Edinburgh tech jobs boom as sector surges ahead

Edinburgh is seeing the number of jobs in technology surge as the sector’s influence on the UK economy continues to grow, according to new figures.
Car buying platform Cinch is one of the UK's biggest fundraisers in the technology sector so far this year.Car buying platform Cinch is one of the UK's biggest fundraisers in the technology sector so far this year.
Car buying platform Cinch is one of the UK's biggest fundraisers in the technology sector so far this year.

The Scottish capital is one of the five cities outside London which has seen the biggest growth in tech jobs this year.

The latest figures from industry body Tech Nation also show one in eight jobs in the UK is now in the sector, with tech or digital roles currently making up 13 per cent of all UK vacancies.

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The number of tech vacancies is now 42 per cent higher than it was pre-pandemic

Separate figures, compiled for the UK government’s Digital Economy Council by Dealroom, show the UK is creating almost one unicorn company – valued at $1 billion or more - a week.

The UK is now home to 105 unicorns with 20 created in the past six months alone including Tractable, Zego and Depop. In comparison, it took 24 years from 1990 to 2014 to create the UK’s first 20 unicorns.

The technology sector is also on course for a record year of investment after a flurry of mega deals. Venture capital investment soared to £13.5bn in the first six months of the year, topping the figure achieved in the whole of 2020 and almost triple what was achieved half-way through 2020.

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Big deals so far have included fintech Revolut which raised £577m and car sales platform Cinch which raised £1bn. Fintech continues to dominate the majority of investment rounds with the sector attracting £4.2bn in the first six months of the year, followed by healthtech and then enterprise software. Transportation has also been successful in attracting funds, raising £1.1bn in total so far.

The number of "futurecorns” - high-growth companies with the potential to become unicorns - is also rising, with 153 possible candidates in the UK.

The UK’s digital secretary Nadine Dorries said the figures showed technology is booming across the country.

“It’s been yet another record-breaking year, with new start-ups launching to tackle challenges posed by the pandemic, and some of our most exciting home-grown tech firms cementing their world-class status,” she said.

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