UK's leadership in European tech accelerates
and extends beyond London
October 2018
Prepared for Tech Nation and the Government's Digital
Economy Council by Dealroom.co
Following the IPOs of Farfetch and Funding Circle, the UK currently has 15 unicorns - companies valued
at more than a $1bn, with an estimated combined value of $28bn
In total 60 unicorns have now been created in the UK. The pace has been accelerating in the last three
years
It's not just London that creates significant, fast-growing businesses. Major UK cities and capitals are
competing successfully with other European capitals
Oxbridge - the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge combined - have together produced nine
unicorns, more than Paris which has produced five
Manchester has created five unicorns of its own, the same number as Amsterdam and Paris
The UK is also creating more potential future unicorns than any other European country and Israel
The UK has 54 potential unicorn companies valued at $250m to $1bn. Germany and France have
created 28 and 27 potential unicorns respectively
Summary
Source: Dealroom. See methodology page for more info.
2
The United Kingdom leads with 60 unicorns created (35% out
of 169 in Europe & Israel)
3
Source: Dealroom. See methodology page for more info.
Cumulative number of companies by year in which $1 billion valuation mark
is crossed
5
5
8
10
12
13
24
35
43
51
60
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
United Kingdom
Germany
Israel
Netherlands
Sweden
France
Switzerland
Spain
Russia
Rest of Europe
Since 2016 more new unicorns were created in the UK than in
Germany, France, Sweden and the Netherlands
4
Source: Dealroom. See methodology page for more info.
United
Kingdom
The Hut Group
Oxford Nanopore
Deliveroo
TransferWise
Mimecast
Global Switch
Skyscanner
Metro Bank
OakNorth Bank
Improbable
Blue Prism
Brewdog
Alfa
PurpleBricks
Matchesfashion
Host Europe Group
Revolut
Greensill
Darktrace
SumUp
On The Beach
Callcredit
FNZ
Autolus
Monzo
Trivago
1&1 Int