Top 15 SaaS Companies in the UK | 2023
Farzana Haque , 13 July 2023
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated business and consumer reliance on SaaS companies. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the sector is an attractive field for entrepreneurs and investors alike. In fact, our data shows that over 8% of high-growth companies in the UK are SaaS businesses.
This article profiles 15 UK-based SaaS companies to watch this year, from established firms to emerging startups innovating in this space. In this article, we’ve profiled 15 UK-based SaaS companies to watch this year, from established firms to emerging startups innovating in this space. You’ll find three rankings—first, a ranking of the most successful B2B and B2C SaaS businesses by the amount of equity funding they’ve received to date, followed by top SaaS startups still in their early stages of growth.
What is software-as-a-service?
Before delving into our list of the top 50 SaaS companies in the UK, it’s worth exploring what exactly SaaS businesses do and the major players in the global SaaS market.
A SaaS company develops software which fulfils a certain service or function, often made accessible to users through an internet or cloud platform. As well as the initial software development, SaaS companies continue to host, update and upgrade their products, generally with the aim of improving overall user experience.
SaaS companies work across a wide range of industries, including fintech, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and e-commerce. There are countless SaaS solutions in existence today, from human resources, customer relationship management (CRM) and web development, to social media and email marketing automation, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and project management.
The biggest players in the SaaS industry
Many of the world’s most successful businesses are SaaS companies: SurveyMonkey, Microsoft, Shopify, Adobe, Atlassian (creator of Jira and Trello), Dropbox, HubSpot, Zendesk, and Mailchimp, to name a few. Video conferencing company Zoom and instant messaging platform Slack are also both SaaS companies that have become increasingly well known in recent years. A large part of their success is due to the scalability of SaaS models.
How does a SaaS business model work?
SaaS companies typically operate in one of two ways; either through a subscription model or by charging customers based on their usage (the usage-based pricing model). The latter has become increasingly popular amongst SaaS companies recently, as it encourages greater product performance and customer experience improvements, through increased feedback from users.
Different types of SaaS companies: B2B v B2C
SaaS companies can also be differentiated by who their target customer is. As the name suggests, business-to-consumer (B2C) SaaS companies develop software solutions for personal use by consumers. Whereas business-to-business (B2B) SaaS companies aim their product offering at other companies, such as by helping them to perform better, manage their operations, or meet their customer needs. Some SaaS companies have designed both B2B and B2C SaaS products, however, offering services to both consumers and businesses.
Having now discussed the basics around SaaS companies, read on to discover our top 50 SaaS companies in the UK…
Top B2B SaaS companies in the UK
These 5 software-as-a-service companies (all private, high-growth businesses headquartered in the UK) have secured the most equity funding in the UK’s B2B SaaS sector.
1. Checkout.com
Date founded: 2012
Location: London
Checkout.com develops software solutions that allow businesses to process online payments in multiple currencies. With 20 offices, Checkout.com has established an international presence, and clients include Pizza Hut, H&M and Revolut.
The company has secured £1.36b of equity investment, across four funding rounds, with the latest round in January 2022 worth £730m. It’s backed by Blossom Capital, Insight Partners, Tiger Global Management, Altimeter Capital, amongst other investors.
2. Starling Bank
Date founded: 2014
Location: London
Starling Bank provides a mobile-based current account that allows users to track finances in real time, utilising visualisations to aid in budgeting. It also provides its core technology to the banking market as a SaaS product, Engine by Starling.
To date, the company has raised £715m across nine rounds as well as receiving a £100m grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund. Notable investors in the company include Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity (GS Growth), Merian Global Investors and Qatar Investment Authority.
3. Improbable
Date founded: 2012
Location: London
Improbable develops software designed to create virtual worlds and simulations in the Metaverse for a range of industries, such as entertainment and defence organisations. In recent years, the company has expanded its science and defence functions, hiring Professor Jordan Giddings as Chief Scientist, Defence and Rob Solly as Director of Research Partnerships.
The company has secured £664m in equity funding across seven rounds as well as £1.49m in grant funding. It has also made three acquisitions, with the most recent one occurring in February 2020.
4. Thought Machine
Date founded: 2015
Location: London
Thought Machine develops a cloud-based banking platform, which enables banks to centrally manage a range of financial systems and products. In its most recent fundraising in May 2022, Thought Machine raised funds to expand within the Asia Pacific region.
The company has featured in six high-growth lists including The FinTech 50, London Tech 50 and 100 FinTech Disrupters as well as attending the Mayor’s International Business Programme. So far, the company has raised £398m across seven rounds. It is backed by many notable investors including Molten Ventures, Playfair Capital, British Patient Capital, IQ Capital Fund, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley.
5. Teya
Date founded: 2019
Location: London
Teya—also trading as SaltPay— develops payment processing and point-of-sale technology for merchants. The company has grown through acquisitions, with an impressive four under its belt. Most recently, it acquired Paymentology in December 2021.
Teya has secured £358m in equity funding across two rounds. Its investors include Base Partners, Hedosophia, and Tiger Global Management. The company hired key personnel in June 2023 such as Chris Allen added as Head of Commercial Operations and Lawrence Hene added as Chief Commercial Officer, leaving us very excited to see what’s next.
Top B2C SaaS companies in the UK
Now let’s take a look at which of the UK’s fast-growing B2C SaaS companies have secured the most equity investment to date.
1. Starling Bank
Date founded: 2014
Location: London
As well as being a B2B business, Starling Bank is also a B2C company.
To date, the company has raised £715m across nine rounds as well as receiving a £100m grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund. Notable investors in the company include Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity (GS Growth), Merian Global Investors and Qatar Investment Authority.
2. Zepz
Date founded: 2009
Location: London
Zepz enables expats and migrants to send payments to family and friends abroad, through its online payments platform. Zepz runs two payment brands: WorldRemit and Sendwave, the latter of which it acquired in 2021. With over 4m users, across 150 countries, the fintech-focused SaaS company has featured on nine different high-growth lists so far, including the Fast Track Tech Track 100.
With £528m of equity investment secured, the unicorn company’s investors include Accel, Farallon Capital Management and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).
3. Clear Bank
Date founded: 2005
Location: Bristol
ClearBank is a leading challenger bank that serves individual customers as well as businesses—making it both B2C and B2B—providing business banking solutions. ClearBank has been listed on several high-growth lists over the years, ranging from the 100 Fintech Disrupters in 2019 and 2020, to the Deloitte Fast 50 in 2021.
The company has raised £348m in equity across six rounds as well as £85.0m across two grants. Investors in the company include Apax Digital, CFFI UK Ventures and PPF Group.
4. Monese
Date founded: 2013
Location: London
Monese develops a mobile app and cloud platform that allows people to open multiple bank accounts in multiple currencies specifically for immigrants and expatriates. This 20% scale-up business has attended four accelerators—such as Upscale and Future Fifty—and featured on five high-growth lists including The FinTech50 and FT 1000.
So far, the company has raised £185m across eight rounds as well as securing £883k in grant funding. Notable investors in the company include Paypal, Future Fund, Outrun Ventures, QVentures, Seedcamp and HSBC Ventures.
5. Beamery
Date founded: 2012
Location: London
Beamery has developed recruitment software that enables companies to actively search for, connect and communicate with potential hires. Sharing some similarities with Monese, Beamery has also achieved a 20% scale-up and attended the Future Fifty and Upscale accelerators. The company has also been featured on four high-growth lists including Deloitte Fast 50 and Lazard T100 European Venture Growth Index.
So far, the company has raised £166m across seven rounds as well as undergoing an acquisition of Flux in April 2022.
Early-stage SaaS startups to watch in 2023
The above businesses are among the top SaaS companies in the UK right now, but which early-stage startups should you be keeping an eye on this year? These five ambitious businesses are all currently operating at the seed stage and raised their first equity deal this year. Read on to discover the future of the UK’s high-growth SaaS industry.
1. ElevenLabs
Date founded: 2022
Location: London
ElevenLabs operates an AI tool which automatically translates audio and video content into different languages.
Founded just last year, the company has already raised £16.5m across two equity rounds. In its latest fundraising just last month, ElevenLabs raised £14.9m to develop its research hub for voice AI and launch additional products. The company’s investors include Concept Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Creator Ventures, Credo Ventures, Embark Studios, Storytel, SV Angel and TheSoul Publishing.
2. MetaGravity
Date founded: 2021
Location: London
MetaGravity develops distributed computing infrastructures to support the scaling of metaverse gaming and simulations.
The company raised £7.64m in its first and only round in April earlier this year. The investment will be used to further develop infrastructure for the metaverse and to grow its product and engineering teams. The company has attracted American attention with backing from six US-based firms: Agrippa Capital, Cogitent Ventures, EX-Capital, Gravity Fund, MoonPay and K5 Global. Other investors in the company include Mulana Capital, Pancasila, Perridon Holdings and Project Godjira.
3. Invyted
Date founded: 2022
Location: London
Invyted provides an online platform and mobile app for venues, restaurants and brands to manage their influencer marketing activities effectively.
The company raised £5.00m in its first—and so far only—equity round in May 2023. The investment will be used to launch the platform and to expand into new sectors such as beauty salons, music venues and cinemas, as well as expanding into the US. Currently, the company is backed by The Longhouse and other undisclosed investors.
4. SurrealDB
Date founded: 2021
Location: London
SurrealDB develops a cloud-based data management platform that aims to provide flexible queries and data extraction to users. Co-founded by Tobie Morgan Hitchcock and Jaime Morgan Hitchcock in 2021, the company currently employs around 10-24 individuals according to their Linkedin.
So far, the company has raised £4.98m from US-based Firstmark Capital and undisclosed investors for the purpose of job creation. Using SH01 filings and external sources, we calculate SurrealDB to be worth £46.9m post-money.
5. StrikeX Technologies
Date founded: 2021
Location: London
StrikeX Technologies develops software with a focus on blockchain for a number of applications including cryptocurrency exchange. The company—which was co-founded by Joe Jowett and Kishan Vadgama in 2021— now employs five employees according to its LinkedIn.
The company held its first equity round last month, raising £4.57m from CMC Markets. We estimate the company to be currently valued at £8.35m.
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