides a very strong platform for future growth and renewed interest despite headwinds from geopolitical conflicts and trade concerns.”