The UK is known for many things and its startup ecosystem is another of those things. UK startups benefit from a competitive business environment that has access to a wealth of institutional funding. This is particularly true in London, which is the startup capital of Europe, with an ecosystem value of $314 Billion, which far eclipses the global average of $28.6 Billion.
A large amount of support for top startups in the UK comes from local government programmes, where different localities offer different support. For example, the City of London runs its own fund from London & Partners, which offers support to pre-seed and seed-stage companies. They also offer an accelerator for businesses that have mission statements that target UN sustainability goals.
It's not just London where startups are being supported, however, as a recent report has shown that the number of startup accelerators in the country has doubled in the previous five years, reaching a figure of 750. Meaning, startup businesses across the UK can easily find accelerators to support their idea.
1. Atoa
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Sid Narayanan, Cian O'Dowd, Arun Rajkumar
Atoa is one of the most promising UK startups founded in 2022 and operates in the Fintech market. The company aims to solve a key problem for merchants, which is the expensive fees involved in taking payments through card machines. Atoa battles this problem by charging a flat fee, which is 70% cheaper than those card machines. Merchants are also able to access their funds instantly, instead of waiting days to receive it.
The added flexibility of Atoa's offering also appeals to customers, with a pay-as-you-go model in place of restrictive contracts and there are also no hardware fees involved in setting up. Added security features also eliminate the risk of chargeback fraud which can be a big problem for merchants using card machines.
Since being founded in 2022, the company has completed a pre-seed funding round which was backed by a sole investor. This investor backed Atoa with a total of $2.2 Million to help the startup scale for the future.
2. NCLE
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 1-10
Founders: Walid Hosni
NCLE is one of the top UK startups and earns its revenue through the Ed-Tech market. The company makes it easier for people to get access to educational opportunities and learning materials in an equitable and efficient way. As it stands, they have a number of online courses in various professional disciplines and have enrolled over 11,000 students that are looking to upskill themselves.
This relatively new UK startup has gone through its first round of funding recently, with a pre-seed funding round on the 1st of December, 2022. Information on the investor and the total raised by the company has not been disclosed.
3. Chattermill
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 51-100
Founders: Dmitry Isupov, Mikhail Dubov
Chattermill may be one of the more well-known UK startups on this list, having now run for seven years and continually expanding its team. The company has created an AI-powered solution that stops brands from wandering in the dark when it comes to what their customers really think. Their technology allows for the on-scale aggregation of reviews and customer feedback from numerous different sources.
Having this wealth of information available makes it easier for customer experience and marketing teams to use data that is truly reflective of customer opinion. This then allows the leadership of a business to understand what their customer's pain points are with their own brand, allowing for fixes and priority being put on the right outcomes.
The business has gone through a series of funding rounds, with the most recent being a Series B round in December 2022. To date, the UK startup has managed to raise a total of $42.3 Million to further the growth of the company.
4. Builder.ai
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 251-500
Founders: Sachin Dev Duggal, Saurabh Dhoot
Builder.ai is an example of one of the most successful current startups in the UK. The business offers a software platform that makes it easier for non-developers to build and deploy their own software projects. This helps small business owners, entrepreneurs and enterprises to embrace a no-code approach to their software development needs.
Getting high-quality technical expertise and building software from scratch can be a very expensive process. Not only does Builder.ai make it easier to create these projects, but it also makes it much cheaper to do so. This is particularly helpful when British businesses are trying to save money on electricity, gas and other bills.
The startup has been very successful in attracting outside investment, with its most recent funding round being a Series C round. Nine investors have backed the company since it was founded and this has allowed for large-scale funding, whereby the business has raised a total of $195 Million.
5. Nothing
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Carl Pei, Akis Evangelidis
Nothing is a UK startup that was founded in 2020 and operates in the consumer software sphere. The company aims to make the relationship between consumers and technology simpler by removing barriers to entry. The company has developed a wide array of gadgets like headphones, a phone and a variety of different phone accessories.
The business has had a range of institutional investments and crowdfunding, which has allowed it to raise a figure of $150.2 Million in startup funding. This funding aside from crowdfunding was achieved through 25 investors.
6. Wirex
Year Founded: 2014
HQ: London, England
Size: 251-500
Founders: Dmitry Lazarichev, Georgy Sokolov, Pavel Mateev
Wirex is a UK startup that was founded in 2014 and operates in the FinTech market. The startup operates a platform with the primary aim of making cryptocurrencies and other traditional currencies more accessible to people all across the world. This is particularly helpful in countries that are generally unbanked and have limited access to currency.
The company makes it easy with its own payment card, which provides incentives to customers for using it. This includes point-of-sale currency conversion with zero exchange fees. Users are also given up to 8% in rewards on all of their spending, which helps to make their money go further.
Wirex has gone through a number of funding rounds, with the most recent being a Series B round. So far, the company has received support from a role investor, which has allowed it to raise a total of $27.8 Million.
7. Arloid Automation
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 51-100
Founders: Max Zubov, Sergey Shalunov, Vladimir Pushmin
Arloid Automation is a UK startup that was founded in 2019 and operates in the software market, specifically specializing in energy efficiency for real estate. The company uses automation to help businesses improve their energy usage and help drive greater energy efficiency, with net zero being the end goal.
With energy bills in the UK increasing drastically in recent times, the offering of Arloid Automation is even more important as it can help property owners to make their buildings more energy efficient and reduce bills for the people that use the properties. This is why the business has a firm place on this list.
Since the startup was founded, it has gone through a seed funding round which has allowed the business to raise a total of $12.8 Million from a single investor. With a greater focus on efficiency looking likely in the UK, the company is likely to grow further.
8. Arweave
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Sam Williams, William Jones
Arweave is a UK startup that was founded in 2017 and operates in the data storage market. The startup has created a solution that allows data to be truly stored forever. It aims to create a form of the internet called the permaweb, where data is permanent and can be retrieved quickly. The decentralized nature prevents 404 errors, prevents stealth editing of content and web apps from declining.
Since being founded, the startup has received funding from a total of 16 investors and has successfully raised a total of $22 Million from its funding rounds. This funding has allowed the UK startup to accelerate its growth ambitions.
9. Modulr
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 251-500
Founders: Cyrus Wadia, Jakub Zmuda, Kevin Hayes, Martim Threakall, Myles Stephenson, Riteshb Tendulkar
Modulr is one of the largest UK startups on our list and this is due to the strength of its offering and its success in raising startup funding. The company earns its income by developing APIs to assist its customers, which are digital businesses with providing payment-as-a-service. With their tech being linked to the Bank of England and the scope for automation and workflow development, the company has gone from strength to strength.
In its seven years of operation, Modulr has gone through a number of funding rounds. These funding rounds have led to the company agreeing to finance deals with seven investors. Between these investors, the startup has managed to raise a total of $181.2 Million.
10. V7
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Alberto Rizzoli, Simon Edwardsson.
V7 is a UK startup that was founded in 2018 and is currently headquartered in London. The company operates in the AI field and has created an AI data platform to benefit its customers. It allows its users to complete any labelling task ten times faster than normal. This is achieved through the use of their API for image annotation and dataset management.
The business has successfully undertaken funding rounds, with the most recent being its Series A in November 2022. In total, the startup has managed to successfully raise a figure of $43 Million in funding to improve its services and further scale the business.
11. Anything World
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 51-100
Founders: Gordon Midwood, Sebastian Hofer
Anything World is one of the premier UK startups in gaming. Specifically, the business helps game developers by using artificial intelligence to create 3D models to be used within the development of the games. This is effective for developers as they're able to request 3D models and have them arrive with animations already applied, which decreases wait times by 40%.
Anything World has seen significant investment since being founded, with its funding rounds yielding support from seventeen investors. The support from these investors has led Anything World to $9.7 Million to improve their technology so they can give a better experience to their customers.
12. Bactobio
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Daniel Blicher Holst Hansen
Bactobio is one of the most promising UK startups, the business operates in the biotechnology sector. It has one clear goal in mind, to curb the issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is rapidly becoming a bigger issue every year, with a large part of this being related to misuse of anti-biotic medication, such as not completing a full course.
The startup aims to solve the problem by harvesting metabolites from biological dark matter in the hopes of creating new antibiotics that can be turned against the rapidly immunising bacteria that currently exist. They also research food production and help support sustainable industry
The company's mission is a critical one and investors have seen its potential for growth, with a total of six investors parting with a collective $12.6 Million to further research into new potential antibiotics.
13. Solvo AI
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 1-10
Founders: Gaurav Bajaj
Solvo.ai is one of the newest UK startups on this list, founded in 2021. The company has developed an artificial intelligence platform to assist with supply chain management. The platform assists with automated decision-making to improve the efficiency and resilience of existing global supply chains. Considering the global impact of COVID-19 and other world affairs on current supply chains, an automated solution could prove to be a great help.
Solvo recently completed a Seed Funding Round in November 2022, which allowed it to gain support from a total of four investors that see the potential scale that the business can grow to. The combined support from these investors has allowed the UK startup to raise a figure of £3.6 Million.
14. Immersive Gamebox
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 51-100
Founders: David Spindler, Will Dean
Immersive Gamebox is one of the most interesting UK startups on this list, with a focus on augmented reality and in-person experiences. The company has multiple locations where customers can entertain themselves with augmented reality smart rooms, with motion tracking, touch screens and more to provide an authentic experience.
The company has a number of experiences on offer, such as one inspired by Squid Game, Angry Birds and a variety of other in-person gaming experiences. The aim is to provide an experience that both adults and children can enjoy.
Investors have been swayed by the augmented reality startup, which can be easily seen through the fact that eleven investors have backed the company and helped it to raise a total of $45.2 Million, which has gone towards new locations and providing new experiences for their customers.
15. Railsr
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 251-500
Founders: Clive Mitchell, Nigel Verdon
Railsr is one of many UK startups, however, the founders behind this fintech company have been able to steadily and effectively scale their initial idea. The company provides the digital infrastructure required to build up-to-date and effective banking services, such as wallet creation, payment card creation and more. They provide technological solutions for businesses wanting to offer financial products to their customers.
The business has received a large sum of investment since being founded, with the business successfully completing a number of funding rounds. From these rounds of funding, the startup has secured the support of 28 investors and has gained a total of $187.3 Million.
16. Netacea
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Manchester, United Kingdom
Size: 51-100
Founders: Andy Still, Jeremy Gidlow
Netacea is one of a number of UK startups focused on cybersecurity. The company has created an AI platform that helps to differentiate between bots and real humans, its machine-learning elements ensure that it is constantly improving against new threats. They help to protect the APIs, apps and websites of their clients whilst maintaining good performance for genuine users of those platforms.
The cybersecurity startup has successfully raised funding from six investors, with the most recent funding round being a Series A round that was completed in February 2022. These rounds of funding have allowed the business to raise £9 Million in startup funding.
17. Napo
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Jean-Phillipe Doumeng, Ludovic Lacay
Napo is a UK startup that was founded in 2021 and works in the InsurTech market. Specifically, the company focuses on providing its customers with access to transparent, fair and effective pet insurance products.
They want to make it easier to protect your four-legged friends with low excess fees of £75 per condition per year. There is also a simple online claim process that can be completed by the customer's vet. They also make it easy to seek out initial support and assistance through free video calls with registered vets, which makes getting support much quicker and better for your pets.
Napo has seen strong support from investors despite only having operated for slightly over a year at the time of writing. The company has completed a Series A funding round and has secured funding from nine investors. The total gained from these investments has netted Napo £17 Million to improve and scale to the next stage.
18. Faradai
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 51-100
Founders: Burak Sefer, Sahin Caglayan, Utku Simitli
Faradai is a startup in the UK that was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in London. The company aims to use advanced technology to accelerate the race to net-zero, through the use of IoT technology and sensors to track data on energy usage and efficiency. This then gives actionable insights to organisations on how they can reduce their energy usage and save money whilst helping the planet.
Faradai has successfully pitched its business model to a total of seven investors in the six years since being founded. The investors have assisted the business with a total of $3.9 Million. This funding helps the startup to scale its operations and improve its technology offering.
19. Britishvolt
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 251-500
Founders: Orral Nadjari
The aptly named Britishvolt is one of the UK startups that is focused on sustainability and improving the world. The company focuses its efforts on the development and creation of sustainable low-carbon batteries. The focus on reducing carbon production from batteries will play a significant role in combating climate change making sure the world is a safe place for future generations.
Investment in Britishvolt has been significant in its nearly four years of operation. The business has agreed to deals with a total of nine investors. These investors have collectively distributed $2.4 Billion to the startup to assist with product development and scaling of overall operations.
20. Flow Engineering
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 1-10
Founders: Parikshat Singh
Flow Engineering is a UK startup that was founded in 2016 and is currently headquartered in London. The company has created a software platform to improve collaboration efforts for engineering teams, with the ultimate goal of being as synonymous with hardware as Github is with software. A wide range of tools make working together easy and their open API ensures that you can pull data from a wide variety of sources from Excel to GitHub itself. This takes a large brunt of the administrative work off an engineer's shoulders.
The British startup has effectively pitched its business model to investors, with 25 separate investors agreeing to fund the business since it was founded. The total funding raised from these investors has reached $8.5 Million at the time of writing.
21. Surfboard
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Size: 11-50
Founders: Natasha Ratanshi-Stein
Surfboard is one of the most exciting recent UK startups, being founded as recently as 2021. The company has created a software solution that makes it easier for customer service teams to plan their workforce management. Its technology helps managers to set schedules more efficiently and reduces the risk of scheduling errors causing over and understaffing, which can impact the bottom line of a business and customer satisfaction. It also helps to keep employees happy by creating a better environment for tracking workloads and scheduling.
Since being founded in 2021, Surfboard has successfully pitched its business to a number of investors. At the time of writing, the UK startup has signed deals with 37 investors and the total value of these investments stands at 4.8 Million Euros. This funding was achieved during a Seed Round in November 2022.
FAQs
What Are The Strongest Industries In The UK?
The strongest startup sectors in the UK are FinTech, InsurTech, EdTech, PropTech and on-demand services.
What Is The Average Investment In The Startup Industry In The UK
The UK's startup investments are generally larger than the global average, with London Seed Rounds yielding an average of $714,000 and Series A rounds netting an average of $6.2 Million.
How Many Startups Are There In The UK?
Finding the exact number of tech startups in the UK would be difficult, but London alone is home to more than 18,000. Some estimates place the number of active tech startups at around 40,000.
