GROWTH platform Tech Nation has announced 15 companies selected to join the UK’s Future Fifty programme for late-stage digital businesses.
It’s been a record-breaking year, with 20 tech unicorns created in 2021. The firms selected for the Future Fifty are Cazoo, Cognism, Double Eleven, Form 3, Hopin, Huma, Multiverse, MYPINPAD, Oxbotica, STATSports, Strike, Tessian, Wagestream, What3words and Wolf & Badger.
Established scale-ups have cemented their status over the past year, and some newcomers have seen stratospheric growth. Hopin, an online events platform, now has 900 employees in 47 countries, and a valuation of £5.66bn. Online car retailer Cazoo began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2021, raising $1bn to build its brand across Europe.
Those selected for the programme are planning to increase their workforces by an average of 60 percent in the next year. Japan is the top country companies are eyeing for expansion, followed by Canada, Germany, South Africa and China.
The programme “reflects the growth of the UK tech sector, and the ‘funnel’ which can take companies from seed to billion-dollar valuations”, says Tech Nation.
It was launched in 2013, and 202 companies have taken part, collectively raising $36bn in venture capital investment, with 11 going on to IPO, including Deliveroo, Darktrace, and Wise (London’s largest-ever tech listing). Revolut, the UK’s single-largest tech company, is valued at £23bn.
Over the past decade, investment in UK late-stage tech companies has scaled-up. Firms have gone from exclusively raising funds through Series B and C rounds in 2011 to far larger sums of money. This is seen by Tech Nation as “evidence of the increasing maturity” of the UK tech sector.
