Millennial investors look to new tech trends in 2018

This new research is launched in conjunction with the UKBAA’s Global Investor Summit, hosted as part of Liverpool's International Business Festival. With over 30,000 global market leaders in attendance, the UKBAA hosted breakout sessions and headline events focusing on which tech sectors are offering the greatest opportunities to exploit global growth and investment, from both an entrepreneurial and investor perspective.

The nationally representative data of 2,006 respondents analyses the sentiment of those investors aged 18-34 towards 2018's rising new tech trends - such as such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, driverless cars and the experience economy. The report also looked at what factors they consider the most important when making an investment, from political factors and Brexit to workers' rights and the gig economy.

The research found:

• The majority (70%) of 18-34 year old investors consider data-driven retail important.
• Nearly half (40%) of all investors look to artificial intelligence, with the number rising to 69% of millennial investors.
• Almost as many millennials (58%), consider cryptocurrencies an important investment trend this year. 
• Drone technology follows closely, which 64% of 18-34 year old investors list as important.
•  A business underpinned by data collection is considered important by over a third (35%) of investors, this increases to 59% of millennials.
• The same percentage of all investors (35%) consider virtual reality important.
• These trends are followed by driverless cars (32%), and blockchain tech (17%).

Jenny Tooth, CEO of the UKBAA, said of the Summit: “The findings of this report show extremely positive signs of continuing growth in the angel market, but many regions continue to show an under served level of angel investment. We therefore welcome the British Business Bank’s implementation of a major new commercial investment programme to stimulate new regional business angel clusters. At UKBAA, we are complementing this important initiative with capacity building actions, including new regional Angel Hubs, combined with our new national e-learning programme on angel investing”.