In the UK and Ireland, trade and strategic investors (TSI) are a significant part of the venture scene in the technology sector.

According to Ascendant, TSIs have made up about a fifth of the UK and Ireland technology investment pool since 2007. Last year, there were 214 tech investments, excluding life sciences, worth an aggregate £621m in private UK and Irish companies, down from 255 worth £1bn in 2008. By way of comparison, the all-time peak of the UK and Irish market came in 2001 when £3.5bn was invested in 482 companies.

The chart sets out the deals Ascendant has tracked which…