The UK has been the birthplace of over 70 startups valued at over £1bn and trails only the US and China in the global ranking, and London could soon overtake San Francisco as the FinTech unicorn capital of the world.
Remittances provider Transferwise is the most valuable FinTech unicorn in the UK and has raised over £290m since its founding, with early backer Seedcamp putting in £43.6k (€50k) in august 2011. Other major investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Virgin Group and Index Ventures. Transferwise was involved in a secondary share offering led by Lead Edge Capital, Vitruvian Partners and Lone Pine Capital in May 2019, which pushed its value to almost £2.8bn ($3.5bn).
Greensill Capital provides supply chain finance and working capital solutions to customers across Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia and works with a host of banks and institutional investors. The company raised £616.8m ($800m) from Softbank Vision Fund in May 2019, to fund expansion into Brazil, China and India, making it the second most valuable FinTech unicorn in the UK with a valuation of £2.7bn.
OakNorth is a London-based business only Challenger Bank, and has raised almost £800m since 2015. The company most recently receive £340.1m ($440m) from Softbank Vision Fund and Clermont Group in February 2019, at a £2.2bn valuation, making it the most valuable Challenger Bank in the UK.
