Cambridgeshire and East Anglia companies in Deloitte UK Tech Fast 50 ranking

Deloitte has announced the winners of the 2024 UK Technology Fast 50 awards. The awards recognise and rank the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in the UK, based on average revenue growth over a three-year period, and are sponsored by Citi, Oracle NetSuite and Tipalti.

This year, in the region, Halo Service Solutions, a software company based in Stowmarket, has secured 36^th place in the rankings. The organisation registered 779% growth over a three-year period.

Cambridge company bit.bio, a biotechnology and healthcare company, placed 46^th place in the list. It has grown 653% over the same period.

Fintech company Allica Bank returns as the overall winner of the Fast 50 awards, having achieved a three-year growth rate of 13,411% to the year 2023/24. The London-based business, which topped the ranking in 2023 with the competition’s third largest ever growth rate, specialises in banking for small and medium-sized businesses.

In second place is ZOE, a London-based science and nutrition company specialising in personalised nutrition, with a three-year growth rate of 9,533%.

The 2024 Fast 50 winners have a collective average three-year growth rate of 2,468%, and generated total revenues of £1.93bn in 2023/24.

Julian Rae, office senior partner for Cambridge, commented:

“We continue to see the resilience of the UK’s technology sector, demonstrated clearly from the impressive growth amongst this year’s Fast 50 winners. We’re so fortunate to work in a region that is underpinned by innovation across technology and life sciences, as evidenced by these two companies. Congratulations to them, and to all the other winners.”

London leads the way for tech start-ups

Almost three quarters (70%) of the 2024 Fast 50 winners hail from London, including four of the top five, as the UK capital remains the hub for technology start-ups and investment in the UK.

Boost for UK regional start-ups

While the capital remains dominant in the 2024 rankings, regional representation increased on the previous year.  Outside of London, this year’s third place winner is Manchester-based UrbanChain with a three-year growth rate of 8,810%. The energy tech business, which offers peer-to-peer energy exchange services, also claims both the CleanTech and Women in Leadership awards for 2024, given the commitments of their female-founder and CEO to green technology.

Other standout performances outside of London include Midlands-based Previsico, a flood forecasting platform (14^th overall, with a three-year growth rate of 2,714%). Scotland-based Utopi, an environmental tech company working with property firms, returns to the top-half of the ranking (18^th overall, with a three-year growth rate of 2,156%).

“While London continues to house the largest share of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies, we continue to see growth across the country in businesses from a variety of sectors and specialties,” added Rae. “It is excellent to see representation from all regions in this year’s rankings, in a sign that the tech sector continues to offer growth and opportunity in every corner of the country.”

Mixed bag of optimism and caution among tech CEOs

In a recent Deloitte survey of CEOs in the UK’s technology sector, one in five (21%) said they are applying cost reduction measures to deal with the changing economic environment. However, over half (52%) said they are not planning any changes, highlighting a mix of caution and optimism among tech business leaders.

Meanwhile, more than half (57%) of respondents said that they intend to raise growth capital within the next three years. In contrast, 16% of respondents stated that they have no intention of raising investment in the near future. Three quarters (78%) of respondents indicated that venture capital investment is their preferred form of investment, with 29% expressing interest in both venture capital and debt financing.

Rae concluded: “The economic headwinds of the last few years have created a challenging environment for many businesses, so it is reassuring that so many tech CEOs are feeling confident in their businesses and strategies. With many looking to raise investment capital in the near future, it is clear that start-ups are optimistic about their growth, albeit with caution.”

Ends

 

2024 UK Technology Fast 50

Fast 50 ranking	Company Name	Growth percentage	Sector	Region
1	Allica Bank	13411%	Fintech	London
2	ZOE	9533%	Healthcare and Life Sciences	London
3	UrbanChain	8810%	Environmental Technology	North West
4	SourceWhale	8209%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
5	Seat Unique	7921%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
6	Zilch	7694%	FinTech	London
7	Secret Food Tours	6778%	B2C Software	London
8	Summize	3720%	B2B or B2B2C Software	North West
9	RideTandem	3113%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
10	Evolution Engineers	2975%	Marketing, Media, Entertainment, AdTech	South East
11	Scan.com	2769%	Healthcare and Life Sciences	London
12	Hozah	2766%	FinTech	London
13	Veremark Ltd	2718%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
14	Previsico	2714%	Environmental Technology	Midlands
15	PolyAI	2583%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
16	Quorso	2528%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
17	Low 6 Limited	2208%	B2B or B2B2C Software	Midlands
18	Utopi	2156%	Environmental Technology	Scotland
19	ion Ventures	2082%	Environmental Technology	London
20	Yoti	1858%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
21	Hypervolt`	1854%	Environmental Technology	London
22	OnHand	1539%	B2B or B2B2C Software	North East
23	Moneybox	1399%	FinTech	London
24	Carbon Clean	1376%	Environmental Technology	London
25	LendingCrowd	1253%	FinTech	Scotland
26	ANNA	1149%	FinTech	South West and Wales
27	Yoto	1079%	Marketing, Media, Entertainment, AdTech	London
28	JUICE VENTURES LIMITED	945%	FinTech	London
29	NayaOne	875%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
30	Zen Educate	871%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
31	Zenzero	860%	B2B or B2B2C Software	Midlands
32	Moasure	849%	Hardware	Midlands
33	Sprift Technologies	823%	B2B or B2B2C Software	South East
34	System Loco Limited	820%	Hardware	North West
35	Zopa Bank	793%	FinTech	London
36	Halo Service Solutions	779%	B2B or B2B2C Software	Cambridgeshire and East
37	ClearBank	779%	FinTech	London
38	Urban Jungle Insurance	761%	FinTech	London
39	WeDiscover	749%	Marketing, Media, Entertainment, AdTech	London
40	iplicit	742%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
41	Wagestream	741%	FinTech	London
42	Flagstone	699%	FinTech	London
43	Duel	666%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London
44	Flow Global	663%	FinTech	London
45	Seatfrog	662%	B2C Software	London
46	bit.bio	653%	Healthcare and Life Sciences	Cambridgeshire and East
47	Switchee	640%	Environmental Technology	London
48	Starling Group	637%	FinTech	London
49	Plum	611%	FinTech	London
50	LatentBridge	607%	B2B or B2B2C Software	London

 

About the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50

The Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 is one of the UK’s foremost technology award programmes. Now in its 27th year, it is a ranking of the country’s 50 fastest-growing technology companies, based on revenue growth over the last three years. The UK Fast 50 awards are all about growth driven by leading intellectual property and are a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship. Previous winners have come from across the UK, are both large and small, and included some of the most dynamic players in all areas of technology, from IoT to biotech, digital media technology to life sciences, FinTech to software and clean energy to telecommunications.

For more information visit www.fast50.co.uk

Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 eligibility criteria

The parent company must be UK-owned and have its headquarters in the UK;

The company must have base-year (year 1) operating revenues of £42,000 (€50,000) and a current year (year 4) operating revenue of at least £850,000 (€1,000,000).

NB: the accounts for the base-year must have an accounting period ending 31 March 2021; and the accounts for the most recent financial year must have an accounting period ending 31 March 2024.

The Fast 50 Women in Leadership category recognises those companies within the Technology Fast 50 that are either led by a female* CEO or have a founding team comprised of at least 50% women. The ranking will still be judged based on percentage revenue growth over the last three years and entry qualifications are the same as the UK Tech Fast 50.

* The terms ‘women’ and ‘female’ are taken to include all those who self-identify as women or female and engage with their current colleagues/company as such.

 

The CleanTech category was launched in 2023 and recognises climate technology companies within the Technology Fast 50 for their contribution to the UK’s net zero target. Eligible companies are those who meet the Fast 50 entry criteria and produce or use technology, tools, products and services which support emission reductions; lead to more circular economies through the recycling, regeneration, and reuse of resources; and promote well-being for people, communities, and nature through sustainable agriculture, clean air and water, resilient communities and cities, and the preservation and regeneration of natural ecosystems.

 

About Citi

Citi provides global banking solutions to companies that are looking to grow rapidly and expand internationally. With Citi's global network, comprehensive solutions, and industry expertise, Citi helps these businesses succeed across a wide variety of industries and at most stages of their growth.

 

About Oracle NetSuite
Oracle NetSuite’s cloud business software suite is the top choice of technology companies who understand that the key to unlocking and managing growth is a back office system that can address today’s challenges while providing the critical foundation for future expansion.

Today over 36,000 companies trust NetSuite to run their mission critical business processes from accounting, procurement and HR through to marketing and sales. NetSuite’s track record as the business system of choice for high-growth tech companies is unmatched. NetSuite isn’t just for start-ups, companies of all sizes benefit from its comprehensive, global financial and accounting core that makes international expansion straightforward; improved visibility across the business; and increased efficiency from eliminating manual processes and disparate systems.

 

About Tipalti

Tipalti is a global finance automation company helping finance teams drive business growth by automating and streamlining accounts payable, mass payments, procurement and employee expenses in one connected suite.

 

Tipalti takes the complexity, cost and risk out of time-consuming financial workflows, making it easy for finance teams to collaborate with employees and suppliers. Tipalti partners with blue-chip banks and financial institutions such as Citi, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan and Visa, enabling global companies to efficiently and securely pay millions of suppliers across 196 countries, 6 payment methods and 120 currencies. Over 4,000 growth-minded companies globally use Tipalti’s suite of solutions to reduce their manual finance workload by 80% and accelerate close by 25%, all while strengthening financial and spend controls.

 

About Deloitte

In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”) a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity.

 

Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

 

Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NSE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.