More money has been invested in European media and tech outfits so far this year than throughout the whole of 2006, a new report from innovation data gatherer Library House shows.
Whilst media/tech investment through 2006 was £487.3 million (11 percent of all venture capital investments), it had already reached £498.9 million by Q3 this year (up to 17 percent of all VC). Q2 was the most fertile in the period with £219.6 million invested (over 20 percent of all Euro VC). The figures also include Israel.
– Video: As consumer broadband quickens, a fifth of all ventures funded since January 2006 are in the video space – but they pulled in 44 percent of investments made to content and services companies (£205 million) – a fifth of all media/tech funding. Deals included £21.6 million to Dailymotion and £22.6 million to Joost.
– UK: Britain has attracted a full third of all the £995.6 million invested in European media/tech companies since the start of 2006. France, in second place, pulled in £158.8 million.
– Advertising: Library House points to Internet Advertising Bureau figures illustrating “massive shift in advertising spend away from traditional media … and into digital” – UK online ad spend of £1.3 billion in the first half of 2007 was up 41 percent annually, with online now accounting for 15 percent of advertising spend.