The five UK fintechs tipped to reach unicorn status
The UK fintech sector is experiencing lightning growth, with several companies on the road to gaining ‘unicorn’ status, a title given to privately held startups valued at over $1bn (£780m).
According to Hurun’s recent index, a handful of fintech firms are leading the charge, with valuations of $500m and above.
These firms span various financial services, from digital banking to trade finance, and are attracting substantial investment.
Hurun chairman Rupert Hoogewerf commented on the report: “The fintech sector is the best represented part of the economy, accounting for 52 (38 per cent) of the startups across the UK Unicorn, Gazelle and Cheetah lists”.
While the US dominates the lists of unicorns and emerging unicorns across all sectors, as perhaps expected, the UK ranks fourth behind the US, China, and India.
Here are five fintech that are on the verge of unicorn status.
Tandem
Blackpool-based Tandem, a digital bank focused on sustainable lending and green finance, topped the list.
As Morning Wire reported last year, the firm reported a second consecutive year of profitability in 2023 as customers flocked to the challenger’s greener offering.
Underlying profit at the digital challenger increased five-fold, jumping to £17.2m from £3.6m in 2023.
The lender had attracted 300,000 customers at the end of 2023.
Atom
Atom Bank, headquartered in Durham, was the UK’s first app-based bank and has gained momentum with substantial mortgage and SME lending growth.
The bank’s valuation took a hit in November 2023 after it raised more than £100m from existing shareholders.
In 2024, the bank was valued at around £400m, yet Hurun’s index reported it is now nearing unicorn status.
ClearBank
ClearBank was the first new clearing bank to launch in the UK in the last 250 years.
The bank now claims to handle roughly 20m monthly payments and posted its first annual profit of £18.4m last April.
Hagan, once chief risk officer for Silicon Valley Bank’s European arm, cited a “huge amount of demand” for Clearbank’s embedded banking products.
The bank was valued at $611m (£488) in January 2025.
Curve
Founded in 2015, Curve allows users to consolidate their bank and loyalty cards into one app.
It generates income from card transactions, ATM withdrawals, currency exchanges, and a subscription service.
The company has not disclosed its valuation.
With over 4m customers and £3.2bn spent via the platform in 2022, the company is aiming to hit profitability this year.
Tide
Tide, the business banking platform serving SMEs, also reportedly nearing $1bn valuation.
Founded in 2015 and launched in 2017, Tide has swelled to around 1,600 people globally and now boasts a ten per cent market share among the UK small business market, according to figures provided by the company.
Sky News reported the firm is also arranging to sell a chunk of existing shares at around a 30 per cent premium to its most recent funding round in 2021.
Paysend, Cleo and Elwood Tech
Other UK companies nearing unicorn status include fintechs Paysend, Cleo and Elwood Tech.
Fintech leads all sectors in the Hurun UK unicorns index, accounting for 38 per cent of the 137 high-growth startups.
The UK’s most valuable fintech unicorn, Revolut, is now worth $45bn and one of the world’s most valuable fintechs.
The digital money management service was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, surging to a value of $45bn in 10 years.
New figures revealed that the UK’s fintech sector was beaten by only the US on total investment last year.
According to data from Innovate Finance, as global fintech investment fell 20 per cent globally to $43.5bn (£35.2bn), the UK attracted $3.6bn (£2.9bn) of total funding, more than the next five European countries combined.