An entrepreneur has shared his advice on the best countries to focus on if you want to make the most of a tech investment.

British businessman and investor James Disney-May, who works with a range of technology companies across the UK, Europe and the US, believes the West still offers many of the best opportunities for investment in innovation.

But he says there are also great opportunities in emerging markets as well as countries in the Middle East and beyond.

The Established Engines

United States

Venture investors pumped a record US $65.3 billion into AI and machine-learning start-ups in the first quarter of 2025 alone, accounting for well over half of global deal value. Add the CHIPS & Science Act’s US $52.7 billion for semiconductors and America still offers the deepest capital markets, densest talent pools and most robust IP enforcement.

United Kingdom

Britain’s AI sector is now valued above £72 billion, the largest in Europe. Government compute-credit schemes, refreshed R&D tax relief and proposed secondary-market reforms are helping founders scale without the traditional trans-Atlantic hop. The time-zone overlap with both Asia and the US keeps London a natural bridge for capital flows.

Germany
Long celebrated for engineering excellence, Germany pulled in €9.5 billion of venture capital in 2024 (Source?), much of it into Cleantech, industrial AI and fintech. Federal incentives for climate tech and a disciplined Mittelstand customer base give deep-tech companies a stable landing pad as they commercialise.

Singapore
A transparent legal system, near-frictionless company formation and competitive tax policy continue to make the Lion City the preferred “risk-off” hub for investors reallocating from mainland China while staying plugged into ASEAN growth. Its tech ecosystem is today valued at roughly US $144 billion – seventh worldwide.

Israel
Despite heightened geopolitical tension, Israeli tech raised US $9.3 billion in the first half of 2025. A military-to-start-up talent pipeline, mandatory R&D service and spending north of four per cent of GDP on research keep the country at the leading edge of cyber-security, autonomous systems and defence software.

Canada
Ottawa’s Start-up Visa Programme offers founders and their families a fast track from work permit to permanent residency, attracting Silicon-Valley-calibre talent at valuations that still leave room for multiple expansion. Domestic pension funds are now writing growth cheques, giving investors additional exit routes.

The High-Growth Outperformers

India
Morgan Stanley projects India’s GDP will more than double to US $7.5 trillion by 2031. The country is already the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem, with deep pools of engineering talent and expanding domestic capital. Governance risk remains, so insist on Delaware-style protections even in local deals.

United Arab Emirates
Non-oil diversification is accelerating. The NextGen FDI initiative aims to lure 300 international tech firms and US $500 million in fresh capital, while wider FDI hit US $45.6 billion in 2024. A zero per-cent personal income-tax rate and revamped Golden Visa keep talent pipelines well supplied, though local exit markets are still thin.

Vietnam
Already a key “China-plus-one” destination, Vietnam has captured US $16 billion in Apple supply-chain spending since 2019, and the government is courting semiconductor fabrication plants alongside an ambitious renewables build-out. Currency convertibility can slow repatriation, but the trajectory is unmistakably upward.

For more free information visit www.jamesdisneymay.com