The United Kingdom is now home to 100 technology companies worth at least $1 billion (also known as unicorns), new data from Dealroom and Tech Nation suggests.
As reported by City A.M., the milestone was reached courtesy of Tractable, a start-up using AI to build computer vision tools. The firm recently announced $60 million in Series D funding, which brought its valuation to the fabled $1 billion mark.
Commenting on the news, Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said it “cements the UK’s place as one of the world’s top tech hubs.”
So far this year, 13 new unicorns have emerged, almost double the figure from 2020. Meanwhile, UK startups have raised a total of $14.5 billion, surpassing the $8.9bn raised in the second half of last year.
The US and China are the only two other countries in the world with at least 100 unicorns, making the UK the first European country to achieve the milestone. Germany is the closest with 42, France has 22 and the Netherlands 18.
Most of them (34 percent) are fintech companies, with health tech (14 percent) and travel tech (8 percent) following behind.