United Kingdom startup ecosystem
The UK — and London in particular — remains Europe's deepest capital market for startups. World-class universities, a strong financial services sector, and a dense network of experienced operators make it a magnet for fintech, AI, and biotech ventures. Despite Brexit-related shifts, the UK continues to produce more unicorns than any other European country. The directory currently lists 306 organisations across 20 cities.
Showing 261–280 of 306 United Kingdom
Cities in United Kingdom
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United Kingdom results
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Sonali De Rycker
Partner at Accel and one of Europe's most influential venture investors, leading the firm's London office. She has backed Spotify, Monzo, BeReal and KRY, and focuses on AI, consumer and fintech companies across Europe and Israel.
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Space-Comm Expo Europe 2027
The UK's space-industry expo and conference at ExCeL London, connecting space companies, defence, and the broader supply chain. For spacetech and deeptech founders it is the main UK venue to meet agencies, primes, and investors active in the space economy.
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Stability AI
Stability AI is a London-based artificial intelligence company founded in 2019 that develops open and openly licensed generative models across images, video, audio and 3D, best known for the Stable Diffusion text-to-image model. It positions itself around accessible, open generative AI for creators, developers and enterprises.
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Starling Bank
Starling Bank is a London-based digital bank founded in 2014 by Anne Boden, offering personal, business and joint current accounts through a mobile app under a full UK banking licence. It was one of the first British neobanks to reach sustained profitability and also licenses its banking technology to other institutions through its Engine software subsidiary. It employs several thousand people and reports revenue of more than 880 million pounds.
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Steffen Tjerrild
Co-founder and COO/CFO of Synthesia, the AI video-generation platform. He runs the company's operations and finance alongside CEO Victor Riparbelli as Synthesia became one of Europe's most valuable generative-AI companies.
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Stephen Chandler
Managing Partner and co-founder of Notion Capital, the London B2B SaaS and fintech firm he started in 2009 with the MessageLabs team. He has backed European software leaders including GoCardless and Currencycloud and helped grow Notion to over $1bn AUM.
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Steven Bartlett
British entrepreneur, investor and author. He founded social-media marketing firm Social Chain in 2014 and later co-founded Flightstory, a media and investment company. He hosts The Diary of a CEO, one of the world's most listened-to business podcasts, and is an investor on the BBC's Dragons' Den.
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Stream
Stream, rebranded from Wagestream in September 2025, is an employer-partnered workplace finance platform. Through partner employers, frontline workers gain flexible early access to their earned wages, alongside budgeting and financial-planning tools, a savings account, affordable credit, and money coaching. In 2025 it expanded into workplace pensions via its acquisition of Zippen. The platform serves several million workers across more than 2,000 employers in the UK, Europe, and the US, with partners including Asda, Bupa, Greene King, and the NHS.
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Summize
Summize is a Manchester-based legaltech company offering an AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform. Its SaaS technology is designed to unite legal teams and business stakeholders so they can draft, review and manage contracts more efficiently. Founded in 2018 by former general counsel Tom Dunlop and software engineer David Smith, the company counts customers such as Revolut among its roster. In early 2026 Summize raised $50 million to accelerate product development and global growth, building on an earlier Series A backed by YFM Equity Partners and Maven Capital Partners.
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SumUp
SumUp is a leading European fintech providing mobile point-of-sale card readers and a suite of financial tools for small merchants. The company serves over 4 million businesses across 35+ countries, offering card acceptance, invoicing, business accounts, and online payment links. SumUp has become the go-to payments partner for micro and small businesses across Europe and beyond, competing with Square in the SMB payments space.
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Sustainable Foods London
Organizer of the Sustainable Foods London conference and expo. Sustainable Foods London is an event organiser based in London, United Kingdom. Organising events in the Events, FoodTech, Climate Tech space.
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Sustainable Foods London 2026
Conference and expo in London focused on sustainability challenges in the food and drink industry, covering supply-chain transparency, alternative proteins, and circular packaging. Brings together food manufacturers, retailers, and impact investors. Strong for food-tech and climate-tech startups targeting the UK consumer market.
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SXSW London 2026
Inaugural European SXSW edition across Shoreditch and East London, mixing startup pitches with tech, music, and interactive media programming. Strong fit for media-tech, AR/VR, and consumer innovation teams.
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Sylvera
Sylvera is a London-based climate-tech company founded in 2020 that rates and analyses carbon credits and nature-based projects using satellite data, machine learning and field measurement, helping corporate buyers judge the quality of their carbon offsets. It provides ratings, pre-issuance analytics and procurement tools, and has raised more than 90 million dollars from investors.
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Synthesia
Synthesia is a London-based AI video generation platform founded in 2017 by Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild, and a team of AI researchers from University College London and TU Munich. The platform allows users to create professional-quality videos from text prompts using photorealistic AI avatars that speak in over 140 languages, eliminating the need for cameras, actors, or studios. Synthesia has raised over $150 million from investors including Accel, NVIDIA, and Kleiner Perkins, reaching a valuation above $2 billion. It serves over 50,000 enterprise customers including Amazon, Tiffany, and Reuters. Synthesia is one of Europe's most successful AI-native media companies.
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Taavet Hinrikus
Taavet Hinrikus is a prominent European tech entrepreneur-turned-angel investor, best known as the co-founder of Wise (TransferWise). Hinrikus, originally from Estonia, was Skype’s first employee before co-founding TransferWise in London in 2011. Under his leadership (as CEO then Chairman), TransferWise revolutionized cross-border finance and reached a multi-billion valuation. After Wise’s success (it went public in 2021), Taavet Hinrikus shifted focus to investing and supporting other startups. He has become an “operator angel” who backs early-stage European founders, particularly in fintech and software, bringing his experience in scaling a fintech unicorn. In 2022, Hinrikus teamed up with Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkivi to launch a new VC firm called Plural, a €250 million fund “built by founders” to invest in Europe’s next generation of tech companies. As an individual angel, Taavet has made personal investments in startups like Bolt (ride-hailing, Estonia), Mirror (US fintech), Zego (insurance) and many others, often taking advisory roles. He is known for his hands-on mentorship style – for example, he has provided guidance to Wise alumni starting companies and frequently advocates for Baltic and European tech on the global stage. Taavet also serves on various boards (e.g. he was on the board of Nasdaq’s Estonia arm and advisory boards of fintech companies) and was a special adviser to the UK government on fintech. In the Europe Startup Guide, Taavet is described as an angel “investing as an operator-angel in European fintech and software,” focusing on pre-seed to Series A deals. His journey from founding a $10B fintech company to re-investing in the ecosystem has made Hinrikus an influential figure. Not only does he bring capital, but also credibility and connections – helping younger European startups navigate growth and international expansion. In essence, Taavet Hinrikus exemplifies the new wave of successful European founders who “pay it forward” by fueling the next cohort of startups.
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Tech.eu Summit London 2026
Content-heavy summit at Old Billingsgate focused on European scale-up strategy, AI, fintech, and climate tech. Strong attendance from Series A-C founders, LPs, Tier 1 VCs, and tech media.
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Technology for Marketing 2026
A UK-leading marketing and AI event at ExCeL London for B2B and B2C marketers, with 200+ solution providers and 200+ hours of CPD-accredited content across ten conference theatres. Co-located with eCommerce Expo and Parcel & Post Expo, it is useful for martech and AI startups.
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TechTides Belfast 2026
The island of Ireland's flagship tech-innovation conference, running in Belfast for the first time. Founders get a full-day programme of keynotes and panels, a startup pitch competition and showcase, and 600+ attendees mixing startups, enterprise, and investors — a good wedge into the Northern Ireland ecosystem.
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TechTides Derry 2026
TechTides' next event moves from Belfast to the Millennium Forum in Derry~Londonderry on 27 October 2026. The Northern Ireland tech conference brings together business professionals, technologists, students, and entrepreneurs from across NI and Ireland for keynotes, panels, and networking.
