London Tech Startups to Watch | 2022
Will Davis, 13 October 2022
London tech startups are at the forefront of innovation in UK tech. The Capital boasts one of the top high-growth ecosystems in Europe, offering fast-growing companies access to top venture capital funds and some of the most active angel investors in the world—as well as world-class tech talent, leading university commercialisation teams, and an excellent network of accelerator programmes for small businesses.
So it’s no wonder London is home to so many of the country’s top tech startups and unicorn companies, from car insurance venture Marshmallow to the big three challenger banks (Revolut, Monzo, and Starling Bank). And despite the dual challenge posed by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, London still ranks as the world’s second-best destination to launch a startup, alongside New York.
Just last week, it was reported that London tech unicorns Zopa and Improbable were both set for an equity boost of $100m each, while soonicorns Bboxx, Huma and Codat have been edging closer to the billion-dollar valuation mark in recent months. But what about the city’s best kept secrets? Read on to discover the London tech startups to watch in 2022…
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20 top London tech startups to watch
We’ve selected the 20 London tech startups to keep an eye on this year. These high-growth tech companies are all headquartered in the city and currently operating at the Seed or Venture stages of evolution. These industry disruptors are deploying next-generation technologies and generating considerable investor interest in the process, having raised the largest first-time equity fundraisings in 2022 so far.
01.
Tesseract Energy
Tech sector: Cleantech
Deal date: 07/09/2022
Amount raised: £67.7m
Tesseract Energy provides renewable energy utilities services, with the aim of decentralising access to clean energy generation. Co-founded by former Revolut employees Alan Chang and Charles Orr, the green energy company cuts out the middlemen in the market by owning renewable generators and selling directly to customers, resulting in lower bills. Founded in March 2022, the London startup is one of the youngest tech companies on our list but also secured the biggest first-time fundraising this year.
The cleantech company has raised an impressive £67.7m ($78.0m) of equity investment, in a round led by Balderton Capital and Lakestar, alongside Accel, Creandum, Lowercarbon Capital, Ribbit and BoxGroup. Numerous angel investors also participated, including former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg. Tesseract Energy will use the funding to support the development of its platform and its buy-and-build strategy for renewable energy assets.
02.
Elwood
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 16/05/2022
Amount raised: £56.8m
London is already home to some of the fastest-growing fintech companies in the world, including the likes of Checkout.com and Moneybox, and more are emerging in the city every week. The first of several fintech startups on this list, Elwood develops an online digital assets trading platform which provides full market data analysis and portfolio management services. Founded by hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard in 2018, the fintech venture acts as a bridge between institutions and cryptocurrency markets.
In May 2022, Elwood secured its first equity funding round, worth £56.8m ($70.0m). The round was co-led by Dawn Capital and Goldman Sachs, with participation from Barclays Ventures, BlockFi, Chimera Investment, CommerzVentures, Digital Currency Group, Flow Traders and Galaxy Digital. Elwood announced that this funding would be used to expand its operations and international reach, and to meet demand for its products.
03.
Shop Circle
Tech sector: E-commerce
Deal date: 29/06/2022
Amount raised: £53.6m
Shop Circle develops e-commerce tools and applications for entrepreneurs and startups, with the aim of boosting sales and managing online orders. Founded in April 2021, by Luca Cartechini and Gian Maria Gramondi, the e-commerce company currently oversees seven tools, with more than 50k customers on its books.
The London-based tech consultancy received its first equity funding round in June 2022. Its £53.6m ($65.0m) fundraising was led by NFX and QED Investors, with participation from 645 Ventures, Firstminute Capital and TriplePoint Capital. Shop Circle plans to use this new capital to scale-up its growing portfolio of e-commerce apps and to hire more employees.
04.
Charm Therapeutics
Tech sector: Pharmaceuticals
Deal date: 10/06/2022
Amount raised: £40.6m
Charm Therapeutics develops transformational medicines for the healthcare industry, through 3D deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s patented DragonFold AI technology addresses challenging targets in cancer and other disease areas, to discover and develop new drugs against these targets.
Founded in September 2021, Camden-based Charm Therapeutics raised its first equity funding round in June. The £40.6m ($50.0m) deal was co-led by F-Prime Capital and OrbiMed, and saw further participation from Axial VC, Braavos Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Khosla Ventures. The pharmaceutical company will use this investment to accelerate its structure-based drug discovery processes.
05.
BVNK
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 12/05/2022
Amount raised: £32.8m
BVNK provides a payment service that aims to integrate crypto and fiat currencies. By allowing users to manage treasury, payment, and investment operations for digital assets from a single account, BVNK aims to increase the accessibility of using cryptocurrency in financial services. Founded in July 2021, the fast-growing fintech company already processes over $2b in annualised payments.
In May 2022, the Islington-based technology company secured a £32.8m ($40.0m) equity funding round. The round was led by Tiger Global and saw participation from investors including Avenir Growth Capital, Base Capital, Concentric, Kingsway Capital, Nordstar and The Raba Partnership. BVNK will use this investment to accelerate its push for regulatory licences and to expand into new markets.
06.
Super Payments
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 17/08/2022
Amount raised: £22.5m
Super Payments develops AI-based payment processing software. It aims to help businesses increase their sales and provide a range of benefits to online customers, including cashback. Founded by Funding Circle co-founder Samier Desai in February 2022, Super Payments has already built up a waiting list of consumers and businesses for its early-access programme.
Based in Westminster, the fintech company has also opened an additional UK office in top startup tech hub Bristol. Super Payments secured its first funding round in August 2022, to help the company develop its platform and expand its business operations and reach. The £22.5m equity deal was led by Accel, with participation from Union Square Ventures, LocalGlobe and numerous angel investors.
07.
Vertice
Tech sector: SaaS
Deal date: 19/05/2022
Amount raised: £20.9m
Vertice develops an online platform for managing software-as-a-service (SaaS) purchases and renewals. It aims to help businesses cut their annual software spending by 20-30% and to streamline the purchasing process. The Westminster-based tech startup, which was established in November last year by serial entrepreneurs Roy and Eldar Tuvey, addresses the ongoing rise in the cost of SaaS applications. While based in London, Vertice has opened a second office in Manchester, the UK’s second-largest tech hub.
In May 2022, Vertice received its first equity funding round: a £20.9m ($26.0m) round led by 83North and Bessemer Venture Partners. Numerous angel investors also participated in the deal, including Ronni Zehavi (Co-Founder and CEO at Hibob) and Juan Lobato (Founder and Co-CEO at Ebury). Vertice is using this new funding to expand the startup’s engineering and commercial teams and to increase revenue.
08.
Shufti Pro
Tech sector: Digital security
Deal date: 16/03/2022
Amount raised: £15.2m
Shufti Pro develops identity verification services software that uses AI to assist international businesses in onboarding and controlling the risk of customers. The tech company offers Know-Your-Customer (KYC), Know-Your-Business (KYB) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) services, to clients in 230+ countries and territories. Shufti Pro is also able to verify ID documents in more than 150 languages. The digital security startup attended the Tech Nation Cyber security accelerator back in 2020.
Founded in 2017 and based in Hackney, Shufti Pro announced it had secured £15.2m ($20.0m) in a Series A funding round back in March 2022. The fundraising was led by Updata Partners, a tech-focused growth equity firm. Shufti Pro plans to use this funding to accelerate its global expansion, improve its processes and customer experience, and extend its compliance suite.
09.
Wondr Medical
Tech sector: Medtech
Deal date: 28/06/2022
Amount raised: £12.0m
Wondr Medical develops an online workspace for medical professionals, with tools enabling collaboration, communication and organisation. Its management platform gives users a safe way to communicate with co-workers and other members of the global healthcare system about clinical information, including private patient information. The company’s goal is to build the most interconnected medical network possible, in order to accelerate medical learning and discovery.
One of the older companies in our list of top London tech startups, Wondr Medical was founded in 2016. The medtech company has now secured its first equity funding round, a £12.0m deal that was co-led by Advent Life Sciences and Sonder Capital. This investment will help to accelerate the company’s launch of its ‘Wondr Medical Rooms’ mobile app for improved healthcare profession collaboration.
10.
Revalue Nature
Tech sector: Cleantech
Deal date: 13/07/2022
Amount raised: £8.17m
Revalue Nature is a Hackney-based sustainability startup that develops nature-based projects at scale. In doing so, it aims to improve biodiversity and the functionality of ecosystems. Revalue Nature deploys its initiatives globally, safeguarding and regenerating mangroves, forests and other natural resources, to generate future carbon credits and meet rising demand.
Founded in March 2022, the cleantech company has already secured its first funding round. In July, Revalue Nature raised £8.17m in an unannounced equity round with undisclosed investors. Then, in September 2022, it announced a partnership with professional services firm Aon, collaborating to lessen relevant risks related to carbon offset transactions and to accelerate the deployment of nature-based solutions.
11.
Ravio
Tech sector: SaaS
Deal date: 27/04/2022
Amount raised: £7.97m
Ravio develops a SaaS platform that provides insights into company data related to salaries, compensation and equity. Ravio was founded in January this year, by a team made up of former Deliveroo employees Merten Wulfert and Roy Blanga, and Genie Delivery co-founder Raymond Siems. The entrepreneurs created Ravio after encountering issues with knowing how much they should pay employees at their startups to stay competitive.
The company secured its first equity funding round just three months after its founding, in April 2022. The £7.97m ($10.0m) round was led by Northzone Ventures, with additional backing from Cherry Ventures and Spark Capital. Ravio is using this capital to increase its headcount and develop its HRTech platform.
12.
Leatherback
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 06/04/2022
Amount raised: £7.60m
Leatherback develops software designed to provide international payment and transaction services. Through its digital payments infrastructure, Leatherback provides a multiple currency solution that enables companies and individuals to complete international transactions quickly and effectively. The company is dedicated to encouraging business expansion and removing obstacles to business growth across continents.
The Southwark-based fintech company was founded back in October 2019, and secured its first funding round in April 2022. The £7.60m fundraising, from pan-African investment firm Zedcrest capital, is intended to help Leatherback hire more staff in strategic positions, increase marketing, and boost market visibility. Leatherback also plans to extend its capacity in existing locations, including South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, India and the UAE.
13.
DataOps.live
Tech sector: Internet platform
Deal date: 11/02/2022
Amount raised: £7.59m
DataOps.live operates an online platform which aims to improve the efficiency of a range of data operations, including pipeline development and automation. The cloud data platform uses innovative automation technology and internet of things (IoT) data compression. DataOps.live was founded by Justin Mullen, a former founder of SMI Technology, MiFlow and Datalytyx.
Launched in September 2020, the Camden-based tech startup secured its first equity fundraising in February this year. The £7.59m ($10.3m) round was backed by US-based VC firms Anthos Capital and Snowflake Ventures. DataOps.live announced that the funding would help scale the business, increase employee count, and accelerate its expansion into North America and Europe.
14.
Scarlet
Tech sector: eHealth
Deal date: 15/08/2022
Amount raised: £7.58m
Islington-based eHealth company Scarlet develops AI-powered medical software. It aims to make healthcare more accessible and affordable, by developing a new structure for health software companies and regulators that enables customers to build and monitor products in a continuous and scalable manner.
Scarlet was founded in December 2020, by former Babylon Health employees Jamie Cox, and James Dewar—the pair are supported by Chrysanthos Chrysanthou, a pre-seed and seed investor at Kindred Capital. Scarlet raised its first funding round in August 2022, securing £7.58m in equity investment. The unannounced round saw participation from undisclosed investors.
15.
Haruko
Tech sector: Blockchain
Deal date: 04/03/2022
Amount raised: £7.56m
Haruko develops a platform which aims to connect institutional investors with crypto markets and blockchain opportunities. Haruko’s platform provides integrated centralised exchanges and decentralised protocols portfolio management, along with exclusive data analytics and risk management tools. This allows users to capture a granular set of risk metrics and get real-time pricing and analytics.
Founded in May 2021, London-based Haruko has now secured its first equity funding round: the company raised £7.56m ($10.0m) back in March 2022, with Portage Ventures and White Star Capital. Haruko will use this capital to increase its market share and scale-up the company.
16.
Merge
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 30/05/2022
Amount raised: £7.51m
Merge develops an online banking platform and API which aims to provide banking and payment solutions for the Web3 and cryptocurrency industry. It allows Web3 businesses to send payments, instantly create bank accounts, and convert payments between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies, quickly and cheaply. Compliance and licensing monitoring solutions are also included.
Founded in December 2021, the crypto-fintech company received its first equity funding round in May 2022. The £7.51m ($9.50m) fundraising was led by Octopus Ventures and included crypto investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Hashed, Alameda Research and Ethereal Ventures. Merge announced that the funding would be used to develop its platform, to help bring together cryptocurrency and traditional financial services.
17.
Metaphysic
Tech sector: Artificial intelligence
Deal date: 26/01/2022
Amount raised: £7.50m
Metaphysic develops software that uses artificial intelligence to create synthetic and deepfake media content in the metaverse. Users can reconstruct outdated, low-resolution footage or produce hyper-realistic content without using human actors. Founded in May 2021, Metaphysic quickly generated interest on the internet with deep fakes of actor Tom Cruise.
The London-based AI startup received its first equity investment in January 2022, worth £7.50m. The round saw participation from Section 32, 8VC, TO Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, and numerous angel investors, including social media personality Logan Paul. Metaphysic announced that this funding would be used to develop its metaverse technologies, with a “focus on pioneering synthetic content creation tools for emergent metaverse worlds that are being built by Facebook and other networks.”
18.
Januus.io
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 24/08/2022
Amount raised: £6.64m
Januus.io develops a crypto wallet-to-identity database which provides ownership data for cryptocurrency assets, wallets and transactions. By gathering information from the internet, Januus.io connects identities with crypto wallets to bridge the gap between blockchains and the real world. It aims to help companies manage risk, identify bad actors, prevent illicit activity, and better understand their customers.
Founded in April 2021, Westminster-based Januus.io attended the Base Camp accelerator last year, a programme managed by Outlier Ventures that aims to develop companies operating within the Web3 and metaverse space. The blockchain company secured its first equity fundraising in August 2022, a £6.64m unannounced funding round.
19.
Nous
Tech sector: Fintech
Deal date: 18/02/2022
Amount raised: £6.62m
Nous develops machine learning software, designed to help users track household bills and planned price rises for utilities and service providers. The fintech company uses AI to suggest potential steps that users can take to save money. Its wider mission is to automate the management of service switching and/or contact renegotiating, claiming it could save users more than £1k per year on their bills.
Founded in March 2021, the Islington-based startup secured its first equity fundraising in February 2022. The £6.62m ($9.00m) round saw participation from Mosaic Ventures and numerous angel investors, including Tom Blomfield (Co-Founder of GoCardless and Monzo) and Eamon Jubbawy (Co-Founder of Onfido). Nous will use the funding to invest in hiring, launch its first products on the market, and scale operations across the UK.
20.
Caeli Nova
Tech sector: Aerospace
Deal date: 05/01/2022
Amount raised: £6.50m
Caeli Nova develops technology designed to improve safety on commercial airlines. The company’s patented technology, Cordillera, provides oxygenation services which allow airlines to operate more efficiently. Founded in 2018, Caeli Nova has already been awarded £2.16m worth of innovation grants, as part of three separate Innovate UK projects.
In January 2022, the Hackney-based tech company raised a further £6.50m in its first equity funding round. The round was led by Swiss venture builder LG Capital, alongside Swiss digital health company Ornament Health and aerospace manufacturer Latécoère. Caeli Nova will use the funding to install Cordillera on its passenger aircrafts this year.
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