According to The Business Magazine, the UK tech industry is worth $1 trillion as of 2024. That makes it an incredibly appealing market for entrepreneurs and companies to try and break into….and they are, in growing numbers.
The Sunday Times is known for pulling together some of the most comprehensive lists in the UK. With its Rich List being around for decades, and the launch of its fastest-growing private companies list in more recent years, it’s no surprise that their business team has now turned to tracking the growth of UK tech companies.
To qualify, companies have to be independent, privately owned and headquartered in the UK. They also have to be a business that either sells its own technology or has developed technology that is at the heart of its own business or service.
Here, we look at some of the key findings of the list, including which companies made the cut, what impact they had on the UK economy and what sectors are most set for growth.
At the top of the list was Manchester-based Evergreen Life, a digital health company working closely with the NHS to record all patient information in one place.
The company saw a huge average annual growth of 554% over the past three years, with its revenue climbing to £36.1 million in 2024 and its workforce expanding to 500 employees.
At the top of the hardware category is Pure Data Centres, a London-based data storage provider that works with huge names like Amazon, Google and Microsoft. The company’s growth rate was 373.72%, with £19.9 million in sales and plans to expand its storage abilities, which are currently 20 megawatts, to an extra 70 megawatts.
Interestingly, both of the companies in the top 100 were led by women. A further 17% of the winners were either founded or led by women, showing strong progression for UK women in tech.
The top 10s include:
| Rank | Company Name | Description | HQ Location | Annual Growth (%) | Latest Sales (£m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evergreen Life | Digital health services | Manchester | 554.09 | £36.1* |
| 2 | Allica Bank | Banking fintech | London/MK | 536.98 | £191.0* |
| 3 | UrbanChain | Green energy marketplace | Manchester | 334.39 | £25.0* |
| 4 | Peppy Health | Employee benefits | London | 329.10 | £9.0 |
| 5 | Zilch Technology | Lending fintech | London | 327.17 | £57.1 |
| 6 | Chip | Investment & savings | London | 325.10 | £15.1 |
| 7 | Synthesia | AI video creation | London | 272.01 | £25.7 |
| 8 | PolyAI | AI voice assistants | London | 269.76 | £6.8 |
| 9 | Sokin | Global payments | London | 235.72 | £9.4* |
| 10 | Robin AI | AI legal services | London | 227.39 | £7.7* |
| Rank | Company Name | Description | HQ Location | Annual Growth (%) | Latest Sales (£m) |
| 1 | Pure Data Centres | Data centres | London | 373.72 | £19.9 |
| 2 | YouSeq | Molecular diagnostics | Winchester | 332.67 | £8.1* |
| 3 | Evolito | Electric motors (aerospace) | Oxfordshire | 279.02 | £13.9* |
| 4 | toob | Fibre broadband | Portsmouth | 270.73 | £5.5 |
| 5 | Utopi | Property smart sensors | Glasgow | 182.87 | £6.0* |
| 6 | GeoPura | Hydrogen power generation | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 151.16 | £7.5* |
| 7 | Carbon Clean | Carbon capture technology | London | 124.89 | £14.1* |
| 8 | Switchee | Property smart sensors | London | 112.70 | £10.0* |
| 9 | Moasure | Measuring equipment | Warwick | 102.91 | £12.2* |
| 10 | Zenobē | Battery storage & EV fleets | London | 101.57 | £53.6 |
The top 100 companies featured on the lists had huge impacts on the UK economy.
Together, they created 11,200 new jobs and employed 20,700 people – with many showcasing plans to further expand their teams.
Given that UK unemployment currently sits at 4.3% from August to October 2024 (Trading Economics), companies that are expanding in this way are not only doing their part economically, but societally too.
It’s no surprise that of the 100 companies featured, more than half (56) are based in London. London is the biggest city in the UK and has long been a financial and tech centre for businesses.
When it came to the rest of the country, 16 were founded in the southeast, 6 in the northwest, 6 in the southwest of England, 4 in the Midlands, 3 in Scotland, 2 in Northern Ireland and 1 in Wales.
Of the top 10 in both categories, the regional stats showed companies were founded in:
Over 90 of the companies listed had received external investment to help fuel their growth, raising a combined £10 billion.
The software category led the charge here with £5.5 billion of funding raised. This shows growing investor interest in software companies and their technologies.
However, it is worth noting that some companies did skew this figure with big raises and that not all money raised was in the UK, with many leveraging US investors to raise funds.
Of those that entered, 12 were considered unicorns, with a valuation of more than $1 billion by investors – showing the growing number of companies reaching this status in the UK.
Of the companies in the list, a few sectors stood out.
AI: It’s no surprise that AI was at the heart of many of these companies, with names like Synthesia, PolyAI and RobinAI using the technology for a variety of services.
In fact, just this week UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer announced his plans to boost the AI sector in the UK. According to this list, that could be a very smart investment indeed.
Sustainability: Sustainability was another element that cropped up in many of the top 10. Companies like UrbanChain, Geopura and Carbon Clean led the charge in this respect, driving forwards sustainable practices in many areas.
As the UK moves ever closer to its Net Zero target, which includes decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to be net zero, businesses that help achieve this set themselves up to be in demand.
Finance: FinTech is also an increasingly growing sector. Allicia Bank, Zilch, Chip and Sokin all made their top 10s, showing the role of startups in helping people manage their finances.
Jim Armitage, Sunday Times business editor, commented:
“The government has pledged to kickstart economic growth in 2025. The Sunday Times 100 Tech shows that Britain’s technology entrepreneurs are already making progress, creating high-value jobs and delivering cutting-edge goods and services.
These businesses are proof that Britain remains a powerhouse for innovation. The rapid development of AI represents one of the biggest economic opportunities since the internet. We have seen the government embrace AI this week, but we still need the right support structures put in place to help the entrepreneurs who are harnessing AI to thrive.”
David Soffer, Editor-in-Chief at TechRound commented
“It’s no surprise that some of the fastest-growing companies in the UK are technology businesses. At TechRound, we’ve been profiling some of the UK and Europe’s best startups for over 5 years. In fact, many of the companies on the list were featured by us over the years.
“We’ll be watching closely to see which sectors continue to dominate, cheering on UK companies from the side lines”
To see the full list, visit: thetimes.com/100tech
