These are the fastest-growing tech businesses in the UK right now Young Guns, Startups Awards, and Startups 100 companies reign supreme in Deloitte’s annual Fast 50, with one company growing by over 107,000% Written by Megan Dunsby Published on 17 November 2017 Our experts We are a team of writers, experimenters and researchers providing you with the best advice with zero bias or partiality. Written and reviewed by: Megan Dunsby Start-ups and small businesses looking for inspiration should take note of the latest Fast 50 winners; the 50 UK tech-companies which have enjoyed the highest-growth in revenues over the past four years.Compiled by Deloitte, the 20th annual Fast 50 2017 ranking has named Deliveroo – the on-demand food delivery service – as the country’s fastest-growing tech company, setting a new record with revenue growth of 107,1117% since 2013.Launched by Young Guns Will Shu and Greg Orlowski in 2013, Deliveroo now operates in 150 cities and recently raised $385m in fresh funding.This week Deliveroo, which employs 27,000 riders, won a landmark legal victory which confirmed that its riders are self-employed and not workers.See more: Will Shu – ‘How I went from investment banker to founder of $857m-backed Deliveroo’Startups Awards finalist Bloom & Wild, the flowers-through-the letterbox delivery service founded by Young Gun Aron Gelbard, ranked as the second fastest-growing tech business for having achieved revenue growth of 13,818% since 2013.Other familiar names to Startups’ readers among this year’s Fast 50 include Funding Circle, Yieldify, Smarkets, GoCardless, Farfetch, WorldRemit, and Seedrs.Common trends shared by the UK’s fastest growing tech companiesAnalysing the Fast 50 and entries submitted for the index by 147 tech companies and 93 CEOs, Deloitte has highlighted recurring themes among fast-growth tech businesses. These included:CEOs of fast-growth tech companies learn from experience and past mistakes. Nearly 60% of CEOs had previously founded – or been involved in founding – another start-up, while 20% of CEOs said they had built success from lessons learnt from previous failures.The fastest-growing tech companies tend to be those who either do better than market incumbents…Or have launched a product or service which did not previously exist.The fastest-growing tech companies are most likely to have started in, or be headquartered in, London. 32 of this year’s Fast 50 are based in London.Software businesses are the most likely to enjoy soaring revenues. 44% of the Fast 50 operate in the software sector…But, emerging sectors are on the rise. 20% of the Fast 50 operate in fintech, while 16% operate in media and entertainment, and another 16% are internet-based.CEOs of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies prioritise revenue growth over profits. 70% of the CEOs surveyed said that revenue growth was a more important objective than profitability but 60% CEOs did say they expected profitability to become the most important factor over the next five years.The Fast 50 2017 winners, ranked by revenue growthRankingCompanyGrowthRegionSector1Deliveroo107,117%LondonInternet2Bloom & Wild13,818%LondonInternet3MoveGB6,053%South WestInternet4Smarkets5,390%LondonFintech5Stratajet3,634%LondonInternet6Paddle3,239%LondonSoftware7Receipt Bank2,947%LondonFintech8GoCardless Ltd2,097%LondonFintech9Coull1,915%South WestMedia & Entertainment10Brainlabs1,913%LondonMedia & Entertainment11Outplay Entertainment1,904%ScotlandMedia & Entertainment12LoopMe1,825%LondonSoftware13VIRTUS Data Centres1,729%LondonSoftware14Optal1,714%LondonFintech15Kantox1,688%LondonFintech16mobstuff1,635%LondonMedia & Entertainment17Duco1,590%LondonFintech18In Touch Networks1,572%North WestInternet19WDX1,563%LondonFintech20Volta Data Centres1,562%LondonSoftware21PM Connect Ltd1,319%MidlandsMedia & Entertainment22CyanConnode1,221%Cambridgeshire and EastTelecommunications23Ieso Digital Health1,175%Cambridgeshire and EastHealthcare & Life Sciences24Yieldify1,144%LondonMedia & Entertainment25BigChange1,095%North EastSoftware26Poq1,015%LondonSoftware27Exsel Group959%ScotlandSoftware28Realeyes932%LondonSoftware29Funding Circle853%LondonFintech30Reddico851%South EastInternet31Fonix785%LondonFintech32StarLeaf782%LondonSoftware33Kymab Ltd763%South EastHealthcare & Life Sciences34Victor716%LondonInternet35Blis Media702%LondonMedia & Entertainment36Featurespace677%Cambridgeshire and EastSoftware37Mighty Social651%LondonMedia & Entertainment38Farfetch649%LondonInternet39WorldRemit642%LondonFintech40Nervecentre Software636%South EastSoftware41Black Swan Data597%LondonSoftware42BlueGlass561%LondonMedia & Entertainment43BookingBug554%LondonSoftware44Peppermint Technology552%MidlandsSoftware45Ebury Partners Ltd548%LondonFintech46SIPHON539%South WestTelecommunications47Cloud Technology Solutions510%North WestSoftware48AccessPay497%North WestFintech49Arcus Global491%Cambridgeshire and EastSoftware50Seedrs Ltd481%LondonFintech David Cobb, lead partner for the Fast 50 programme concluded: “Successful pursuit of growth is an implicit characteristic amongst Fast 50 companies, but this is a far from simple feat.“Winners tend to be those that have spotted, and capitalised on, market opportunities for tech-enabled growth in new and existing sectors.“And when looking across all of the 662 unique winners over the last twenty years, it is easy to see that having a great product or service, knowing your customer and employing excellent staff are the common ingredients to help ensure fast-paced growth.” Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Written by: Megan Dunsby