In the first seven months of the year, the UK tech sector has secured more funding than the whole of 2018, according to research carried out by industry body Tech Nation and data company Dealroom.

Since January, foreign investment in the UK’s tech sector has totalled £5.5 billion, with £3.1bn coming from the US and Asia. Investment from these regions accounts for 55% of all funding.

Investment for this year for the same period is about 50% higher than in 2018.

Figures from the report show that since 2013 the UK tech sector has secured twice as much funding as Germany from the US and Asia, and six times as much as France.

The weakness of the pound is likely to have played a role by making the UK a more attractive destination for investment. However, growth has been significantly driven by investment in UK unicorn firms such as Deliveroo, which secured a large amount of funding from US retail giant Amazon.

Will Shu, founder and chief executive officer of Deliveroo, said: “The UK is a fantastic place to start and grow a tech company, attract talent and, ultimately, turn great ideas into products and services that consumers know and love. These figures underline the real potential that the UK tech sector has.”

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Other UK companies such as fintech firm Checkout.com and supply chain finance business, Greensill, have also secured major foreign investment over the past seven months.

Culture secretary Nicky Morgan said: “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.”

Eileen Burbidge, chair of Tech Nation, added: “Investment in the UK tech sector has been steadily rising for years and as these latest figures demonstrate, the momentum is increasing. It is incredibly gratifying to see that in addition to domestic and European investors, British tech innovators are also attracting US and Asian investor attention and allocation.”