It is hard to overstate how far the European venture capital industry has come since the turn of the millennium. Although still a lot smaller than in the US, the industry in the UK and the rest of Europe has had a huge growth spurt in recent years, helped by a sharp improvement in returns.

For decades, the returns on UK funds lagged way behind the levels achieved in the US, but for those with a vintage year between 2012 and 2016, UK funds matched US rivals, according to the government’s British Business Bank.