Predicting the next UK unicorn companies

It’s fair to say that UK unicorn company activity has diminished in recent years, certainly following the ‘zero interest year’ of 2021 which saw inflated valuations and a record 11 unicorns minted.

Since then, we have seen just thirteen new unicorns — five in 2023, four in 2024, and four so far in 2025. The 2025 unicorn cohort (so far) includes Cera, Verdiva Bio, Nothing, and Isomorphic Labs.

Looking forward to 2026 and beyond, I’ll lay out our methodology for tracking ‘soonicorns’, the companies on a trajectory for a potential $1b valuation, and reveal how you can find all this information on Beauhurst with ease.

What is a unicorn company?

The definition of unicorn companies vary. Some include exited unicorns, whilst others exclude companies that IPO.

At Beauhurst, we define a unicorn company as a private, non-listed business with a valuation of $1b (or c. £760m) or more.

We do also include exited unicorns in our annual report, because tracking exits is a useful method of measuring how unicorns perform against the scrutiny of the public market.

Signs of unicorn potential

Nobody can predict definitively which companies are guaranteed to become unicorns, but there are signs you can follow to help build the case and identify those most likely to reach Unicorn status.

These aren’t guarantees, nor should they be viewed as prerequisites, but they can help build a strong case when evaluating a company’s trajectory. Let’s explore some of the most common indicators.

Serial founders

Why it matters

Serial founders matter because their previous experience reduces some of the classic execution risks that early-stage companies face. Having already built and scaled a business, they are typically more familiar with hiring, fundraising, product development, and the timing of key decisions.

Their existing relationships with investors also mean they can often access capital more quickly and on better terms. This combination of experience, pattern recognition, and established networks can help a company reach major growth milestones faster than a first-time founding team might.

Why you should be cautious

Being a serial founder is not a guarantee of future success. Founders at previous unicorn companies may have transferable knowledge and experience, but what worked in one company or industry might not work in another. This can be especially risky if the market dynamics differ significantly to the founder’s previous experience.

Investors may also inflate valuations based on founder pedigree rather than fundamentals, which can create pressure later if the company does not have a solid product-market fit.

How to find serial founders on Beauhurst

Finding serial founders on Beauhurst can be done with ease by using the People search function on Advanced Search.

Navigate to Advanced Search, select ‘People’ and a person criteria that specifies at least two of their company positions must be ‘founder’.

From here, you can layer on further criteria to your search, for example by increasing the number of founder positions, specifying whether those companies are all still active, adding company valuations, industries, or stages of growth, and much more.

Whatever you want to know on founder activity, you can find it on Beauhurst.

Early (repeated) raises

Why it matters

When a company secures early or repeated funding rounds, it often indicates strong investor appetite and confidence in the business’s potential.

Companies that raise multiple rounds in quick succession usually have the capital required to accelerate hiring, expand internationally, or develop complex products such as AI models or specialised hardware.

Frequent early-stage fundraising from credible investors with a track record for backing successful companies in the same industry can also signal value to the rest of the market.

Why you should be cautious

Repeated fundraising is not always a sign of strength. Rapid access to capital can mask operational inefficiency, particularly if a company is burning money aggressively without clear evidence of sustainable economics.

In some cases, investors may be following trends rather than assessing underlying performance, leading to hype-driven rounds that do not reflect the company’s fundamentals. This is arguably the case in a number of deals for AI companies today, with murmurings of a bubble.

Early, frequent raises can also create dilution challenges for founders, potentially complicating later rounds. Ultimately, the speed of fundraising should not be confused with maturity or long-term viability.

How to find serial investment on Beauhurst

To find early-stage companies with multiple raises in quick succession, visit Advanced Search and navigate to the Companies tab.

For this example, I’ve built a search that returns active companies, based in the UK, that have secured at least two equity investments in the last 12 months at the Seed stage.

As before, finding people and companies can be as simple or complex as required. This example delivers 37 companies, giving you a focused view of the early-stage companies generating serial investment in the UK right now.

Rapid growth (revenue / headcount)

Why it matters

Rapid growth, whether in revenue or headcount, is a clear sign that a company is hitting key milestones quickly. Strong revenue growth, for example, can indicate that the business has found demand, established a scalable model, and is capturing market share.

Similarly, an expanding team can also suggest that the company is investing in product development, sales, and operations at a promising pace. Across a number of industries, particularly SaaS and fintech, these growth indicators tend to correlate with higher valuations.

Why you should be cautious

Growth can be interpreted in a number of ways and must be interpreted carefully. For example, an expanding headcount does not always mean a company is operating effectively, and hiring ahead of demand often ends in layoffs and restructuring further down the line.

Similarly, revenue only tells half the story. Spikes may be driven by single contracts, unsustainable customer acquisition costs, or short-term trends that don’t strictly reflect realistic long-term performance.

Growth also looks different across industries, where what may be considered high-growth in software may be unrealistic in deeptech, life sciences, or hardware.

How to find fast-growing companies on Beauhurst

Let’s say you want to find companies with a certain turnover growth over the past three years.

On Advanced Search, start a company search. Add Financials > Financial statements, and select turnover. You can also use any other item in a company’s financials, such as headcount, EBITDA, profit (before or after tax), or GVA.

Next, change ‘value of’ to ‘change in’ and you can select either a figure, percentage, or even compound annual growth rate — along with the number of previous financial statements, and so the time period, you want to compare with. To compare turnover growth over the previous three years, select ‘3 financial statements’.

Adding a minimum turnover value is also recommended. This is to help avoid instances where a company grows its turnover by 100%+, but from a very low base figure.

Finally, you’ll probably want to add an ‘Active’ Companies House status to filter out companies no longer operating.

Operating in high-growth industries

Why it matters

Companies operating in high-growth industries benefit greatly from investment tailwinds that can accelerate their expansion. Demand tends to rise quickly in tech-based fields such as artificial intelligence, biotech, climate tech, and defence tech, enabling companies to scale faster than they might in more mature markets.

High-growth industries also attract significant investor interest, with specialist funds typically willing to back companies earlier and at higher valuations. This can create an environment where promising businesses can progress toward unicorn valuations more quickly.

Why you should be cautious

Industry momentum does not guarantee success for individual companies. High-growth industries can be crowded and volatile, with hype cycles that inflate expectations and then correct swiftly — as seen in industries like crypto and blockchain.

Regulatory changes can also quickly reshape or slow emerging markets, especially if emerging industries propose to radically alter the status quo, such as fintech’s transformative role in financial services and AI’s impact on knowledge workers.

How to find high-growth industries on Beauhurst

There are a number of ways you can use the platform to identify high-growth industries. For this example, we’ll examine fundraisings in Q3 2025, as covered in The State of Investment Q3 2025, to find the top industries receiving funding at the moment.

To build this search, navigate to Fundraisings on Advanced Search and select the appropriate date range, specify the form of funding as ‘equity’ and select the recipient company’s location as the United Kingdom.

From here, navigate to the Statistics tab and select companies.

Finally, scroll down to the Classification section — here you’ll find a full breakdown of the industries that have raised investment in the specified date range.

All of these elements should be considered supportive rather than wholly indicative. These can be tracked on Beauhurst, with automated updates delivered to your inbox, as they happen.

Three potential unicorns

With all this in mind, we’ll now explore three fast-growing companies (in no specific order) that could secure unicorn status in 2026/27 based on leading signals.