Britain is currently home to more ‘unicorn companies’ than any other county in Europe. At least, according to a recent report by tech-focused investment bank, GP Bullhound.
A ‘unicorn’ – so named because of its rarity – is defined as a technology company, founded in 2000 or later, with a valuation of more than $1bn. People tend to think of Silicon Valley as the natural home of unicorns, but there are now 17 of these elusive creatures in the UK – that’s 11 more than nearest rival, Sweden. Germany and Russia are next in line, housing four unicorns apiece. Meanwhile, France is home to three.
The latest to join the UK’s growing herd of unicorns is cyber-security firm Sophos (LSE: SOPH), which has just listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market value of around £1bn.
Here are the stories of five other unicorns that have come to dominate the UK market:
ASOS
ASOS (AIM:ASC) was established in June 2000, and was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) the following year. It is currently the UK’s largest independent online and fashion beauty retailer, with more than 4,000 employees.
The business was originally based in London, but has ventured further afield over the past five years, opening stores in France, Germany, the USA, Australia, Italy and Spain.
It has grown spectacularly over the past few years, and in 2013 it became one of the 100 most valuable London-listed companies. However, it missed out on a spot in the FTSE 100 because it’s still listed on Aim. At its share price peak, ASOS was worth almost as much as Marks & Spencer.
Just Eat
Takeaway giant Just Eat (LSE: JE) is an online aggregator, which allows customers to order food from a database of more than 40,000 restaurants. It was founded in Denmark in 2000, but relocated its headquarters to London in 2006.
Since then, it has looked further afield – launching operations from the Netherlands to India to Brazil. It currently has a presence in 13 countries, and is looking at prospects in Australia.
In April 2014, Just Eat floated on the London Stock Exchange. It was the first firm to list on the exchange’s ‘high growth’ segment, where companies don’t have to float as much of their equity as for a premium listing.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a global search engine that enables customers to compare prices for flights, hotels and car hire. Founded in 2001 by three IT professionals, the site was born in Edinburgh but now has offices dotted around Europe, Asia and the USA.
More than 35 million people use Skyscanner each month. While the bulk of its business relates to flights, it is currently pushing to diversify its offering. Last year, Skyscanner’s non-flight contribution to overall revenues increased by 47%.
In October 2013, Silicon Valley venture capital group Sequoia Capital acquired a stake in the business, but Skyscanner’s management insists that it has no plans to raise additional funding right now.
Wonga
Payday lender Wonga has grown quickly since it was founded in 2006. Within four years, the company had approved 100,000 loans.
But Wonga has been heavily criticised for its high interest rates (which ring in at 5,853% annually). It has also been embroiled in a number of scandals, and was forced to pay compensation to thousands of customers who received threatening letters from fake law firms.
As a result, Wonga has since recruited a new management team, and is attempting to restructure its business model in response to a Financial Conduct Authority crackdown on the payday loans industry.
Zoopla
Founded in 2007 by the founder and chief technology operator of LoveFilm, Zoopla (LSE: ZPLA) launched its website the following year. The online property directory is backed by a number of investors including Atlas Venture and Octopus Ventures.
Like many other unicorns, Zoopla grew through a number of mergers and acquisitions. In fact, it wiped out almost all of its key competitors, before its owner the Daily Mail and General Trust chose to float the company on the London Stock Exchange in June 2014.