Blockchain technology was first created to record the transactions of cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Such is the efficiency and security of the Bitcoin blockchain, however, that blockchain technology is now being applied far beyond crypto exchange. Here, we take a closer look at blockchain innovation and the UK blockchain companies that look poised to grow this year.
What is blockchain technology and how does it work?
Blockchain is a digital ledger which enables transactions to be validated and recorded securely, without the need for a central authority or intermediary. It is the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether.
A ‘block’ is an online file which contains a group of transactions. Blocks are strung together in a chronological and linear ‘chain’ of records. Each block contains three main pieces of information: data about the transactions themselves, a unique ‘hash code’ which is used to identify the block, and the hash code of the previous block in the chain.
Once a block has been added to the chain, it is immutable, meaning it cannot be removed or modified in any way. Any attempt to change the block will lead to a new hash code being created, and this new hash will conflict with the hash in the following block. This explains how blockchain technology works to ensure digital assets are held securely and cannot be tampered with.
Despite scalability issues (blockchain systems require massive amounts of computing power), alongside concerns over its lack of regulation and environmental costs, blockchain adoption is increasing rapidly across the UK’s high-growth ecosystem. We explain blockchain’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) in greater detail here, alongside how the Bitcoin blockchain works, and which industries blockchain looks set to disrupt in the future.
Blockchain in the UK’s startup ecosystem
The UK is currently home to 249 high-growth companies developing blockchain-driven software and blockchain services. The vast majority (63%) of these companies are startups currently in the seed stage of their development—a reflection of how new the sector is.
Whilst blockchain technology has a broad range of use cases, 78% of blockchain-based tech companies are operating in the Business & Professional Services industry. They’re primarily focused on banking and financial services, including fintech companies and challenger banks, highlighting the growing use of blockchain technology to disrupt traditional business processes in the UK. In comparison, just 6% are operating in Media (the next most common industry for blockchain companies), 5% in both the Supply Chain and Leisure & Entertainment sectors, 4% in Retail, and 3% in Industrials.
But which of these ambitious businesses have made the rankings as the UK’s top blockchain companies in 2022? Read on to find out.
Top 25 Blockchain Companies in the UK
| Rank | Company name | Number of equity deals | Total funds raised |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Blockchain.com |
4 |
£356m |
|
2 |
Elliptic |
7 |
£79.5m |
|
3 |
BCB Group |
4 |
£48.3m |
|
4 |
Copper |
4 |
£42.3m |
|
5 |
Everledger |
3 |
£23.5m |
|
6 |
HLTH |
1 |
£22.9m |
|
7 |
VAKT Global |
3 |
£22.7m |
|
8 |
Juro |
4 |
£22.7m |
|
9 |
Blockhouse |
2 |
£21.9m |
|
10 |
Nivaura |
4 |
£20.8m |
|
11 |
Aztec |
3 |
£20.2m |
|
12 |
iov42 |
4 |
£19.5m |
|
13 |
Wintermute |
4 |
£17.6m |
|
14 |
Adhara |
2 |
£16.8m |
|
15 |
BetDEX |
1 |
£15.6m |
|
16 |
Billon |
6 |
£15.2m |
|
17 |
Fetch.AI |
2 |
£14.8m |
|
18 |
Cobalt DL |
9 |
£13.5m |
|
19 |
Agora |
3 |
£12.5m |
|
20 |
Argent |
2 |
£12.3m |
|
21 |
Coinfirm |
4 |
£12.0m |
|
22 |
Clearmatics |
3 |
£11.4m |
|
23 |
Globacap |
4 |
£11.2m |
|
24 |
Circulor |
5 |
£10.9m |
|
25 |
Sprout.ai |
3 |
£10.5m |
1. Blockchain.com
Sector: Cryptocurrencies
Location: London
Employees: 250-499
Blockchain.com has developed an online crypto wallet, enabling users to buy tokens instantly and on-the-go via a debit or credit card. It also provides a range of search tools, statistics and charts for the cryptocurrency market.
It’s the best-funded of all blockchain technology companies in the UK, having secured a staggering £356m in equity fundraisings since launching in 2014, from investors such as GV (Google Ventures) and Lightspeed Ventures. It raised £218m of this in a single funding round in March 2021.
In 2019, Blockchain.com attended Tech Nation’s two-year Future Fifty accelerator programme. And then in November 2021, it became the largest cryptocurrency platform operating in Latin America, following the acquisition of Argentinian company SeSocio (its third acquisition to date).
2. Elliptic
Sector: Regtech
Location: London
Employees: 100-249
Elliptic develops cryptoasset compliance solutions for crypto businesses, financial institutions, and regulators. Its anti-money laundering software uses blockchain analytics (across more than 100 cryptoassets) to help businesses mitigate risk, and detect and guard against financial crime. A massive 66% of all crypto volume runs through cryptocurrency exchanges using Elliptic.
Since being founded in 2013, the company has attended two accelerator programmes (Seedcamp and the NCSC Cyber Accelerator) and been awarded an Innovate UK grant. It’s also been named on five high-growth lists and has raised a total of £79.5m in equity fundraisings—£60m of which came from a funding round in October 2021, led by Evolution Equity Partners. Other investors in Elliptic include Octopus Ventures, Wells Fargo and AlbionVC.
3. BCB Group
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 100-249
Founded in 2017, BCB Group is Europe’s biggest provider of business accounts in the digital asset economy. Its business accounts support 29 currencies, as well as cryptocurrency liquidity and foreign exchange (FX). Firms can also open multi-currency accounts, enabling the use of up to 10 currencies. BCB Group’s clients include industry leaders Bitstamp, Circle, Galaxy, Gemini, Huobi and Kraken.
BCB Group has raised a total of £48.3m in equity investment so far, across four rounds. San Francisco-based VC fund Foundation Capital led the company’s most recent round in January 2022, worth £44m. Most recently, in February, BCB Group acquired software engineering venture studio LAB577, which provides SaaS (software-as-a-service) solutions for the financial services industry.
4. Copper
Sector: Cryptocurrencies
Location: London
Employees: 100-249
Copper operates within the sphere of digital asset investing. It offers custody and portfolio management services, with the aim of enabling digital assets to be traded as effectively and securely as other assets. Copper’s ClearLoop product secures trades and allows them to be instantly settled without the need to pre-fund exchanges.
Copper has secured a total of £42.3m in equity funding so far, across four rounds, raising £25m in its latest deal led by Alan Howard. Other backers include Dawn Capital, Illuminate Financial Management, LocalGlobe, MMC Ventures, and angel investors. The fast-growing blockchain company was also recently named in the Forbes Blockchain 50 2022.
5. Everledger
Sector: Supply chain
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Founded in 2015, Everledger aims to make asset information more transparent for high-value products like diamonds, wine and art. The Everledger platform uses blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and internet of things (IoT) to create secure digital records for assets. These enable manufacturers and retailers to easily evidence the origin, ownership, and characteristics of their products.
Everledger has attended three separate accelerator programmes so far: the Barclays Accelerator – London (managed by Techstars), the Mayor’s International Business Programme (managed by London & Partners) and Upscale (managed by Tech Nation). It’s also been named on the FinTech50 high-growth list four times already, most recently in 2020.
To date, Everledger has raised three equity funding rounds, amounting to £23.5m in investment. The company’s backers include Bloomberg Beta, Fenbushi and Fidelity Investments.
6. HLTH
Sector: Healthtech
Location: London
Employees: 10-24
HLTH operates a blockchain-based healthcare database which can be used in a variety of research areas, from genetic studies to disease and virology. This year, the healthtech company also plans to launch a collection of NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
Alongside the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), HLTH has also launched a digital health industry event called ViVE—a curated education and networking experience for digital health leaders, disruptors and influencers. Its 2022 event in Miami Beach had over 5k attendees.
HLTH have raised a total of £22.9m in equity investment so far, in one funding round, as well as a grant worth £275k. Its investors include CollinStar Capital, DigitalX, Discovery Capital and Hoperidge Capital.
7. VAKT Global
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Operating in the banking and financial services sector, VAKT Global has developed a secure, blockchain platform to make commodities trading more efficient. VAKT aims to transform the entire post-trade lifecycle, by bringing together all stakeholders (including trading parties, terminals, surveyors, agents, brokers, and banks) in a single ecosystem.
VAKT Global uses blockchain technology to create a single digital record, where all of the details and stages of a trade can be agreed, recorded and seen securely by trading partners. Founded in 2018, it has so far raised £22.7m in equity investment, across three rounds, with investors including Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures.
8. Juro
Sector: Lawtech
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Founded by a mix of lawyers and software engineers, Juro is modernising the process of creating legal contracts. Since 2015, Juro has been developing software that’s designed to make the creation and signing of contracts easier for businesses.
As opposed to being based on cloud computing, Juro’s browser-based system enables contracts to be processed end-to-end in one flexible and easy-to-use platform. Whilst it’s based in the United Kingdom, Juro’s clients span across 85 countries, and include Trustpilot, Deliveroo, Cazoo, Curve and QuantumScape.
Juro attended both the Mayor’s International Business Programme and Seedcamp accelerators in 2016, the year it was founded. Most recently, in January 2022, the blockchain startup secured £16.7m in fresh equity funding to expand across the US and Europe. This takes its total fundraisings to £22.7m, with investors including Eight Roads Ventures and Point Nine Capital.
9. Blockhouse
Sector: Digital security
Location: Oxford
Employees: 10-24
Founded in 2018, Blockhouse builds blockchain applications for increased data protection and security in banking, government, and identity systems. Based in Oxford, it is the highest-ranking blockchain company outside of the Capital.
Developing what they term TRUSTLESS technology, Blockhouse uses decentralised, privacy-preserving computation in applications such as sharing access to big data. It aims to make blockchain technology systems that are more environmentally-friendly (less energy-consuming) and trustworthy (pro-regulation) than existing tech.
Following an initial £17.7k raise in December 2018, the cybersecurity company went on to secure a further £21.9m in its most recent equity funding round in April 2019.
10. Nivaura
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Nivaura is leveraging blockchain technology to develop software for businesses in the financial services sector. Through its low-code platform Aurora, the blockchain company aims to digitise and automate (thus simplifying) capital market workflows, such as bond issuance and post-trade data management.
Alongside being named on the FinTech50 high-growth list back in 2019, Nivaura has attended four accelerators since launching in 2016, including programmes managed by Microsoft, Accenture and Tech Nation. The company has also secured four rounds of equity funding so far, amounting to £20.8m—with Allen & Overy, Digital Currency Group, ELITE Club Deal and Linklaters.
11. Aztec
Sector: Cryptocurrencies
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Aztec develops an open source, zero-knowledge protocol for the Ethereum blockchain, with value transmission and asset governance privacy tools. The startup is aiming to make cryptography (the process by which data is encoded and decoded in blockchain technology) cheaper on Ethereum.
In 2017, the year it was founded, Aztec attended the six-month Entrepreneur First accelerator programme. It has gone on to secure three equity funding rounds, totalling £20.2m, from investors including ConsenSys and Samos Investments.
12. iov42
Sector: Digital security
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Founded in 2017, iov42 aims to overcome the constraints to wide-scale DLT adoption, by combining elements of blockchain technology with internet principles and cloud computing. Its blockchain platform is targeted at both the public and private sector, using simple building blocks to create efficient, secure applications.
The blockchain development company has secured a total of £19.5m in equity fundraisings to date, across four rounds. The latest of these deals was a £3.00m round in June 2021, completed at a pre-money valuation of £53.3m.
13. Wintermute
Sector: Cryptocurrencies
Location: Trafford
Employees: 50-99
Founded in 2017, Wintermute is an algorithmic market maker in digital assets. Essentially, it provides liquidity to crypto markets to make them more efficient.
Based in Trafford (Greater Manchester), Wintermute currently supports over 50 exchanges and platforms for trading cryptocurrencies, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Huobi. In February 2022, it partnered with Mercury Digital Assets, a digital asset and cryptocurrency trading technology provider.
Wintermute has secured £17.6m in equity investment so far, across four funding rounds. The majority of this (£14.7m) was raised in a single deal in January 2021. The company’s investors include Avon Ventures, FBG Capital, Hack VC, Kinetic Capital and the Rockaway Blockchain Fund.
14. Adhara
Sector: Payment processing
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Adhara develops payment processing software for decentralised financial networks. It offers real-time solutions and smart contracts for multi-currency liquidity management, FX and international payments based on tokenised money.
The company’s existing clients include corporates, financial institutions, and both commercial and central banks. Two of Adhara’s blockchain solutions are targeted at banks, for use in intragroup transactions.
Adhara has secured £16.8m in equity funding so far, across two rounds: one in 2018 (the year it was founded) with New York-based investor ConsenSys, and another in March 2021, in a round led by Force Over Mass Capital and German fund Yabeo.
15. BetDEX
Sector: Betting establishments
Location: Edinburgh
Employees: 10-24
Founded in 2021, Edinburgh-based BetDEX has developed the first decentralised and open-sourced betting platform in the UK. It operates using the Solana blockchain network and a permissionless protocol which allows anyone to build their own applications.
BetDEX has raised a total of £15.6m in equity investment, secured in its first and only funding round in November 2021. The blockchain startup’s investors include Paradigm, FTX, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sino Global Capital and Solana Ventures.
16. Billon
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Billon has been developing blockchain solutions for enterprise since 2015, with a focus on payments and data storage. The company has created scalable DLT architecture, and a new protocol for encrypting national currencies, documents and personal data, in compliance with existing regulations.
Billon has offices in London and Warsaw, and its backers include angel network Envestors and the UK Government’s Future Fund. The blockchain company has secured £15.2m in equity investment so far, through six fundraisings, alongside a £50k Innovate UK grant received in June 2020. Billon has been using the innovation grant to develop fraud-resistant COVID-19 immunity and back-to-work certificates during the pandemic.
17. Fetch.AI
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: Cambridge
Employees: 25-49
Fetch.AI is building a tokenised DLT network, using machine learning and blockchain technology. The company’s open-source platform will enable smart contracts and infrastructure to be built in a decentralised digital economy. In February 2019, Fetch.AI held an initial coin offering (ICO) of its own FET token on Binance Launchpad.
The Cambridge-based blockchain company has secured £14.8m in equity investment to date, across two funding rounds, the latest of which took place in March 2021. Its backers include GDA Group and Outlier Ventures.
18. Cobalt DL
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Founded in 2015, Cobalt DL is using blockchain technology to make processing trades in the FX and Digital Assets markets more efficient. Its decentralised network technology automatically creates a single version of each trade, streamlining the otherwise-complex trade processing required by legacy systems.
Cobalt serves several big-name financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, and Citi—and in March 2022, announced a partnership with Pure Digital, a leading trading platform for the wholesale digital asset market. In total, the company has raised £13.5m in equity fundraisings, across nine rounds with investors such as HS Markit and Singapore Exchange (SGX).
19. Agora
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Fintech startup Agora operates in digital capital markets, developing an online platform with a range of services in fixed capital markets. Working with smart contract and distributed ledger technology, it claims to be the world’s first end-to-end digital platform for the full life-cycle of bonds.
Since being founded in 2018, Agora has raised £12.5m worth of equity investment, in 3 funding rounds. Its investors include IPGL and angels. The company is also currently piloting its Syndicated Bond platform, with early users now able to trial the software for live transactions.
20. Argent
Sector: Cryptocurrencies
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Argent has developed a blockchain-powered mobile app which acts as a secure, non-custodial wallet (i.e. no third parties) for Ethereum. The company’s technology is built on the Ethereum blockchain, a blockchain network (like Bitcoin) for trading digital currencies.
Argent supports over 240 different Ethereum-based tokens, including Ether or ETH (Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency), DAI, MKR, BAT, and Wrapped Bitcoin. To date, it has secured £12.3m in equity investment, across two funding rounds. Argent’s backers include Index Ventures, Firstminute Capital, and Atomico.
21. Coinfirm
Sector: Regtech
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Coinfirm is a London-based regtech startup, specialised in analytics and compliance of blockchain-based transactions. It aims to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as to help clients meet other regulatory requirements regarding cryptocurrencies.
Coinfirm attended the Tech Nation Fintech accelerator programme in 2018 and, in February 2022, partnered with the digital asset platform Taurus. The company has raised £12.0m, across four funding rounds. It’s backed by Alfabeat, Bird Capital, Blockchain Valley Ventures and NKB Group, amongst other investors.
22. Clearmatics
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Founded in 2015, Clearmatics also uses the Ethereum blockchain network, developing trading platforms for over-the-counter (OTC) securities. OTC trading involves bilateral transactions made directly between parties, without a stock exchange or other intermediaries. The fintech company’s clearing software matches buyers and sellers, and allows them to settle their trades.
Clearmatics was twice named on the The Fintech 50 high-growth list, as well as the Deloitte Fast 50 in 2019. It has secured £11.4m in equity funding to date—its latest round, in 2021, secured £1.44m in new investment. The company’s backers include Route 66 Ventures, TNF Capital and XTX Markets.
23. Globacap
Sector: Business banking & financial services
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Globacap develops a blockchain-powered share management tool that can be used for securely managing digital assets. It can support businesses with fundraising, managing shareholder positions, and managing shares and stock options for employees. Globacap’s web-based software digitises the entire securities lifecycle.
The blockchain company has attended two accelerator programmes since launching: Upscale in 2021 and the Fintech Innovation Lab London in 2020. To date, it’s raised £11.2m in equity investment, across four rounds with investors such as ContactPartners, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Moore Strategic Ventures and Stoic Capital. In May 2021, Globacap also partnered with B3 and Brazilian VC fund Redpoint eventures to accelerate investments in early-stage startups in Brazil.
24. Circulor
Sector: Supply chain
Location: London
Employees: 50-99
Founded in 2017, Circulor operates in the supply chain and cleantech space. It combines AI and blockchain technology to cut the costs of traceability and due diligence in raw material supply chains. It is battling greenwashing by verifying that materials are sustainably-sourced and products made from them are recycled correctly.
The company attended the Mayor’s International Business Programme in 2021 and the ATI Boeing Accelerator in 2019. Most recently, it received DIGITALEUROPE’s Future Unicorn Award for 2022. Notable clients include Volvo, Vulcan Energy, Finnish Minerals and Polestar.
On top of £315k in Innovate UK grants, Circulor has also raised £10.9m in equity investment, across five rounds. The startup’s long list of investors includes 24Haymarket, Future Positive Capital and TotalEnergies Ventures.
25. Sprout.ai
Sector: Insurtech
Location: London
Employees: 25-49
Sprout.ai is an insurance software development company that uses AI and blockchain technologies to deliver claims automation and fraud filtering to its customers. The insurtech (previously called BlockClaim) rebranded in April 2020, following new funding from Amadeus Capital Partners, Playfair Capital, and TechStars Ventures.
Since being founded in 2018, Sprout.ai has raised £10.5m in total equity investments, secured across three funding rounds. Its most recent £8m round, in May 2021, was led by Octopus Ventures and secured at a pre-money valuation of £23.5m.
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