The FinTech industry is pushing the UK’s tech ecosystem to record growth, with the country's tech sector now worth a landmark $1 trillion valuation.

According to data compiled by Dealroom and analysed for the UK Digital Economy Council the country has become the third in the world ever to reach the landmark valuation of $1 trillion.

The UK Digital Economy Economy Council, which advises the UK government, listed the 13 highest valued companies driving the rapid growth in the UK’s tech sector, including the FinTech decacorns (worth over $10 billion) WorldPay, Checkout.com, Revolut, FNZ, Wise, Rapyd, Admiral Group, and eToro.

In the first three months of 2022, UK tech companies have raised over £6 billion with more than half (£3.3 billion) raised by FinTech companies including FNZ, Checkout.com and GoCardless.

The data reveals that the UK’s thriving digital economy is now worth more than double that of Germany’s and almost five times larger than France and Sweden.

The Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, triggered a wave of tech adoption from digital health apps, to education platforms, video conferencing and e-commerce, driving new innovative growth in the UK’s tech ecosystem.

In 2018, the UK tech ecosystem was valued at $446 billion and was steadily growing until 2020 when it doubled in value to $942 billion as investments into software and digital companies surged at the start of the pandemic, both in private and public markets.

This has helped to catapult the valuations of many companies from unicorns - companies valued at $1 billion or more - to the even rarer decacorn status (companies worth over $10 billion).

Regional companies are also raising large sums of money including Durham-based Atom Bank, the UK’s first challenger bank, which raised £75m in late-stage funding and Oxford-based ONI, a next-generation health tech devices startup, which raised £57m in Series B funding in January.

Research by DCMS published last year found that the UK digital sector is on track to add £190 billion in value to the UK economy and create nearly 700,000 jobs over the next three years.

Commenting on the findings, digital minister Chris Philp said: “Our tech industry has gone from strength to strength, overtaking the rest of Europe and entering the history books as the third country ever to reach this milestone. We’re working hard to make the UK the best place in the world to found, grow or float tech businesses - whether they’re early-stage startups or global innovators - ensuring they have the best talent, investment and regulation to thrive.”

While most of the UK’s decacorns and unicorns are concentrated in London, there are now 44 unicorns spread out across the regions and 100 regional ‘futurecorns’ that are laying the groundwork for future success across the country, said the UK Digital Economy Council.

The full list of the UK’s decacorn companies is as follows:

1. Markit - big data
2. WorldPay - fintech
3. Checkout.com - fintech
4. Revolut - fintech
5. ARM - semiconductors
6. FNZ - fintech
7. Wise - fintech
8. Rapyd - fintech
9. Ocado Group - e-commerce
10. Admiral Group - fintech
11. Global Switch - data centres
12. eToro - fintech
13. Deliveroo - e-commerce

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