Four of the UK’s ten best-funded scaleups are profitable on an annual basis, according to their most recent company accounts.
Energy provider Octopus Energy, neobank Starling, fintech Revolut and business loans bank Oaknorth have all reported full-year profitability after tax.
These results come following amid a period of downturn-induced readjustment across the global tech sector, as the growth-at-all-costs mindset shifts to a sharp focus on the path to profitability.
It also makes these companies strong IPO candidates, for as and when the markets open up again, which many expect will happen in the next year or two.
Sifted looked at the latest annual accounts for the UK’s ten top-funded tech companies, according to Dealroom, founded since 2010 for this list.
Octopus Energy — profitable
Funding: $2.5bn
Founded in 2015, the energy provider — the largest in the UK and with operations in 18 countries — hit its first full year of profitability in 2023. Its profit after tax for that year was £181m, rising from a loss of £162m the year before.
Off the back of that, the company picked up an £800m funding round in December last year — the second largest UK raise in 2023.
Octopus has also been very active in the acquisitions market. The scaleup took advantage of the energy crisis in 2021, most notably snapping up collapsed scaleup Bulb, and has acquired more than 15 companies in total. In March, the company told Sifted that there are more acquisitions on the way.
Checkout.com — not yet profitable
Funding: $1.8bn
Hitting an $11bn valuation when it raised a $1bn megaround at the start of 2022, the payments scaleup is not profitable and made a loss of $126m across that year.
The scaleup also lost 10 executives across 2022 and 2023, made a series of office closures and layoffs, while cutting its internal valuation by 15%.
"Checkout.com will be profitable on an EBITDA basis [adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] in 2024," the company tells Sifted.
Monzo — not yet profitable
Funding: $1.7bn
The UK neobank hit a $5bn valuation when it raised a $430m funding round in March this year — and more could be on the way, according to reports — but Monzo hasn’t yet reported full-year profitability.
Losses mentioned in its latest annual accounts, for the 12 months to the 28 February 2023, fell to £116m — from £119m the year before.
Monzo CEO TS Anil said he expects the neobank to reach profitability in 2024.
Since launching in 2015, the startup has become something of a founders factory, and Sifted tracked down 17 alumni-turned-entrepreneurs.
Revolut — profitable
Funding: $1.7bn
The UK’s most valuable fintech — with a valuation which sits around the $25bn mark, according to Bloomberg — reported its first full-year profit in 2021, of £26m.
The following year, Revolut reported £6m in profit — after applying tax credits.
Zenobe Energy — not yet profitable
Funding: $1.4bn
Zenobe operates battery storage facilities and charging points for electric vehicles and raised the UK’s largest round of 2023 with an £870m raise in September.
It’s not yet reported profitability, with its most recent company accounts for 2022 showing a loss of £19m.
CMR Surgical — not yet profitable
Funding: $1.2bn
CMR Surgical has designed a robotics system for surgery and is the best-funded robotics startup in Europe by some way (the next best-funded is France’s Exotec, which has raised $463m) last raising in a $165m round in September 2023
The company is not yet profitable, according to its latest accounts, for 2022. That year, it posted a loss of £166m, up from £105m in 2021.
When asked about its path to profitability, a company spokesperson tells Sifted, “We are focused on expanding and growing our commercial operations to bring [our robotics system] to more hospitals.”
Starling Bank — profitable
Funding: $1.2bn
In 2023 the neobank reported its second full year of profitability, for the financial year ending March 2023, making £143m profit after tax — more than three times the figure the previous year.
That same year Starling’s founder, Anne Boden, announced she was stepping down from the CEO role, before appointing former OVO Energy CEO Raman Bhatia to the position in March this year.
Teya — not yet profitable
Funding: $1.2bn
Formerly known as Salt Pay, Teya provides card payment solutions for businesses and reported a loss of £230m in 2022.
The scaleup last raised a $370m Series C in November 2021.
Oaknorth — profitable
Funding: $897m
Business loans bank Oaknorth is one of the very rare examples of a startup that's been profitable for most of its existence. The company tells Sifted that it reached cash flow break even in 2016 — 11 months after launch — and has been profitable every year since.
Oaknorth made a £141m profit after tax in 2023, its last year of financial reporting, rising from £113m the previous year.
Atom Bank — not yet profitable
Funding: $871m
The neobank recorded a loss of £5.6m after tax in its most recent company accounts, covering the financial year up to 2023.
Atom Bank last raised in a £100m round in November last year.
This article was updated with comments from a Checkout.com spokesperson at 13:33 May 7.
