UK EnergyTech Report
by AlbionVC
Posted
with Beauhurst
The cost of the electron will define the next decade.
Over the past decade, the UK’s digital asset ecosystem has evolved from seed-stage experimentation to a globally relevant market, attracting institutional capital and producing category-defining companies. More than £2.7bn in equity capital has been raised across distinct growth phases, bringing the ecosystem to a pivotal juncture: how to consolidate its momentum and build durable, world-class companies that define the next decade.
AlbionVC, in partnership with our friends at Beauhurst, is excited to release the EnergyTech Report 2026: a decade-long view of the UK’s energy tech ecosystem, covering every startup founded since 2016.
The cost of the electron will define the next decade. Energy systems globally are experiencing disruption unlike anything seen in over a century, from centralised generation to a decentralised, highly variable model, while AI-driven demand puts global data centre power consumption on track to nearly double by 2030. Between this strained supply and surging demand sits the energy intelligence layer, and that’s where we believe the next generation of outliers will be created.
The data shows a market that has defied the wider trend. UK energy tech startups have raised close to £1bn across 483 rounds since 2016, with annual investment accelerating from £62.8m in 2021 to £260m in 2025, even as the broader UK venture market retreated. Between 2023 and 2025, deal counts held steady while equity raised grew 34%, an early signal that emerging winners are commanding larger rounds in a nascent market.
AI sits at the heart of it: 66% of first-time deals in 2025 went to AI-led energy tech companies, and AI’s share of all deals reached its highest level since 2019.
However, the market remains early. We’ve still to see a single £100m+ round in the space, which means it’s all to play for, for founders and investors alike.
With UK electricity prices still 53% above pre-crisis levels and a grid connection queue exceeding 700GW, software that makes existing infrastructure work harder, and brings new assets online faster and cheaper, is one of the best levers the UK and rest of Europe has.
VIEW ONLINE REPORT HERE OR DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT.
“At AlbionVC, we look for founders solving complex infrastructure problems in markets undergoing structural change, which is exactly what we’re seeing in energy today. The most exciting companies in this space are combining deep technical and commercial understanding of the energy system with the product and software mindset that transformed sectors like fintech. We still believe we are in the early innings of the market, and the scale of the transition ahead makes this a uniquely compelling time to be
Adam Chirkowski, Partner, AlbionVC
investing in early-stage EnergyTech and infrastructure.”.
