Artificial Intelligence based firms accounted for 57% of all UK equity fundraising by value in the second quarter of this year, according to data from Beauhurst.
The total sum invested hit a record £4.56bn, which was 4.1% more than in the first quarter, and nearly three times the same period of 2025 (£1.59bn).
Across all sectors, Beauhurst tracked 1,070 UK equity deals in Q2 2026, worth £8.01bn.
With 269 rounds of AI equity fundraising, AI accounted for around one in four deals in the quarter.
Beauhurst’s analysis of Companies House filings found eight £100m+ AI equity raises accounted for almost 80% of disclosed AI investment in the quarter,
Fundraising rounds by Isomorphic Labs, Ineffable Intelligence, NScale, PhysicsX and Fractile drove a significant share of the total.
See also: HANetf expands defence ETF range with new launch
Henry Whorwood, managing director of Beauhurst Insights, said: “Q2 was a landmark quarter for UK AI investment. What stands out is not just the scale of capital going into AI, but the breadth of the companies raising.
“The UK is attracting major investment across life sciences, AI infrastructure, financial services, advanced engineering and enterprise software. AI is now a major driver of the UK private-company market.”
“The headline figure is already a record, but it is unlikely to be the final number. Unannounced fundraising deals often come to light in the weeks and months after a quarter closes, so we expect the Q2 picture to continue developing.
“There has been a rapid increase in investment into AI, with the last two quarters seeing significantly more investment than ever before.”
