The º£½ÇÊÓƵ fintech sector is witnessing explosive growth, with several firms on the brink of achieving 'unicorn' status, denoting privately held startups valued at over $1bn (£780m).
Hurun's latest index highlights a group of fintech companies with valuations north of $500m, as reported by .
These enterprises cover a range of financial services, including digital banking and trade finance, drawing significant investor interest.
Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun chairman, remarked: "The fintech sector is the best represented part of the economy, accounting for 52 (38 per cent) of the startups across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Unicorn, Gazelle and Cheetah lists".
While the US leads in unicorn and emerging unicorn tallies across all sectors, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ holds a respectable fourth place after the US, China, and India. Among the fintechs nearing unicorn status are Tandem and Atom.
Tandem
Tandem, based in Blackpool and specialising in sustainable lending and green finance, is at the forefront.
City AM reported last year that Tandem enjoyed a second straight year of profitability in 2023, with customer numbers drawn to its eco-friendly approach.
The digital bank saw its underlying profit surge five times to £17.2m from £3.6m in 2023, boasting 300,000 customers by year-end.
Atom
Durham's Atom Bank, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's inaugural app-based bank, continues to expand through robust mortgage and SME lending.
The valuation of the bank suffered a setback in November 2023 after it raised over £100m from existing shareholders.
As of 2024, the bank's valuation stood at approximately £400m, but according to Hurun’s index, it is now on the cusp of reaching unicorn status.
ClearBank
ClearBank, which made history as the first new clearing bank to be established in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ in the past 250 years, now boasts of processing about 20m monthly payments and recorded its first annual profit of £18.4m last April.
Hagan, who previously served as the chief risk officer for Silicon Valley Bank’s European division, has noted a "huge amount of demand" for Clearbank’s embedded banking products.
The bank was valued at $611m (£488) in January 2025.
Curve
Curve, launched in 2015, offers a service that consolidates users' bank and loyalty cards into a single app, generating revenue through card transactions, ATM withdrawals, currency exchanges, and a subscription model.
While the company has not revealed its current valuation, with over 4m customers and £3.2bn spent on the platform in 2022, Curve is targeting profitability within this year.
Tide
Tide, a business banking platform catering to SMEs, is also said to be approaching a $1bn valuation.
Established in 2015 and operational since 2017, Tide has expanded to around 1,600 employees worldwide and claims a ten per cent market share in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ small business sector, based on the company's data.
Sky News has reported that the firm is in the process of selling a portion of existing shares at roughly a 30 per cent premium compared to its latest funding round in 2021.
Paysend, Cleo and Elwood Tech
Paysend, Cleo, and Elwood Tech are also mentioned without additional context.
Among the º£½ÇÊÓƵ firms on the brink of achieving unicorn status are fintech companies Paysend, Cleo and Elwood Tech.
According to the Hurun º£½ÇÊÓƵ unicorns index, fintech is the leading sector, making up 38 per cent of the 137 rapidly growing startups.
The º£½ÇÊÓƵ's most valuable fintech unicorn, Revolut, now boasts a valuation of $45bn, making it one of the world's most valuable fintechs. Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut has skyrocketed to a $45bn valuation in just a decade.
Recent data shows that only the US outpaced the º£½ÇÊÓƵ in total fintech investment last year. Despite a global decrease in fintech investment by 20 per cent to $43.5bn (£35.2bn), the º£½ÇÊÓƵ managed to attract $3.6bn (£2.9bn) in funding, surpassing the combined total of the next five European countries.
