The region is attracting healthy interest from venture capital investors with 24 deals completed and nearly £335 million of VC financing invested in businesses across East Anglia in the first quarter, according to KPMG's venture pulse report.

As VC investors pull back from later stage deals, investment into early-stage businesses remains resilient. Joe Faulkner, senior partner for KPMG’s two offices in East Anglia, said: “These are strong figures to start the new financial year and a real fillip for the East of England when compared to the rest of the UK where VC investment has been subdued....Despite the global economic challenges, the diversity of fast growth businesses in East Anglia continues to appeal to investors across the globe who are looking for well managed businesses with sustainability and a robust path to growth."

First quarter deals completed included  businesses across Cambridge, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. The largest raise came from Cambridge-based drug discovery company Apollo Therapeutics ($260 million), which was ranked one of the top 10 largest financing in Europe during the quarter.  Other stand-out deals included Cambridge Mechatronics ($40 million), £25.2 million for Mission Therapeutics and a £6.7 million raise for Tagomics, the first company to occupy the new Illumina Ventures’ Labs space in Cambridge. Five companies saw seed stage funding including Colchester-based games developer Cathedral Studios ($6.66 million) and Norwich-based digital health startup Evaro (€1.4 million). Year-on-year deal volume remained flat in the region at 24 deals.