The latest list of 44 UK unicorns reveals that a staggering 37 of them are based in London.

According to Sifted, the leading media brand focused on the European startup scene, the only seven unicorns based outside the capital are Castore, Matillion, Tractable, Gymshark, OVO Energy, BrewDog and CMR Surgical.

Of these only three – Castore, Matillion and Tractable – are based in the North of England.

Castore is the Manchester-based sportswear brand founded in Liverpool in 2016 by brothers Thomas and Philip Beahon.

Fellow Manchester business Matillion entered the ranks of UK unicorns in 2021 when a $150m Series E funding round took its valuation to $1.5bn.

The only other Northern business to make the unicorn list is Sheffield-based Tractable, which became the world’s first computer vision unicorn for financial services.

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In 2021 Tractable raised $60M in a Series D round led by Insight Partners and Georgian on the back of 600 per cent revenue growth in the past 24 months. It meant the tech startup became a fabled unicorn just six years after being launched.

Of the other four fashion brand Gymshark, which was founded by Ben Francis, is in Solihull, OVO Energy is based in Bristol, global surgical robotics company CMR Surgical is headquartered in Cambridge; and BrewDog is based near Aberdeen.

In 2024 women’s health app Flo Health revealed it had raised £156m (£200m) in a Series C investment from General Atlantic which valued the business beyond $1bn. It meant that Flo became the first purely digital consumer women’s health app to achieve unicorn status.

Another noticeable inclusion is the list is Multiverse, an EdTech company founded by Tony Blair’s son Euan and focused on professional apprenticeships. It was valued at $1.7bn in  2022 following a funding round.

According to Sifted’s latest list, startups must have reached a $1bn valuation following any equity funding round prior to IPO or acquisition, been founded after 2005 and be both founded and headquartered in Europe.

Companies valued at $1bn at IPO but never at any prior financing stage are not considered unicorns as they are no longer privately held at that valuation.

A total of 161 European unicorns have made Sifted’s list, including 28 in Germany and another 28 in France.

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The full UK list of 44 unicorns can be found below, including the date they were founded.

CompanyFoundedLocation
Accelerant 2018 London Beamery 2012 London Blockchain.com 2011 London BrewDog 2007 Ellon Castore 2016 Manchester Checkout.com 2012 London CMR Surgical 2014 Cambridge Copper 2018 London Flo Health 2015 London GoCardless 2011 London Gymshark 2012 Solihull Improbable 2012 London Infobip 2006 London Lendable 2014 London Lighthouse 2012 London ManyPets 2012 London Marshmallow 2017 London Matillion 2011 Altrincham Monzo Bank 2015 London Motorway 2015 London Multiverse 2016 London OVO Energy 2008 Bristol OakNorth Credit Intelligence 2015 London Octopus Energy 2015 London Paddle 2012 London Payhawk 2018 London PPRO 2006 London Quantexa 2016 London Rapyd 2016 London Revolut 2015 London Stablility AI 2019 London Starling Bank 2014 London Synthesia 2017 London Teya 2019 London Thought Machine 2014 London Touchlight Genetics 2007 London Tractable 2014 Sheffield Tripledot Studios 2017 London Wayve 2017 London WorldRemit 2010 London Zego 2016 London Zenobe Energy 2017 London Zilch 2018 London Zopa 2005 London