The
Artificial
Intelligence
Top 50
We’ve ranked the top 50 artificial intelligence (AI) companies in the UK, by total amount of equity investment received to date. This includes funds raised through publicly-announced deals, as well as unannounced rounds.
Data correct as of May 2022.
Artificial intelligence has become an essential tool for the world’s leading tech companies, including the likes of Google, Amazon and Microsoft. But it’s not just Big Tech getting in on the action—the UK is home to a fast-growing population of startups and scaleups, developing their own AI technology and new applications for machine learning algorithms and data science.
Spanning almost every high-growth industry, from cybersecurity and healthcare automation to chatbots and self-driving cars, there are endless ways in which AI models are being used to help consumers and businesses. Read our ultimate guide to artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to learn more.
The state of artificial intelligence in the UK
A popular place for artificial intelligence companies to set up shop, there are currently 1,486 AI companies across the UK that have hit one or more of our high-growth triggers—all indicators of ambitious growth plans and future startup success. Collectively, these businesses have secured £8.48b worth of equity investment, across 3,283 rounds, making artificial intelligence one of the best-funded sectors in the UK (behind fintech).
In this annual ranking, we profile the private AI startups and scaleups that have secured the most investment in the UK so far. Read on to find out who they are, how much they’ve raised, and how they’re innovating in 2022.
Top 50 Artificial Intelligence Companies
Top 50 Artificial Intelligence Companies UK
1. OneTrust
Total amount raised: £699m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2016
Location: Islington
Cybersecurity company OneTrust develops artificial intelligence software that helps users to manage and secure their privacy and third-party risk. It is also one of the UK’s leading unicorn companies (private businesses valued at over $1b).
OneTrust has raised £699m, across four funding rounds, each of which were megadeals (investments worth £50m or more). The company’s investors include Insight Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures and Coatue Management. OneTrust has also acquired two other startups so far, DataGuidance and Optanon, to integrate their privacy and security compliance technology into the OneTrust platform.
The AI company is co-headquartered in London and Atlanta, with other offices in locations such as San Francisco and New York. Its platform currently has around 10k users, whilst the company employs around 2k people across the globe.
2. Graphcore
Total amount raised: £528m
Total equity rounds: 7
Established: 2016
Location: City of Bristol
Graphcore operates in the semiconductor processing chip industry, developing and manufacturing chips made specifically to accelerate artificial intelligence and machine learning tasks. Graphcore’s chips use Intelligence Process Unit (IPU) technology, housing 1,472 separate IPU-Cores, capable of executing 8,832 separate parallel computing threads.
The Bristol-based AI startup has grown from strength to strength since 2016, with a total of seven funding rounds under its belt, which saw it reach unicorn status after just four years of trading. Graphcore has raised more than half a billion pounds in investment, and is partnered with large tech companies such as Microsoft and Dell Technologies. The company has offices in London, Cambridge, Oslo, Beijing, Seoul, and across the US.
3. Thought Machine
Total amount raised: £310m
Total equity rounds: 7
Established: 2015
Location: Islington
Thought Machine develops fintech software Vault, which enables banks and financial services providers to centrally manage a range of products. Its core banking platforms can be used to run day-to-day operations, improving on the cost, speed, and adaptability of legacy systems. Thought Machine’s software is accessed through an API and has a large artificial intelligence component.
The AI company has raised £309m in growth capital so far, across seven funding rounds, with the likes of Molten Ventures (previously Draper Esprit), IQ Capital, Playfair Capital, and British Patient Capital. Its most recent fundraising, secured in July 2020, saw the company valued at £221m pre-money. Alongside new investors ING Ventures, JP Morgan Chase Strategic Investments and Standard Charter Investments, this latest raise also saw Thought Machine reach unicorn status.
4. Patsnap
Total amount raised: £251m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2007
Location: Southwark
Patsnap has created a web-based platform to help clients assess intellectual property patents, with access to patent expiry dates, licensing, renewal, and legal information for tech companies.
The lawtech company’s platform is powered by artificial intelligence algorithms and natural language processing, to parse patents and IP, as well as extract and cross-match critical information. It can even analyse more complex documents, like clinical trials, chemical structures patents, and litigation records.
Patsnap has over 10k customers in over 50 countries, including some very big names like Tesla, Dyson, and NASA. So far, the company has secured £251m in investment, across four funding rounds.
5. Lendable
Total amount raised: £217m
Total equity rounds: 9
Established: 2014
Location: Hackney
Lendable is a fintech company that develops a peer-to-peer lending platform for consumer finance. The company’s AI software matches users with appropriate investors, leveraging artificial intelligence and automated underwriting to quickly approve loans. Lendable also offers loans to those with lower credit scores to provide a fairer borrowing solution.
Lendable has raised £217m, across nine funding rounds, since 2014. It’s expanded to offices in New York, Nairobi and Singapore, and has featured in several high growth lists: this year’s FT 1000, the Deloitte Fast 50 in both 2019 and 2020, and the Fast Tech Track 100, also in 2019 and 2020. Additionally, in 2018, Lendable participated in Addleshaw Goddard’s AG Elevate accelerator programme for scaling fintech startups.
6. Quantexa
Total amount raised: £182m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2016
Location: Lambeth
Quantexa is a cybersecurity firm that develops AI technology to secure organisations’ data and flag illegal activity. It works closely with industries that handle large datasets (such as banking, e-commerce and the public sector), to create analytical models that uncover data risk, reveal opportunities, and enhance decision making.
The company is backed by AlbionVC, Dawn Capital, HSBC Enterprise Fund and Accenture, among others. In its latest funding round, led by Warburg Pincus in 2021, Quantexa raised £110m in investment. This took the company’s total fundraisings to £182m.
Quantexa has attended both the Microsoft ScaleUp accelerator and Tech Nation’s Future Fifty accelerator. It has also appeared on several high-growth lists, including The Telegraph’s Tech Hot 100, Fast Track’s Tech Track 100, and the 2021 edition of The Regtech 100.
7. Onfido
Total amount raised: £175m
Total equity rounds: 10
Established: 2010
Location: City of London
Onfido offers AI solutions for virtual identity verification and fraud security. The company’s automation software uses artificial intelligence to assess whether government documents are valid, and then uses facial biometrics to match the verified ID. Its platform distinguishes itself through the speed and security with which companies can now verify identity.
Spurred on by the need for digital services during the coronavirus pandemic, such as secure virtual onboarding, the company announced a record revenue year in 2020. Its global annual recurring revenue increased 82%, whilst new clients in 2020 included Visa, CRM firm Salesforce, and one of Canada’s leading digital security companies, SecureKey.
Onfido has so far raised £175m in funding, secured across 10 rounds. Its most recent fundraising was led by TPG Growth, who have previously backed Airbnb and Uber.
8. Wayve
Total amount raised: £174m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2017
Location: Islington
Wayve develops software for self driving cars that uses machine learning technology. The company was founded in 2017, following pioneering deep-learning research from the University of Cambridge. In 2018, it carried out its first autonomous vehicle test on public roads, and in 2021 it announced a partnership with Ocado, the online grocer and delivery service, to conduct an autonomous delivery trial in London. The company now operates a fleet of electric vehicles fitted for autonomous operation and technology development.
The company has raised £174m of investment across five funding rounds, the most recent of which closed in January 2022. The £147m round was backed by Balderton Capital, D1 capital Partners, M12 (formerly Microsoft ventures, and Baillie Gifford, among others.
9. Callsign
Total amount raised: £157m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2010
Location: City of London
Focusing on creating smooth customer interactions, AI company Callsign has produced technology for passive authentication, fraud prevention and intelligence. Its proprietary technology uses artificial intelligence to mimic the way humans recognise each other.
In October 2021, Callsign was chosen by Visa as their preferred behavioral biometric and device intelligence identity partner across Europe.
Callsign is the world’s fastest-growing behavioral authentication and intelligence company. It has raised a total of £157m in investment, across three funding rounds. The company’s main investors include JP Morgan, AllegisCyber and NightDragon Security.
10. ContractPodAI
Total amount raised: £133m
Total equity rounds: 7
Established: 2012
Location: Westminster
ContractPodAI develops contract management software. It uses a blend of artificial intelligence and machine learning to power legal contract management: reading, analysing, and interpreting the legal language and stipulations within—all through the cloud. Its product is targeted towards law firms and large corporations, to automate their contract processing and management.
In September 2021, ContractPodAI announced a new £85.6m funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, to invest in its product growth and expand into Asia-Pacific. This takes its total fundraising figure to £133m. The AI company, which has offices in the UK, the US, India and Australia, is also backed by Crowdcube, Insight Partners, and Eagle Investment.
11. Beamery
Total amount raised: £125m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2012
Location: Hackney
Beamery is a talent platform that uses AI to enable tech companies to search for, connect, and communicate with potential employees. Based out of Hackney and founded in 2012, Beamery graduated from Tech Nation’s Upscale accelerator in 2018.
The company has raised £125m so far, across five funding rounds. Investors include Index Ventures, LocalGlobe, Microsoft Ventures, AngelPad, EQT Ventures, GP Ventures and Grupa Pracuj.
In 2020, Beamery ranked in 10th place on the Deloitte Fast 50, having grown its revenue at an impressive rate of 3,541% over the previous four years. The company has offices in London, San Francisco, and Austin, with over 180 employees in total.
12. Huma
Total amount raised: £121m
Total equity rounds: 8
Established: 2011
Location: Westminster
Huma (previously Medopad) develops a web-based portal for hospitals and healthcare professionals to contain, manage, and collect health records. This data is then accessible to patients through a mobile app.
Alongside its main goal of managing healthcare data, Huma also works on digital health insights and has developed wearable technology to detect digital biomarkers and assess health in real-time. Huma has been working with many organisations around the world, including the NHS, to monitor COVID-19 patients remotely.
The AI company has secured £121m in fundraisings, from investors including Healthbox, Nexus Investments, Bayer, and NWS Holdings. In 2020, the company acquired two businesses: stress and productivity biometric startup BioBeats, and Tarilian, an optoelectronic sensor company that makes technology for measuring blood pressure and heart monitoring.
13. Builder.ai
Total amount raised: £98.7m
Total equity rounds: 2
Established: 2012
Location: Tower Hamlets
Builder.ai creates AI technology that allows people to quickly develop apps and software, without the need for coding skills. The technology company automates many of the manual processes required in software building, reducing development time, human error and cost.
Its AI development software uses a drag-and-drop format for ease of use, and its AI can match a user and their specific needs with the appropriate developers. Builder.ai claims that its platform builds software six times faster and 70% cheaper than average.
The company has so far raised £98.7m in investment since its founding in 2012, across two funding rounds. Its backers include Deepcore, Insight Partners, International Finance Corporation, Jungle Ventures, Lakestar and WndrCo.
14. Tessian
Total amount raised: £97.0m
Total equity rounds: 8
Established: 2013
Location: City of London
Founded in 2013, Tessian is an email security company that has over 350 global customers. Its software-as-a-service (SaaS)platform is used to prevent human errors leading to security breaches or data loss. The company uses artificial intelligence to monitor incoming and outgoing emails in real time, aiming to “protect your employees from themselves”.
In May 2021, Tessian raised a £46m funding round, followed by an additional £6.5m fundraising in August, at a pre-money valuation of £315m. As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed companies towards home-working, Tessian’s services became more crucial than ever. This is evident in the software company’s impressive growth—it tripled its Fortune 500 customer base in 2020, and has recently announced a partnership with cloud security company Okta.
15. ComplyAdvantage
Total amount raised: £91.3m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2014
Location: Camden
ComplyAdvantage has created a cloud-based risk analysis platform. Using artificial intelligence, the software draws from a large database of financial crime information, flagging possible risks to companies in real time. The company works particularly closely with banks, to combat financial crime, such as money laundering and cases of financing terrorism. It also ensures compliance with regulations such as Sanctions, AML and CTF.
The AI company has attended two accelerator programmes: the Future Fifty accelerator and AG Elevate accelerator. It has also been named in numerous high growth lists, such as the Deloitte Fast 50 and the Fast Track’s Tech Track 100. Investors backing ComplyAdvantage include VC funds Balderton Capital and Index Ventures, with the company securing total fundraisings of £91.3m.
80%
based in London
16. Peak
Total amount raised: £85.5m
Total equity rounds: 7
Established: 2014
Location: Manchester
Peak is a decision intelligence platform, featuring a suite of outcome-focused features which enable customers to build and integrate AI-powered solutions that deliver on commercial objectives, directing decision making across multiple business functions. It is used by brands such as Nike, Pepsico, KFC, Sika and PrettyLittleThing. Headquartered in Manchester, Peak ranks top for AI companies based outside of the Capital.
Peak won the Gartner ‘Cool Vendor’ award for AI in retail, and was also named in The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For 2020, and The Sunday Times 100 Best Mid-Sized Companies to Work for in 2021. In August 2021, Peak announced a £54.5m Series C round led by SoftBank and featuring Arete Ventures, among others. This brings the company’s total fundraisings so far to £85.5m.
17. InstaDeep
Total amount raised: £84.8m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2015
Location: Westminster
InstaDeep develops AI-based decision making software for businesses across a range of sectors, including biotech, logistics and energy. The company’s artificial intelligence solutions are customised to each client’s needs, and designed around their existing data and software architecture.
Founded in 2015, InstaDeep is headquartered in London but has offices in Paris, Lagos, Dubai, Tunis and Cape Town as well. To date, it has secured £84.8m in fundraisings, across five rounds. The company’s backers include US fund Endeavour Catalyst and Tunisian private equity firm AfricInvest. Its latest raise, in December 2021, was an unannounced round worth £56.8m.
18. Featurespace
Total amount raised: £83.5m
Total equity rounds: 8
Established: 2005
Location: South Cambridgeshire
Featurespace has developed analytics and AI software to profile online customer activity and predict future individual behaviour. It also aims to prevent and intercept online fraud and optimise marketing conversions in real time. The company’s primary technology is a platform called Adaptive Behaviour Analytics, which discerns between real customers and fraudulent entities.
Featurespace is a spinout from the University of Cambridge. It attended the Future Fifty Accelerator in 2018, and has appeared on the Deloitte Fast 50 three times, as well as Fast Track’s Tech Track 100. To date, the AI company has raised £83.5m in investment, across eight rounds. Its backers include some of the UK’s leading spinout investors, such as IP Group, and local Cambridge funds, like Cambridge Angels and Cambridge Capital Group.
19. Tractable
Total amount raised: £83.4m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2014
Location: Islington
Tractable develops AI software designed to analyse photos of accidents and disasters (such as crashes or natural disasters) so that data-based estimations for repair costs can be calculated. The idea is that, by increasing the speed of damage assessment, the next steps of rebuilding and settling claims can be made much quicker.
The company has raised £83.4m in investment so far, secured across five funding rounds. Its backers include Insight Partners, Entrepreneur First, Ignition Partners and Zetta Venture Partners. While Tractable is headquartered in London, it has offices in New York City and Tokyo as well.
6%
have a female founder
20. Signal AI
Total amount raised: £77.1m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2013
Location: Hackney
Signal AI is a media monitoring solution that uses algorithms to get the most valuable, tailored news and information to its respective clients. Other use cases for Signal AI include reputation management, spotting PR opportunities, regulatory compliance, and market intelligence.
The company’s AI software monitors and analyses millions of information sources online, crawling the web and social media, and then filtering and disseminating the most crucial parts.
To date, Signal AI has raised £77.1m in investment, across six rounds, with investment from Frontline Ventures, Hearst Ventures, Kreos Capital, LocalGlobe, and MMC Ventures, among others. It currently has over 170 employees, across offices in London, New York, and Hong Kong.
21. Partnerize
Total amount raised: £74.3m
Total equity rounds: 12
Established: 2010
Location: Islington
Partnerize has developed AI software that allows clients to track, manage and optimise their online advertising through pay-for-performance partnerships. Through Partnerize, companies can organise commission rates, automate payments, detect partnership fraud, and view big data insights.
The scaleup company has attended the Future Fifty accelerator programme, along with making frequent appearances on high-growth lists like Deloitte Fast 50 and The Northern Tech 100. It also has over 1,800 clients, that account for $7b+ in annual sales and $600m+ in partner payments.
So far, Partnerize has raised £74.3m in investment, through 12 fundraisings. Its investors include DN Capital, GP Bullhound Asset Management, Accel-KKR, Greycroft Partners, and Mithril.
22. Roborace
Total amount raised: £72.7m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2015
Location: Hammersmith & Fulham
Roborace organises motor racing championships for self-driving cars, all of which are electric vehicles (EVs) and use artificial intelligence software. The hardware for each car is standardised, meaning that the only differentiator is the AI technology developed by teams.
The cars operate physically on the racing track, but also within a mixed ‘computer reality’, where obstacles and rewards are overlaid virtually on the track. The algorithms driving the cars must react to virtual obstacles (which can add penalties) and collect items (which reduce their time). The AI algorithms developed by each team calculate the ‘cost’ of routes in real time, working out the path of least resistance.
In December 2020, the company held its Season One Beta at Thruxton in the UK, live-streamed through platforms such as Twitch. Teams racing in the tournament included Arrival Racing—powered by automotive company (and cleantech unicorn) Arrival—MIT Driverless, and Carnegie-Mellon University. Roborace is operating in stealth mode, having raised all of its £72.7m investment from unannounced sources.
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23. Oxbotica
Total amount raised: £71.2m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2014
Location: Oxford
Oxbotica develops software designed to power self-driving cars, with technology that uses cameras and lasers to navigate the surrounding environment. The company’s product draws heavily on artificial intelligence and is deployed across sectors from mining to construction.
In 2019, Oxbotica led the first fleet trial of autonomous vehicles in London streets. It is still investing heavily in its product, and negotiated several partnerships in 2020—one with Navtech to collaborate on radar-based navigation and perception systems, and one with Cisco to pioneer the OpenRoaming platform.
The AI tech company was spun-out from the University of Oxford (the most active university for spinouts in the UK) by professors Paul Newman and Ingmar Posner. It’s raised £71.2m so far, across 4 funding rounds, from BGF Growth Capital, BP Ventures, IP Group, and the University of Oxford Innovation Fund.
24. Constellation AI
Total amount raised: £70.5m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2016
Location: Westminster
Pioneering artificial intelligence for the improvement of mental health, Constellation AI specialises in AI research and development. By leveraging a combination of natural language, psychology and behavioural science, the AI technology it’s creating can better understand subtleties in human communication than existing tech, seeking to make AI “fluent in human”.
Founded in 2016, the company’s small but mighty team of physicists, neuroscientists, engineers and behavioural psychologists boasts PhDs from global institutions such as MIT, Stanford and Cambridge. In total, Constellation AI has raised over £70.5m in investment, across four funding rounds.
25. FintechOS
Total amount raised: £55.6m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2017
Location: Westminster
FintechOS is driving a paradigm shift in the way financial products and services are created, by making banks and insurers more customer-centric. The company collates data from existing databases and ecosystem APIs to create AI-powered data insights that can be integrated into the entire customer experience.
In total, FintechOS has raised £55.6m in investment, in three funding rounds. In April 2021, the fintech and artificial intelligence company secured £43.9m in fresh funding from numerous international funds, as well as London-based Molten Ventures. InSeptember, it successfully expanded into the US market, having already scaled operations from Europe to Asia and the Middle East.
26. Healx
Total amount raised: £53.3m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2014
Location: Cambridge
University of Cambridge spinout Healx is a drug discovery company, similar to BenevolentAi and Exscientia, but with a particular focus on treatments for rare diseases. It develops web-research software using artificial intelligence, to help find potential treatments for rare diseases by matching them to existing compounds.
Healx has ranked on numerous high-growth lists, including Tallt Disrupt 100 in 2017 and Britain’s Fasting Growing Businesses Top 100 in 2018 and 2019. It also attended the Future Fifty accelerator programme in 2017.
The AI company has raised £53.3m so far, across four funding rounds. Its backers are mostly well-known venture capital funds: Amadeus Capital Partners, Atomico, Balderton Capital, and Intel Capital. Its latest funding round, in October 2019, totalled £43.9m and was secured at a £88.7m pre-money valuation.
27. Beacon
Total amount raised: £52.5m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2018
Location: Westminster
Supply chain consultancy firm Beacon was founded in 2018 by two former Uber executives. They set out with a mission of helping businesses simplify and optimise their supply chains, with end-to-end visibility, supplier payments, and insights from data analytics. Beacon connects the key players in the supply chain using cloud-based software and artificial intelligence.
Beyond this, the company also provides freight services across a network of more than 100 partners in over 30 countries. Although based in London, Beacon is expanding rapidly, having opened their first international office in Hong Kong, and with further plans for growth in Asia and Europe. Since being founded in 2018, the company has raised £52.5m in investment, across three funding rounds.
16%
are university spinouts
28. Lifebit
Total amount raised: £52.1m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2017
Location: Hackney
Unlocking genomic data is said to be the potential key to modern medicine. Lifebit is a fast-growing healthcare company working to unify this data and make it more accessible. In doing so, Lifebit hopes to revolutionise bioinformatics and biomedical data analysis.
The company operates a cloud-based platform (Lifebit Cloud OS) that combines biological data with previous workflows and analyses, using AI automation to optimise future analysis. It is the world’s first federated genomics platform for unified and secure research over distributed big data.
In September 2021, Lifebit raised £43.8m in investment, in a round led by Tiger Global. This was the company’s third funding round, and took its total fundraising figure to £52.1m. Other backers include Eurazeo, Pentech Ventures and Beacon Capital.
29. Streetbees
Total amount raised: £51.1m
Total equity rounds: 8
Established: 2014
Location: Hackney
Streetbees collects various data points from users and turns them into actionable insights for clients. Users submit snippets of their everyday life in exchange for a small fee, either through photo, video, or message. Through large-scale AI and machine learning analysis, this media is then turned into data analytics that can reveal trends and insights, allowing clients to better understand their customers. Clients can also commission Streetbees to ask users specific questions about brands, feelings, and actions.
One of the UK’s top female-founded businesses, the company refers to itself as the “first human intelligence platform”, and has over 3.5m users, across 190 countries. Streetbees has featured on the Deloitte Fast 50 ranking and also worked with the NHS to assess the public’s mood during lockdown. Altogether, Streetbees has now raised £51.1m in investment, across eight rounds. Investors include Atomico, Lakestar, LocalGlobe, Octopus Ventures, JamJar Investments, and BGF Ventures.
30. Synthesia
Total amount raised: £48.7m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2017
Location: Westminster
Synthesia is part of the video-first internet revolution. Using recent advances in deep learning, Synthesia generates audiovisual content, allowing users to instantly turn an online presentation into an AI video. The company’s AI technology is designed to accurately model the intricate details of the human face in motion, for enhanced virtual storytelling.
Founded in 2017 by researchers and entrepreneurs from UCL, Stanford, TUM and Cambridge, Synthesia has raised £48.7m in investment to date. Its latest funding round, in November 2021, totalled £36.6m and saw participation from Kleiner Perkins, MMC Ventures, GV, Firstmark Capital, LDV Capital and Seedcamp.
31. CloudNC
Total amount raised: £47.0m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2015
Location: Tower Hamlets
CloudNC aims to revolutionise manufacturing into an entirely automated process. The company is developing AI software that improves the capabilities of CNC milling machines and automates their operation through machine learning. CNC machines are computer-controlled milling machines used to turn solid pieces of metal into complex parts like engine blocks.
Founded in 2015, after securing a £350k grant from Entrepreneur First, CloudNC is headquartered in London and owns a factory in Chelmsford. The AI company has raised £47.0m, across six funding rounds, and its known investors are Atomico, Entrepreneur First, Episode 1, and Murray Capital.
32. Chip
Total amount raised: £44.0m
Total equity rounds: 9
Established: 2016
Location: City of London
AI company Chip has developed a fintech mobile app that connects to current accounts. It uses artificial intelligence to determine how much users can afford to save and then automatically puts this amount aside, offering competitive interest rates on savings.
Founded in 2016, Chip has since raised £44.0m, across nine funding rounds—almost exclusively from crowdfunding campaigns on Crowdcube. The company’s most recent investment was in October 2021, when it secured £11.5m via Crowdcube.
33. Ultromics
Total amount raised: £43.1m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2017
Location: Oxford
Ultromics is a leader in the artificial intelligence healthcare revolution. The global healthtech firm develops machine learning technology to better detect issues of the heart during ultrasounds. It has developed the world’s most accurate echocardiography software, improving the diagnosis of coronary heart disease (the leading cause of mortality) by over 90%.
A spinout from the University of Oxford, Ultromics was built in partnership with the NHS. And the company’s EchoGo Core and EchoGo Pro technology is already being used and validated by several organisations, including Mayo Clinic and the Oregon Health and Science University. It’s so far raised £43.1m in investment for its machine learning platform, across five funding rounds.
34. ZOE
Total amount raised: £42.0m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2017
Location: Lambeth
ZOE is a nutrition and personal health startup that applies machine learning to provide users with personalised dietary recommendations via its mobile app. The company’s AI technology takes both the genome and microbiome of the individual into account, as users take home tests which determine the presence of certain gut microbiomes and blood sugar responses.
With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, ZOE partnered with the NHS and other healthcare providers to help them better understand COVID-19. It launched a COVID Symptom Study to over 4.5m users to gather data on the impact of the virus, using algorithms to predict pandemic hotspots, analysing the link between nutrition and the virus, and identifying lesser known symptoms. The company has raised a total of £42.0m in investment, across five funding rounds.
35. SafeToNet
Total amount raised: £41.7m
Total equity rounds: 12
Established: 2013
Location: Reading
SafeToNet develops AI software that aims to prevent children from being harmed online. The digital safeguarding startup uses patented AI technology to analyse text and language, looking for signs of cyberbullying and abuse. By analysing these behaviours, it can offer parents and children advice and alerts in real time. The software is also available as a mobile app.
The company attended the ELITE and Wayra London accelerators, in 2017 and 2018, respectively. It has also acquired two other startups: Visr, a Canadian online psychological analytics company, and Content Watch, a US-based online content-filtering SaaS software company.
Based in Reading, SafeToNet has raised £41.7m so far, across 12 funding rounds. Notable investors include crowdfunding platform Seedrs, and venture capital firms West Hill Capital and DuKlaw Ventures.
36. Distributed
Total amount raised: £40.5m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2017
Location: Merton
Distributed provides an online service, powered by artificial intelligence, that connects businesses with tech contractors. Its specialised AI software enables companies to tap into Distributed’s ‘Elastic Teams’, a highly-qualified global workforce of tech workers. The product eliminates the time and cost of recruitment, management and retention.
Since its founding in 2017, Distributed has raised £40.5m in investment, across five funding rounds. Current investors include BT, Fuel Ventures and Guinness Asset Management. To help expand its AI platform globally, the company attended the Mayor’s International Business Programme in 2021. That same year, it also appeared on several high-growth lists, namely Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50 and Startups 100 List.
20%
founded since 2017
37. Faculty
Total amount raised: £39.6m
Total equity rounds: 4
Established: 2014
Location: Islington
Faculty offers consultancy services to help businesses analyse and better understand their data using artificial intelligence. Faculty works with organisations across a broad range of sectors: healthcare, energy, consumer, and public services. Its customers reflect this variety, with the NHS, the Home Office, Virgin Media and Tesco all using the company.
To date, Faculty has raised £39.6m worth of investment, across four funding rounds. The most recent of these was secured in May 2021—a £30m deal with US fund Apax Digital—to create over 400 new jobs and further develop Faculty’s new learning programme.
38. Envisics
Total amount raised: £38.8m
Total equity rounds: 1
Established: 2016
Location: Milton Keynes
Envisics is developing dynamic holography technology with AI that overlays information through augmented reality (AR) onto head-up displays in vehicles. This grants the driver key, real-time information—navigation, stopping distance, hazard warnings, and so on. Envisics now has over 60 employees, all based in the company’s Milton Keynes office, and is currently working to scale its technology.
The artificial intelligence company raised equity investment for the first time in October 2020. The £38.8m round saw participation from General Motors Ventures, Hyundai, SAIC Capital, and Van Tuyl Companies. The investors intend to employ Envisics’ holographic tech in the next generation of their vehicles.
39. Secondmind
Total amount raised: £38.8m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2016
Location: Cambridge
Secondmind develops machine learning algorithms that improve the decision-making of artificial intelligence robots, used in applications like smart city simulations and games. The AI company’s platform can predict, plan, influence outcomes, manage risk, and make complex decisions. One application, for instance, would be to forecast demand, implement dynamic pricing, and optimise inventory stock levels. Essentially, the platform uses big data, AI, and visualisations to optimise business decisions.
The company was founded in 2016 and built by a team of researchers, data scientists, and machine learning engineers in Cambridge. To date, Secondmind has raised £38.8m in fundring, across five rounds. This capital was provided by a long list of investors, including Amadeus Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Passion Capital, and Tencent.
40. causaLens
Total amount raised: £38.2m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2016
Location: Hammersmith & Fulham
causaLens develops artificial intelligence-powered software for a variety of industries, such as food production and energy. Its pioneering Causal AI technology is a no-code platform, based on a machine learning model that understands cause and effect. The company aims to facilitate human decision and, by inspiring trust in AI-led choices, causaLens see its technology as a means of tackling emerging global challenges.
The company was founded in 2016 and has raised £38.2m in investment for its product, across three funding rounds. Its investors include Dorilton Ventures, GP Bullhound Asset Management, IQ Capital Fund and Molten Ventures. causaLens has also attended two accelerator programmes: Tech Nation’s Applied AI and the Mayor’s International Business Programme.
41. Cytora
Total amount raised: £36.8m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2012
Location: Islington
Cytora has developed a platform to power commercial insurance and underwriting. The platform crawls the web for information, collating data and building risk profiles for different insurance sectors and locations. Using machine learning and AI, it analyses mentions of natural disasters and fires, to determine risk areas.
Spun-out from the University of Cambridge in 2014, the insurtech works with leading global insurers, such as Starr Insurance and AXA XL. It has also attended several accelerator programmes: Mayor’s International Business Programme, Future Fifty, Accelerate, Fintech Innovation Lab, and MassChallenge UK.
The artificial intelligence company has raised £36.8m in investment so far, across six funding rounds. Its investors include Cambridge Innovation Capital, Parkwalk Opportunities EIS Fund, The University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund, and Starr Investment.
42. Ripjar
Total amount raised: £34.7m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2012
Location: Cheltenham
Ripjar develops AI software for large-scale data analysis. It was built by a team of data scientists, and its co-founders (Jeremy Annis and Tom Griffin) previously worked at GCHQ. The Ripjar platform aims to improve risk screening, bolster cybersecurity, and prevent financial crime.
The company’s primary offering, Labyrinth, uses natural language processing to analyse and monitor clients’ data and activity. It can flag fraudulent transactions and expose high-risk individuals or organisations, such as those associated with financial crime or terrorism.
Ripjar has raised £34.7m in funding so far, across three rounds, from investors such as Winton Investment Management, Accenture and Long Ridge Equity Partners. Based in Cheltenham, the company has around 20k clients across the globe, and has attended the Cylon and Fintech Innovation Lab accelerators in London.
43. Realeyes
Total amount raised: £34.5m
Total equity rounds: 8
Established: 2007
Location: Westminster
Realeyes is a spinout from the University of Oxford that develops facial recognition software using artificial intelligence. Its technology collects and analyses customer expressions, providing real-time feedback on their responses to online advertising. The company uses computer vision and AI to pinpoint exactly where digital experiences can be optimised, aiming to create customer experiences that drive growth and conversions. It currently has offices in London, New York, Tokyo, and Budapest.
The artificial intelligence company has appeared on numerous high-growth lists over the years, including the Deloitte Fast 50 and the FT 1000. It has also raised £34.5m in investment, across eight funding rounds, drawing interest from a long list of investors. These include Molten Ventures, Smart Cap, Karma Ventures, Harbert European Growth Capital, and The Entrepreneurs Fund. Realeyes has also received innovation grants from the European Regional Development Fund and one the Correct and Efficient Accelerator Programming, totalling £424k.
44. Pupil
Total amount raised: £34.4m
Total equity rounds: 5
Established: 2015
Location: Camden
Pupil develops AI software that reconstructs real-word spaces digitally. Pupil’s proptech platform is cloud-native and is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Example use cases of the platform include creating marketing assets, visualising designs for architects and engineers, and providing hyper-accurate digital assets.
Around 10m square feet of real estate has been captured using the AI company’s technology to date. It’s raised £34.4m in investment, across five funding rounds. The company’s only named investors are City Developments Limited and the Future Fund, but Pupil has also been awarded £338k in additional funding via Innovate UK grants.
45. Harbr
Total amount raised: £34.3m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2017
Location: Hackney
Harbr develops an internet-based AI platform, designed to make big data more accessible and to help companies tap into data owned by other organisations for business intelligence. Harbr secures and organises the data, preparing it for exchange between enterprises. The company also helps organisations to commercialise and sell their data—think branded data analysis and collaboration as a paid service.
The artificial intelligence company has raised £34.3m in investment for its data platform, across three funding rounds. Its investors include Dawn Capital, Backed VC, Crane Ventures, Seedcamp, BoldStart Ventures, and Tiger Global.
46. Healthily
Total amount raised: £33.7m
Total equity rounds: 3
Established: 2013
Location: Camden
Healthily has created a healthcare assistant app that allows the user to diagnose health issues. Similar to eHealth unicorn Babylon, the Healthily app uses artificial intelligence to dynamically check symptoms against health conditions. It does not aim to diagnose patients, but rather to let them know whether an appointment is the required course of action.
Healthily saw a 350% increase in usage throughout 2020, largely owing to its COVID-19 symptom-checking tool developed during the pandemic. It has over 100 employees and it partnered with large UK research organisations, such as Imperial College London, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the NHS.
The healthtech company has raised £33.7m in total fundraisings, contributed by investors Smedvig Capital, Orkla Ventures, and global health company Reckitt Benckiser. Its most recent funding round in October 2020 (its third to date) saw Reckitt Benckiser invest £22.7m to help the company roll out its service.
47. Concirrus
Total amount raised: £33.1m
Total equity rounds: 7
Established: 2011
Location: Southwark
Concirrus is a software development company that uses real-time behavioural data and artificial intelligence to provide risk assessments for insurance providers. Its core product, Quest, uses big data and machine learning to analyse datasets, helping insurers to assess risk, reduce loss, and provide better services.
The AI company has raised £33.1m in investment so far, across seven funding rounds. Its investors include AlbionVC, Eos Venture Partners, IQ Capital Fund and Touchstone Innovations. Concirrus’ latest fundraising, with CommerzVentures in July 2020, totalled £4.8m. With offices in London and Delhi, the company is currently focused on expanding internationally, broadening its product offering, and diversifying across multiple business sectors.
48. Velocity
Total amount raised: £32.8m
Total equity rounds: 8
Established: 2014
Location: Westminster
Velocity develops a luxury lifestyle app that uses artificial intelligence to recommend restaurants, venues and experiences to users, based on previous purchases. These can then be booked and paid for through the mobile app, which is underpinned by machine learning algorithms that become more tailored and precise over time.
The company has appeared on a number of high-growth lists, ranking 12th on the Deloitte Fast 50 in 2020, having achieved a 3,107% growth rate. Velocity has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles and Miami, and offers experiences across the world.
Founded in 2014, the company has secured £32.8m in investment so far, across eight funding rounds. Its investors include Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Spark Capital. On top of this, in late 2015, Velocity acquired three other companies: cancelled reservation purchasing app Uncover, restaurant ordering app Tab, and restaurant payment app Cover.
49. WeFarm
Total amount raised: £32.2m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2015
Location: Islington
WeFarm develops AI technology that allows farmers to access information from their mobile phones. It functions as a marketplace and networking community, primarily for small-scale farmers. WeFarm can be accessed without internet connection, through SMS instead, helping farmers across the world to access local suppliers, sell their excess harvest, and ask for advice.
So far, WeFarm has raised £32.2m in equity investment, with funds including LocalGlobe, AgFunder, Accelerated Digital Ventures and Norrsken Foundation. It’s ranked on various high-growth lists over the years, such as the Tallt Disrupt 100 and the Start-Up 101. The company has also attended the Upscale accelerator, Wayra London Accelerator, and the ‘Go to Grow’ Urban Infrastructure Business Programme.
50. PolyAI
Total amount raised: £31.2m
Total equity rounds: 6
Established: 2017
Location: Camden
Voice assistant company PolyAI specialises in creating “superhuman” customer service, powered by AI technology and speech recognition. Born out of the University of Cambridge, and backed by 10 years of research, PolyAI has created conversational artificial intelligence, allowing companies to answer their phone 24/7/365, and customers to be understood in any language.
PolyAI has raised a total of £31.2m in investment so far for its virtual assistants software. Its most recent round (worth £10.2m) saw involvement from Khosla Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, Entrepreneur First, Passion Capital, Point 72 and Sands Capital—and accelerated their US expansion. The AI company has been recognised by Gartner as a Cool Vendor in Conversational AI, and by Frost & Sullivan as an Emerging Leader in Cognitive Agents.
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