Who are UK’s 110 most prolific entrepreneurs under 40?

A global research group has published a list of pioneering entrepreneurs in the UK aged under 40 who are creating thousands of jobs and powering economic growth.  

The 110 entrepreneurs who made the list have together set up businesses with a combined value of £82bn, with the average value of each at £1.32bn. 

They have also created more than 60,000 jobs between them. 

For a founder to appear in the inaugural Hurun UK Under40s 2024 list, they would need to have founded or co-founded a company considered to be worth at least $100m.

The most valuable company to appear is London-based FinTech Revolut, which has a whopping valuation of $45bn. The global firm was co-founded in 2015 by Nik Storonsky. 

Multiverse, founded by Euan Blair and Sophie Adelman, also made the list – the EdTech being valued at nearly £1.4bn.

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Out of the entrepreneurs who made the list, 40% (44) have founded a unicorn. Amongst those is Ben Maruthappu, who set up London-based patient care app Cera. This adds to the collection of accolades for the EdTech founder, who was crowned EY Entrepreneur of the Year in November 2024. 

The firm has secured contracts with over 300 NHS trusts and is said to be saving the NHS £1m a day. 

Fellow unicorns to feature include FinTech credit business Lendable, virtual worlds developer Improbable, insurer Marshmallow, payments provider Paddle and driverless car tech firm Wayve. 

Zilch is thought to be the fastest company to achieve unicorn status – achieving a $1bn valuation within 14 months of launch, with the consumer credit provider founded by Philip Belamant. 

The company also recently ranked 10th in the FT1000. 

Jordan Brompton, another of our Northern Leaders – who recently stepped back from day-to-day duties at myenergi – also features.

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Romi Savova, who has built PensionBee into a business with 260,000 customers, also features. Listed PensionBee is now growing in the US.

Financial services is the best-represented part of the economy, accounting for 25% of the 110 entries.

London dominated the report, with 79 of the 110 entries owing their place in the research to a business based in the capital. 

“These young business leaders are the future of the British economy. It takes courage to start a business and a lot more to grow to the scale of those we feature here. Each of our founders has built a company worth $100m – some many multiples of that number,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher.

“The diversity within this list is extraordinary. There are those with PhDs who studied at the world’s top universities and others who left school with few qualifications. 

“There are some building great companies by harnessing AI and similar cutting edge technologies, others creating valuable enterprises by selling everyday items such as makeup, gym wear and lingerie.”  

The North West was the second-best represented part of the country, with 10 entries in the Under 40s. 

These included Northern Leaders Phil and Tom Beahon, who set up Castore,  as well as Alexander ‘Solly’ Solomou, the boss of the media group behind viral video platform LADbible.

The list also includes ‘Next generation’ entries, which are required to manage investments or revenues of $200m to qualify. Fawn James, a director of London property group Soho Estates, is one of 10 ‘next generation’ entries to make the cut. Her company was initially set up by her grandfather, the Soho legend Paul Raymond.

More than a quarter (26.4%) of the list are not British citizens, emphasising the strong pull the UK has to entrepreneurs from overseas. Out of the foreign entrepreneurs, China and Germany represent the largest contingents, each with four.

Hurun UK Under40s 2024