London has taken over the title of European start-up capital from Berlin with 1.3 billion euros (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) venture capital flowing into the city in the first half of 2016, said a study on Tuesday.

According to the study by professional services company Ernst & Young (EY), start-up firms in Berlin have attracted 520 million over the past six months, after Stockholm with one billion, Paris with 673 million, besides London as the champion.

Last year, venture capital flowing into Berlin's start-up firms reached 1.5 billion, making Berlin top other big cities in Europe.

EY releases every six months a "start-up barometer", in which venture capital investments in European start-ups are listed and mutually compared.