What are the common challenges startups face in equity tokenisation?

The most common challenges include navigating FCA regulatory requirements, selecting the right tokenisation platform, structuring the legal framework for tokenised equity, educating investors unfamiliar with digital securities, and ensuring compliance with the UK Digital Securities Sandbox rules.

What are tokenisation platforms and how do they work?

Tokenisation platforms are regulated technology providers that convert equity or other assets into digital tokens on a blockchain or distributed ledger. In the UK, platforms operating under FCA oversight include those participating in the Digital Securities Sandbox. They handle the technical issuance, custody, and transfer of tokenised securities.

What financial insights should founders know before tokenising equity?

Founders should understand the cost structure of tokenisation (legal, platform, and compliance fees), the valuation implications of fractional ownership, how tokenised equity differs from traditional equity crowdfunding, and the tax treatment of digital securities under UK law.

What investor strategies apply to tokenised equity?

Investors in tokenised equity can benefit from fractional ownership of high-value assets, improved liquidity through secondary market trading on regulated platforms, portfolio diversification across early-stage UK startups, and participation in deals previously accessible only to institutional investors.

What is the UK regulatory landscape for equity tokenisation?

The UK regulatory landscape is governed primarily by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and HM Treasury. Key frameworks include the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), and ongoing FCA consultations on the treatment of tokenised securities. The UK is positioning itself as a global leader in regulated digital securities.

What is equity tokenisation?

Equity tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights in a company into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain or distributed ledger. These tokens represent shares or equity stakes and can be transferred, traded, or held digitally, subject to regulatory compliance. In the UK, tokenised equity is treated as a regulated financial instrument under FCA oversight.

London Is Back on Top in Europe. The Dealroom 2026 Report Ranks the Capital First on the Continent and Fourth in the World.

Shawn Jhanji
Jun 1
3 min read

For the second time in three years, London has claimed the top position in Europe's technology ecosystem rankings. Dealroom's Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026 has placed London ahead of Paris and every other European hub, ranking the UK capital fourth globally behind the Bay Area, New York and Boston.

The report tracks economic impact across venture capital activity, enterprise value creation, unicorn formation, ecosystem momentum and links to universities. By all those measures, London has pulled ahead again.

London tech companies raised $17.7 billion last year. The city is now home to 138 unicorns, including Wayve, Granola, OLIX and ElevenLabs. AI investment has been the primary engine of the resurgence, with London attracting £6 billion in AI venture funding in 2025, up from $3.9 billion in 2024. That pace has continued into 2026, with the city widely identified as Europe's leading hub for AI, fintech and deep tech.

Paris, which had previously overtaken London in Dealroom's rankings, now places eighth globally. Stockholm ranks 19th, Berlin 22nd and Munich 24th.

What Is Driving the Return

The structural factors behind London's renewed position are well established. The depth of financial services talent, the presence of a major global stock exchange, and the concentration of professional services infrastructure give the city advantages that are difficult for any other European hub to replicate.

AI has been the catalytic factor in the 2025 to 2026 cycle. London's position at the intersection of frontier AI research (notably through UCL, Imperial, the Alan Turing Institute and deep links with DeepMind) and financial services has made it the natural home for applied AI investment. The UK Government's computing infrastructure commitments and the creation of AI Growth Zones have reinforced that positioning.

Fintech remains a pillar. The UK retains the deepest fintech ecosystem in Europe and several of the fastest-growing companies in payments, lending and capital markets infrastructure are UK-based. Tokenisation is increasingly becoming part of that story: the FCA's Digital Securities Sandbox has 16 firms actively testing live infrastructure, and the PISCES regime is giving private company shares a secondary trading framework for the first time.

The European Context

Europe's broader funding market is experiencing a complex dynamic. AI investment has driven significant aggregate growth, but data from Crunchbase shows that deal volume outside AI sectors has declined in several European markets. AI is, in other words, masking a contraction elsewhere.

For London, that distinction matters less than for most cities because its ecosystem has diversified into AI-native sectors in a way that continental hubs have not yet matched. But founders building in fintech, healthtech and climate tech without an AI narrative have found fundraising conditions in 2026 more difficult than the headline numbers suggest.

The Access Question

The aggregate strength of London's fundraising market has not resolved the distribution question within it. The British Business Bank's data consistently shows that female-led teams, Black-led teams and regionally-based founders receive a disproportionately small share of a market that, in aggregate, is now among the strongest in the world.

London being fourth in the world is important context for how the city is perceived internationally and how it attracts global capital. But for founders in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Leeds, and for the many founders in London itself who do not fit the pattern of teams that traditional venture capital consistently backs, the Dealroom ranking tells a story about a city, not a community.

The infrastructure question that organisations like the British Business Bank and funds such as Ada Ventures, Cornerstone VC and Impact X Capital are working on is how to connect the aggregate strength of the UK ecosystem to the founders who are not currently reaching it. A city that is fourth in the world but distributes access to barely 2 per cent of its capital to Black-led teams and a similarly limited slice to female-led founders is running at significant below its potential.

Key Takeaways

London has reclaimed the top spot in Europe in Dealroom's Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026, ranking fourth globally behind the Bay Area, New York and Boston.
AI investment of £6 billion in 2025 is the primary driver, alongside 138 unicorns and $17.7 billion in total tech fundraising last year.
Paris places second in Europe (eighth globally), with Stockholm, Berlin and Munich further behind.
The UK's broader startup ecosystem benefits from deep fintech, professional services and AI research infrastructure.
The aggregate strength of the London market has not yet translated into equal access: British Business Bank data consistently shows female-led, Black-led and regional founders receiving a disproportionately small share of available capital.

Sources:

Dealroom Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026: https://dealroom.co

Global Banking and Finance: https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/london-reclaims-top-european-tech-spot-paris-dealroom/

Tech.eu: https://tech.eu/2026/05/28/london-topples-paris-to-regain-european-tech-top-spot/

British Business Bank: https://www.britishbusinessbank.co.uk