Britain’s losing its tech darlings—and it’s not even trying to hide it anymore.
Deliveroo and Darktrace just topped the UK Exit 50 report as two of the country’s biggest tech success stories. The kicker: both got bought out by American firms after struggling on the London Stock Exchange. It’s a pattern that’s becoming painfully familiar, and it’s raising serious questions about whether the UK can actually keep its homegrown winners at home.
The report, put together by Founders Forum with Tech Nation and HSBC Innovation Banking, tracks the 50 UK tech companies that scaled up and exited most successfully over the past two years. Combined value? Over $33bn. Money raised? North of $6bn. Industries covered? Everything from AI to fintech to enterprise software.
But here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: 94% of these exits were acquisitions, and more than half went to US buyers. Only 30% stayed in UK hands. Ouch.
Why Deliveroo Ditched London for DoorDash
The food delivery giant listed on the London Stock Exchange with a £7.6bn valuation—one of the decade’s most hyped IPOs. Then reality hit. Share prices tanked more than 50%, investor confidence evaporated, and by May 2025, US rival DoorDash swooped in with a £2.9bn acquisition deal.
DoorDash, which went public on the NYSE in 2020, saw its valuation skyrocket while Deliveroo struggled. That gap told the whole story.
Founder and CEO Will Shu didn’t mince words in the report: “To invest in the business as much as we want to, we thought that would be better done through a larger entity.” Translation? London couldn’t give them what New York could.
Shu acknowledged the harsh truth: “There is zero question that the NASDAQ and the NYSE are just more liquid and larger exchanges than the LSE.” Still, he made sure to separate market size from doing business in the UK itself. Small comfort when your company just got bought by an American competitor.
Darktrace’s $5.3bn Private Equity Pivot
Darktrace’s story? Same song, different verse.
The Cambridge-based cybersecurity firm was a London darling when it listed in 2021 at £1.7bn. It became one of the UK’s hottest AI companies almost overnight. But like Deliveroo, its share price couldn’t keep up with US-listed peers.
Enter Thoma Bravo, a US private equity giant that agreed to buy Darktrace for $5.3bn in April 2024. The deal closed in October, marking one of the year’s biggest UK tech buyouts—and another high-profile exit from the public markets.
Darktrace president Jill Popelka pointed to a specific UK roadblock: equity restrictions. “There are limitations over how much equity you can provide an employee in a UK company when you’re regulated here,” she wrote. “Those limitations don’t exist in the US, and so we have a lot more ability to share equity with our employees.”
When you can’t compete on employee compensation, you’ve got a problem.
The London Listing Problem Nobody’s Solving
Here’s the uncomfortable reality: the UK keeps building great tech companies, but it can’t keep them.
Charles Hall, head of research at Peel Hunt, recently told a capital markets summit he’s got a list of 20 to 25 companies that would be “brilliant IPOs for the UK.” The challenge? “Keeping them in the UK.”
He warned that reforms need to happen quickly, or firms like AstraZeneca and Revolut will follow Deliveroo and Darktrace to the US. And once the dominoes start falling, they don’t stop.
The valuation gap between London and New York remains stubbornly wide despite recent reforms. US markets offer more liquidity, higher valuations, and looser regulatory frameworks—basically everything a scaling tech company wants.
There are some bright spots. The Edinburgh Reforms and British Patient Capital’s £100m Cambridge innovation fund are trying to anchor high-growth firms in Britain. But as Baroness Stowell put it: “Too often it’s a case of UK begins, and other countries cash in. That has to change.”
Will it? The jury’s still out.
What This Means for UK Tech
The Deliveroo and Darktrace exits aren’t isolated incidents—they’re symptoms of a bigger problem. Britain’s great at launching tech companies but terrible at keeping them once they hit scale.
The UK Exit 50 report shows that American buyers are dominating the exit landscape, snapping up more than half of the country’s top tech exits. That’s billions in value leaving British shores and enriching US investors instead.
If the UK wants to reverse this trend, it needs more than symbolic reforms. It needs deeper capital pools, better employee equity rules, and public markets that can actually compete with Wall Street’s liquidity and valuations.
Until then, expect more headlines about British tech stars getting bought out by American giants.
Key Takeaways
The UK’s tech exit landscape is dominated by US acquisitions, with over 50% of top exits going to American buyers. Deliveroo and Darktrace both struggled on the London Stock Exchange before being acquired by US firms for billions. Regulatory limitations, lower valuations, and less liquidity are driving UK tech companies to seek exits overseas. Without urgent reforms, Britain risks becoming a talent incubator for American wealth creation.
Want to stay ahead of UK tech and finance trends? Keep following our coverage for the latest insights and analysis.
FAQ
Q1: Why did Deliveroo get acquired by DoorDash?
A: Deliveroo struggled to maintain investor confidence after its 2021 IPO, with share prices dropping over 50%. DoorDash’s stronger NYSE valuation and deeper capital resources made it a natural buyer, offering Deliveroo access to investment it couldn’t secure in London.
Q2: What happened to Darktrace after going public in London?
A: Darktrace listed on the LSE in 2021 but its share price underperformed compared to US peers. In 2024, US private equity firm Thoma Bravo bought the company for $5.3bn, taking it private and giving it more flexibility than UK public markets allowed.
Q3: Why are UK tech companies choosing US exits over staying in London?
A: US markets offer higher valuations, greater liquidity, and fewer regulatory restrictions—especially around employee equity compensation. These advantages make American exchanges and acquirers more attractive for scaling tech firms.
Q4: How many UK tech exits went to US buyers recently?
A: According to the UK Exit 50 report, over 50% of the top UK tech exits in the past two years were acquired by US-headquartered firms, compared to just 30% by UK buyers.
Q5: What is the UK doing to stop tech companies from leaving?
A: The UK government has introduced reforms like the Edinburgh Reforms and British Patient Capital’s £100m innovation fund to support high-growth firms. However, analysts warn these changes need to accelerate to close the valuation gap with US markets.
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Effective Date: 15th July 2025
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