Top 15 Tech Startups in the UK
John McCrea, Updated 21 November 2024
There’s no denying it — UK tech startups have seen historic growth in recent years, not least 2021 which saw £21.7b raised.
However, since the dizzy heights of 2021, deals are down — significantly. In 2024 (so far) the value of investments into UK tech companies has plummeted by 52% to £10.5b, amidst a broader downward trend on 2021 figures as we reported in The Deal.
The number of new tech incorporations has also tumbled, with 1,358 tech startups incorporated in 2020 versus just 679 in 2023.
However, there are green shoots in the startup scene to take note of. Whilst the wider figures of tech investment are down, seed and venture stage tech startups in the UK have actually seen higher investment figures than 2021’s £4.73b, with £5.69b raised by early-stage tech businesses in 2024 so far.
The UK has a particularly large number of high-growth software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses (4,335), as well as those operating in artificial intelligence (1,891) and fintech (1,545).
And despite taking on the double incursion of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK (specifically London) remains a top startup hub and — according to Tech Nation’s 2024 report — remains the biggest tech ecosystem in Europe.
Startups have access to leading venture capital funds, alongside some of the most active angel investors in the world. Tech entrepreneurs in the UK also benefit from an excellent network of accelerator programmes and grant schemes aimed at small businesses.
So, which UK tech startups should you be watching, with 2025 just around the corner?
Ranking the UK’s top tech startups
There are many ways to measure startup success. Here, we’ve chosen to rank the top 15 early-stage UK tech companies by the amount of equity investment they’ve received to date.
They won’t boast billion-dollar unicorn valuations like Gymshark or Revolut, nor will they have expanded to multiple offices around the world. Instead, this list reveals some of the most promising businesses in the country, still in the early stages of their growth journey.
To qualify, each of these businesses must be headquartered in the UK, active on Companies House, and currently operating at the seed or venture stages of evolution. Companies that are not predominantly tech-based, such as news organisations and events companies, have not been included in this list.
It’s clear that investors see bright futures for these tech companies, having provided them with the capital to realise their potential. So, if you work with ambitious tech startups and scaleups, then these 15 companies should all be on your radar.
Top 15 tech startups in the UK
15.
Grey Wolf Therapeutics
Industry: Biotech
Location: Abingdon
Year incorporated: 2017
Total amount raised: £110m
Grey Wolf Therapeutics develops immunotherapies designed to treat hard-to-target cancers, by altering the cancer cells’ appearance to the immune system.
This technology has attracted multiple investments from Pfizer Venture Investments, the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough, and Oxford Science Enterprises. The most recent round of fundraising (£34.3m) in May 2024 sees Grey Wolf Therapeutics now valued at £98.0m.
Edging into our top 15, the Abingdon-based company has raised a total of £110m and is the only company on the list with a 50% gender split in directors.
14.
Resolution Therapeutics
Industry: Biotech
Location: Edinburgh
Year incorporated: 2017
Total amount raised: £115m
University of Edinburgh spinout Resolution Therapeutics is next on our list with £115m raised over four rounds. The biotech company, which received its first raise (£6m) in December 2020, develops specialised cell therapies designed to treat inflammatory organ diseases.
Throughout its four year history, Syncona Partners — which primarily backs pharmaceutical companies — has contributed towards the majority of the company’s investment.
Resolution Therapeutics has scaled up its workforce in 2024, with Syncona’s September 2024 raise adding £22.5m in R&D funds for the business.
13.
Ellipses Pharma
Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2015
Total amount raised: £119m
London-based Ellipses Pharma is a drug development company, specialising in oncology. Investing in the development of cancer medicines and treatments, the company has secured a series of patents globally.
Since its incorporation in 2015, the company has raised £119m in equity over six rounds, with its latest raise in March 2024 (£1.75m) taking Ellipses Pharma’s estimated post-money value to £490m.
12.
AviadoBio
Industry: Biotech
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2019
Total amount raised: £132m
London-based biotech company AviadoBio is a spin out from King’s College London, and focuses on developing gene therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, including frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Established to address critical unmet needs in this space, the company uses advanced gene therapy techniques to create targeted treatments.
Since its inception, AviadoBio has raised £132m through multiple funding rounds. This capital supports ongoing R&D efforts and clinical trials, giving the company a stronger, more competitive presence in the biotech sector.
11.
Fnality International
Industry: Fintech
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2019
Total amount raised: £137m
Fnality International, based in London, is a fintech company working to improve the way large financial institutions move money between each other. The company uses distributed ledger technology (DLT), which is similar to blockchain, to create faster, more secure, and more efficient systems for processing payments in different currencies.
Since its inception, Fnality has raised a total of £137m, including a £81.8m Series B funding round in November 2023 led by Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas, but also including major UK and international banks including Lloyds Banking Group, Spain’s Banco Santander, Japan’s Nomura, and Switzerland’s UBS Investment Bank.
10.
Purespring Therapeutics
Industry: Biotech
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2020
Total amount raised: £142m
Based in London, Purespring Therapeutics is a biotech company specialising in gene therapies for kidney diseases.
Founded in 2020 as a spinout from the University of Bristol, the Islington company focuses on targeting podocytes—specialised cells present in approximately 60% of renal diseases—using gene therapy.
Following October 2024’s £46.2m raise, featuring Syncona Partners and the British Business Bank’s British Patient Capital (Core Fund), amongst others, the company has raised a total of £142m across three rounds.
09.
Ascend Gene & Cell Therapies
Industry: Biotech
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2021
Total amount raised: £149m
Ascend Gene & Cell Therapies was incorporated in 2021. This biotech research company has a focus on cell and gene therapy manufacturing, with a mission to create the most effective, highest-quality, scalable gene therapies.
The company, which has raised £149m in equity investment across three fundraising rounds, has attracted investors including 4BIO Capital, Abingworth Venture, Ajinomoto, Cathay Health, DCVC Bio, Deerfield Management, Digitalis Ventures, Petrichor, and Monograph Capital.
08.
Pheon Therapeutics
Industry: Biotech
Location: St. Albans
Year incorporated: 2015
Total amount raised: £151m
Based in St. Albans, Pheon Therapeutics is a biotech company specialising in the development of cancer therapeutics, designed specifically to use against hard-to-treat cancers.
The business is another successful biotech spinout from King’s College London, with many others also featuring in this article. Drawing international investment from a series of US-based funds through to Netherlands’ Forbion Capital Partners, our data estimates Pheon Therapeutics’ value at £138m in post-money figures.
07.
Oxford Mass Technologies
Industry: Biotech
Location: Oxford
Year incorporated: 2016
Total amount raised: £151m
OMass, also known as Oxford Mass Technologies, is a high-growth biotech spinout from the University of Oxford. The company is currently developing a native mass spectrometry device to help discover new medicines and to estimate the effectiveness of potential therapeutics.
With a £462k grant from Innovate UK and £162m in equity funding across six rounds, OMass has received a diverse pool of funding. Investors include Oxford Science Enterprises, Syncona Partners, and the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough fund.
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06.
Cerevance
Industry: Application software
Location: Cambridge
Year incorporated: 2016
Total amount raised: £164m
Cambridge-based Ceverance has developed a proprietary platform and advanced machine learning techniques to help identify possible treatments for neurodegenerative, psychiatric, and central nervous system-controlled metabolic disorders.
Incorporated in 2017, the software and biotech company has attracted interest from both US and UK-based venture funds, including the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), Google Ventures, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
And following April 2024’s £37.6m funding, to accelerate its Parkinson’s disease therapy trial, the company has now raised a total of £164m.
05.
Zapp
Industry: Food delivery
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2020
Total amount raised: £186m
Part of the rapid online grocery delivery revolution, Zapp is a mobile app that promises to deliver groceries, snacks, and other essential products in 20 minutes or less.
Zapp’s USP is that, unlike other grocery delivery companies like Getir and Gorillas, Zapp is available 24/7. Zapp is expanding rapidly and now operates in London, Manchester, Cambridge, Bristol, Paris, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam.
Zapp was launched in November 2020 by Joe Falter, along with his co-founder Navid Hadzaad, a former product leader at Amazon’s Seattle HQ. Since then, the company has secured £186m in funding, with investors including Lightspeed, Atomico, 468 Capital and Burda.
04.
Stability AI
Industry: Artificial intelligence
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2019
Total amount raised: £196m
In just three fundraisings, Stability AI has amassed £196m in equity investment. The company, which develops open source tools for generative AI, has become synonymous with its Stable Diffusion project — an AI-based image generation tool.
The innovative nature of Stability AI’s work, with artificial intelligence still in its nascent period, has attracted investment from a wealth of US-based tech venture funds and asset managers, including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Intel Capital.
The company’s latest raise of £63.1m has been earmarked for R&D and to help grow the business.
03.
Quell Therapeutics
Industry: Biotech
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2019
Total amount raised: £198m
Entering our top three is Quell Therapeutics, a biotech spinout from University College London and King’s College London. The company develops Treg cell therapies for the treatment of severe immune disorders.
In addition to its four rounds of fundraising, totalling £198m, Quell Therapeutics has also received a grant from Astrazeneca to support the development of its cell therapy projects. As of the company’s latest fundraising, our data estimates its valuation at £232m.
02.
Field
Industry: Cleantech
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2020
Total amount raised: £240m
Field aims to finance, build, operate, and monetise the renewable energy infrastructure required for the world to reach net zero. By creating profitable infrastructure, it aims to show there’s a way to invest that benefits both the planet and investors. The company is led by Luke Gibson and Bulb co-founder Amit Gudka.
Starting with energy storage, Field aims to accelerate the development and buildout of its 4.5 GWh pipeline of grid-scale battery energy storage projects in the UK and Western Europe as it seeks to contribute to the renewable energy infrastructure needed to reach net zero.
To date, Field has secured four funding rounds from DIF Infrastructure VII, LocalGlobe, Plural, Giant Ventures, and angel investors, worth £240m in total.
01.
Nothing
Industry: Consumer electronics hardware
Location: London
Year incorporated: 2020
Total amount raised: £308m
Nothing (also trading as Nothing Technology) develops smart consumer electronic products, such as mobile phones and earphones. They have raised £308m to date, with their most recent equity round raising £75.9m to help them expand into the US and grow their product and technology portfolio.
Founded by Carl Pei in 2021, Nothing grabbed international attention when it launched its Phone 1 device to compete with the iPhone. Pitching itself as an innovative challenger in the saturated consumer electronics market, Nothing plans to ‘make tech fun again’ with their innovative and unique designs.
The future of the tech space in the UK
As we look ahead, several key trends are poised to shape the future of the tech space in the UK.
AI and machine learning will continue to play pivotal roles and command big capital investment. Meanwhile, cleantech and green energy companies are gaining momentum, as sustainable and green technologies rise to the challenge of aligning with global efforts to combat climate change. Since 2014, the number of renewable energy and cleantech companies has grown by 161%.
This will be shaped by the UK’s continued dedication to supporting the tech industry with smart regulations and investments, strengthening its role as a global leader in innovation.
And as the sector continues to grow, partnerships between established companies and nimble startups are expected to drive major breakthroughs, reinforcing the UK’s status as a global tech powerhouse.
Working with Beahurst
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