The year of 2025 has seen new unicorns, multi-million pound investments, significant IPOs and huge acquisitions in what has been a busy year of dealmaking.

BusinessCloud has identified the game-changing tech deals that we’ve reported on in 2025.

The London Stock Exchange saw market leaders including Deliveroo and Alphawave delist after acquisitions following acquisitions by US companies in 2025.  but gained momentum late on in the year with IPOs from Shawbrook, Princes Group and The Beauty Tech Group.

Elsewhere, Amazon pledged to invest billions into the UK and NVIDIA bet £500m on  UK AI data centre startup Nscale.

The deals are listed in chronological order and were correct at the time of publication.

January

North American takeover at Leeds’ 2,400-strong BJSS – Listed Canadian firm CGI swooped for fellow tech consultancy founded in 1993 as it looked to accelerate its UK expansion

Can BBC Dragon Sara Davies save Crafter’s Companion? – Early in 2025, BBC Dragon Sara Davies MBE stepped in to rescue the business she founded after its directors called in administrators. She worked through Christmas Day to rescue the business, before stepping back in August. 

Cybersecurity giant Darktrace makes £131m swoop – Cybersecurity giant Darktrace made its first acquisition following its £4.3 billion takeover by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo late in 2024 when it swooped for London-based Cado Security, a cloud investigation and response specialist, for up to £131m.

GlobalData Plc makes 4 acquisitions in a week – GlobalData Plc completed four acquisitions in a week right at the beginning of 2025 after securing a £340m funding facility. The London-headquartered data, analytics and insights giant acquired Deallus, Business Trade Media International, LinkUp and Celent.

Manchester FinTech swoops for London’s TotallyMoney – Intelligent Lending acquired London-based TotallyMoney, a credit score and personal finance app backed by £65m+ funding. It now operates as part of the Intelligent Lending group, sitting alongside other brands such as Ocean Finance and CredAbility.

Home of Hampshire Cricket invests in Ben Stokes-backed startup – Utilita Bowl renewed its partnership with Seat Unique for a further five years through to 2029. The business, led by Robin Sherry, has deals with multiple big name sports teams and the Hampshire deal came a week after it appointed England rugby legend Matt Dawson as a business advisor.

Synthesia raises huge £146m to become UK’s most valuable GenAI firm – Round valued AI video creation platform for enterprises at $2.1bn and came alongside the appointment of Peter Hill as CTO. Later in the year, it would close a £151.7m round, valuing it at $4bn.

February

LegalTech raises £60m to expand global operations – Legal AI company Luminance raised £60m in a Series C funding round to expand operations across the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. More recently, it opened an Australian office and announced that it would be expanding its US team after a 2.5x increase in revenue in the region over the past year.

Private equity takeover at RegTech Napier AI – Marlin Equity Partners completed a majority growth investment in London-based compliance technology firm Napier AI. Financial details of the majority investment were not disclosed. 

Cambridge BioTech raises £5.5m to address $400bn annual issue – AI-driven drug turnaround company Ignota Labs closed a £5.5m seed funding round to expand its pipeline. More recently, the firm acquired the assets of struggling former giant Kronos.

HowNow extends Series A to £7.5m to scale skills-first learning – The EdTech secured a further £3.5m from Mercia Ventures and Pearson, who initially invested £4m in 2023. 

Will Relay run past DPD, Evri & Yodel after £28m raise? – London startup Relay raised £28m in Series A funding in February to take on delivery giants DPD, Evri and Yodel. The AI-powered logistics network is already used by the likes of Vinted, TikTok, Temu and THG Fulfil.

Oxford firm set for US expansion after Silicon Valley-led investment – Control assurance firm SAIF Autonomy raised £950,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Silicon Valley’s Fusion Fund. 

March

Trump ally’s tech giant commits to mammoth £3.9bn UK investment – Global cloud computing firm Oracle committed to investing £3.9bn in the UK. The firm was co-founded by business tycoon Larry Ellison, who is currently 4th on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires List with a net worth of $189.6bn.

Peak acquired by NYSE-listed AI giant UiPath – Manchester-based Peak was acquired by enterprise automation and AI software company UiPath, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with a market cap of over $8.6bn. Richard Potter co-founded Peak in 2015 alongside David Leitch and Atul Sharma after a chat in a pub and in August 2021 announced a $75m Series C funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund II. 

DHSC invests £114m into IT budgets amid NHS restructure – The Department of Health and Social Care invested £114m into IT budgets and staffing figures. The government was aiming to streamline decision-making, improve efficiency and better integrate digital transformation efforts across the NHS. 

Elvie acquired out of administration by US firm which sued it – Willow snapped up business and assets of Bristol-based FemTech Chiaro Technology Limited, trading as Elvie, with all 178 employees transferred across.

Oxford University spinout raises £37m for UK and US expansion – Advanced metallic components developer Alloyed completed a £37m Series B funding round to expand its manufacturing facilities in the UK and US. The investment was led by Japanese investors SPARX and the Development Bank of Japan.

KSI and The Sidemen invest in London MarTech startup – YouTube giant was among participants in a £1.6m March seed funding round raised by POCKLA.

Electric Sheep set to raise the baa after landing Innovate UK grant – AI tech startup Electric Sheep secured Innovate UK’s prestigious £500,000 Smart Grant. The award was to recognise the London-based firm’s advancements in AI-driven visual effects (VFX) technology. 

April

Deliveroo set to be acquired for £2.7bn – News first broke of DoorDash’s acquisition of London-based delivery app giant in April. The £2.7bn deal was later completed in October, with Deliveroo founder and CEO Will Shu leaving upon completion after launching the firm back in 2013. 

£68m funding values Marshmallow at sweet £1.5bn – The InsurTech, which has insured over a million drivers and has turnover run rate of over $500m, raised £68m from Portage, BlackRock and Columbia Lake Partners to almost double its valuation to more than £1.5bn. 

Banked acquires consumer payments app VibePay – VibePay, which was founded by Luke Massie and connects people, brands, sellers and banks with real-time messaging and instant payments, was acquired by global pay by bank platform Banked. Massie recently stepped down as CEO.

Fotenix unlocks Innovate UK grant as part of £2.1m funding – AI-powered crop diagnostics company Fotenix secured £2.1m in new funding to help farmers detect disease and protect yields, weeks before symptoms appear. The University of Manchester spinout was founded by Dr Charles Veys. 

Revolut CEO joins $78m investment for fast-growing Sipay – Sipay raised a $78m Series B funding round which including participation from Nik Storonsky’s VC firm QuantumLight. The investment valued the Turkey-based firm at $875m. 

Strava swoops for London-based Runna – The popular workout tracking app acquired Runna, a London-headquartered tech company developing personalised running training plans and coaching. More recently, the company announced the start of internationalisation on its platform after launching in seven new languages.

HSBC injects £128m into group behind WorldRemit & Sendwave – London-based FinTech Zepz secured a total of £128m in revolving and term facilities. The £85m revolving credit facility was led by HSBC Innovation Banking while HSBC Private Credit was the sole underwriter of the £43m term facility.

May

Tech firm once sold by Peter Jones valued at £3.5bn in PE deal – US private equity firm General Atlantic took a minority stake in IoT communications giant Wireless Logic, which the Dragons’ Den star sold in 2011.

Daisy-Virgin Media O2 B2B deal creates £1.4bn revenue company – Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group merged their complementary direct B2B operations to create a major new force in the UK business communications and IT sector. Daisy founder Matthew Riley told BusinessCloud at the time that the deal ‘blows any previous deals out of the water’. 

DHL eCommerce UK combines with Evri in monster merger – The initial deal for DHL’s UK eCommerce business to be merged with parcel delivery giant Evri was revealed. The merger was later approved by regulators in September, creating the UK’s biggest parcel delivery company, with DHL taking a minority stake.

US conglomerate makes £1.8bn Johnson Matthey tech swoop – Honeywell agreed an all-cash deal to buy Catalyst Technologies, the tech division of British chemicals firm Johnson Matthey, for £1.8bn. 

£570m US private equity swoop for FD Technologies plc – Boston-based TA Associates agreed terms with the directors of listed Northern Irish software firm FD Technologies plc to acquire it for £570m. 

Banks to flow £59m into Uber Boats by Thames Clippers – London river bus service provider Uber Boats by Thames Clippers secured a £59m funding package from NatWest and Santander to support ongoing investment into its fleet and drydocking facilities. 

Former British Army Officer raises £9m for ‘life or death’ tech – Arondite, a British company building AI to transform how defence organisations safely deliver ‘human-machine’ teaming at scale, secured over £9m in funding from leading global investors. The London-based business was inspired by CEO Will Blyth’s experience on the battlefield. 

Innovate UK invests £37.6m in city’s UK Digital Twin Centre – Belfast Region City Deal and Innovate UK announced a £37.6m investment in the UK Digital Twin Centre, which aims to revolutionise how industries develop products, services and systems across the UK.

MyTutor acquired by California-based EdTech giant – The UK’s leading online tutoring platform, which is trusted by 40 per cent of secondary schools, was acquired by 1,500-strong firm IXL Learning.  It saw the departure of co-founder James Grant after a decade building the EdTech.

June

Car finance FinTech Carmoola secures £300m – Car finance FinTech Carmoola secured a £300m private asset-backed securities facility in a partnership with NatWest and Chenavari Investment Managers. 

Amazon to invest £40bn in UK over next three years – Amazon announced its intention to invest £40bn into the UK over a three-year period. The funding is set to create thousands of full-time jobs across the UK.

£183.6m Silicon Valley swoop for Inspired PLC – Private equity giant HGGC moved for Lancashire-based Inspired PLC. The takeover was later confirmed, valuing shares at 81p each, following a bidding war with Regent Group and culminating in the offer becoming unconditional in August 2025, delisting the company from AIM. 

UK’s first digital human DJ signs landmark record deal – The UK’s first digital human DJ signed a record deal with Stockholm-based Star Stable Entertainment AB. DJ Dex is represented by Denise Harris of Liverpool-based Sum Vivas.

WSP Global to acquire 110-year-old listed London firm for £281m – London-based environmental, engineering and strategic consulting company Ricardo was acquired by WSP Global for around £281m. 

SpudBros PNE kit deal is no hot potato – Viral TikTok stars the SpudBros agreed a deal with their hometown club, Preston North End FC, to become the Championship club’s front-of-shirt sponsor for the 2025/26 season. Its TikTok account now has over 4.8m followers and 207.2m likes. Harley Nelson, one half of the SpudBros, described the deal as ‘a dream come true’. 

Ex-THG, Adyen figures raise £16.3m for crypto stablecoin Noah – London-based Noah raised £16.3m in seed funding. Its mission is to forge a global payment network which makes sending money across borders as easy as sending a text message and it is led by Shah Ramezani (formerly of THG) and Thijn Lamers (ex-Adyen). 

July

£113m backing for Sunsave as it ‘cracks code on affordable solar’ – Sunsave, the UK’s first FCA-authorised solar subscription service, raised £113m to accelerate its rollout of rooftop solar across England and Wales. 

Numan raises £45m to expand into female health – Digital men’s health platform Numan, led by Sokratis Papafloratos, raised £45m in new financing. The company saw revenue more than double year-on-year to £67m by the end of 2024 and it said that its latest round would power an expansion into female health.

Frasers Group secures potential £3.5bn war chest – The company replaced its current financing facilities with a new £3bn term loan and revolving credit facility from its banks. Since then, it has rescued eBuyer, appointed former Microsoft executive Jacky Wright and expanded into the leisure market.

Virgin Media O2 agrees £343m deal with Vodafone UK – Virgin Media O2 reached a deal with Vodafone UK to acquire 78.8 MHz of spectrum for £343m. The news came shortly after the mega-mergers of VMO2 and Daisy Group, and Vodafone UK and Three UK. 

Bartlett’s ex-partner secures seven-figure sale – Steven Bartlett’s former business partner, Oliver Yonchev, announced that his new venture secured a seven-figure exit in just eight months. He launched concreatd, which sold its first venture, System7.ai, to Vault PLC for a seven-figure fee.

TalkTalk Group secures £100m in funding from existing shareholder – TalkTalk Group secured a £100m funding commitment from an existing shareholder, reportedly Ares Management, to support growth in PXC and Talk Talk businesses. 

WH Smith delivers funkypigeon.com to Card Factory for £24m – WH Smith PLC sold funkypigeon.com to Card Factory plc for £24m in an all-cash deal. A restructuring by WH Smith has seen the Funky Pigeon business become a pureplay global travel retailer.

August

Manchester United signs deal with Rio Ferdinand-backed firm – Manchester United announced a multi-year agreement with Sokin, appointing the UK-headquartered FinTech as the club’s official global business payment solutions partner.

Frasers Group snaps up eBuyer out of administration – One of UK’s largest technology retailers, founded in 1999, faced winding-up petition following 22 per cent drop in revenue to £137m. However, it returned with what looks to be a whole new identity.

Boohoo’s share price climbs as it reveals £175m refinancing deal – The listed retail giant revealed a £175m refinancing deal amid speculation over a delay in publishing its full-year results. The three-year facility gives it access to funding of up to £175m and extends to August 2028, replacing its previous £125m revolving credit facility, which was originally due to mature in October 2026. 

Modern Milkman founder delivers record angel funding for startup – Home services tech platform PatchApp secured the largest angel investment in Lancashire history with a £1.2m fundraise. The company was founded in 2022 by Paul White and Conor Walsh, and aims to make home services seamless and reliable.

THG doubles its money by selling Claremont for £103m – Online retailer THG sold Claremont Ingredients for £103m in a cash deal. The business, which THG acquired in 2020 for £52m, was bought by fast-growth international flavour specialists, Nactarome Group, which is majority owned by TA Associates. THG CEO Matt Moulding said: “This disposal highlights the significant value embedded across THG’s portfolio.”

Teenage toilet tycoon lands $1.4m investment for AI startup – Liam Fuller was just 17 when he secured $1.4m in Seed funding for his Dublin-based business Source from Australian VC Square Peg. The company uses agentic AI to automate stock purchasing from retailers.

Manchester brand supported by Kendall Jenner valued at £400m – Activewear brand Adanola landed a significant minority investment from US-based private equity firm STORY3 Capital Partners, valuing the business at £400m. The Manchester-founded womenswear label is looking to accelerate international growth and it has been boosted by high-profile fans including Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

September

Microsoft exec joins Scottish HealthTech as it raises £3m – Digital healthcare solutions provider MyWay Digital Health raised £3m to accelerate the development of its new AI-enabled products. It also appointed Dr Umang Patel as non-executive chair.

NVIDIA boss Jensen Huang confirms £500m investment in Nscale – NVIDIA took an equity stake in UK-headquartered cloud computing firm Nscale, projecting that the company could generate as much as £50bn in revenue over the coming six years. 

Salesforce to invest $6bn as it makes UK its European AI hub – Global company Salesforce said it will invest $6bn (£4.4bn) into its UK operations by the end of the decade as it looks to make the country its European AI hub.

Signal AI raises £122m as Battery Ventures acquires majority stake – Global risk and reputation intelligence platform Signal AI raised a £122m growth-equity investment to accelerate its expansion across the US, Europe and the Middle East. The round was led by Battery Ventures, who now have a majority stake in the business. 

FinTech lender ThinCats snapped up for reported £180m – FinTech lender ThinCats was snapped up in a reported £180m deal by Shawbrook Group plc. 

From Nothing to unicorn: UK firm valued at £1bn by £150m raise – London-based consumer tech company Nothing raised $200m (almost £150m) in a Series C round, valuing the business at $1.3bn (almost £1bn). The company, which describes itself as the only independent smartphone company to emerge in the last decade, is now evolving into an AI-native platform where hardware and software converge into a single intelligent system.

Purple signs public Wi-Fi deal with Newcastle City Council – Purple, a global leader in digital connectivity led by Northern Leader Gavin Wheeldon, partnered with Newcastle City Council to deliver an extensive city-wide Wi-Fi network for residents, students and visitors. 

Joblogic raises over £100m in AI and European push – The Birmingham-based field service management software provider landed a strategic growth investment of over £100m from global investor Vista Equity Partners. 

October

Idox plc to be taken private in £340m deal – Idox plc, headquartered in Woking, agreed a deal with shareholder Long Path, a US-based investment manager, which valued it at £340m.

Shawbrook lists on London Stock Exchange with £1.92bn valuation – Shawbrook Group plc successfully priced its IPO at 370p per share, valuing the specialist lender at approximately £1.92bn as it began trading. 

Firm completes first dual LSE-Nasdaq listing of century – Texas-based Fermi America completed a $13.8bn (£10.2bn) dual listing on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq – the first simultaneous listing this century and one of the biggest in LSE history.  

CurrentBody launches on LSE with market cap of £300m – The Beauty Tech Group plc floated with a share price of 271p, valuing it at £300m. The group owns brands including CurrentBody Skin, ZIIP Beauty and Tria Laser and its share price has more recently been closing in on 300p. 

Virtualstock snapped up by US rival Logicbroker – Virtualstock, Europe’s largest dropshipping platform was acquired by private equity-backed Logicbroker. The Reading-based firm was established in 2004 and processes more than eight million orders annually with a GMV (gross merchandise volume) of more than £2bn.

Bartlett-backed Luxe Collective acquired 6 months after shutting down – The fashion resale business, which appeared on Dragons’ Den and won investment from Steven Bartlett, was acquired by US luxury resale platform Fashionphile. The deal came six months after the Liverpool-founded firm was forced to close after a devastating warehouse burglary in July 2024 in which around £500,000 worth of stock was stolen.

Tech legend backs Oxford spinout Wild Bio in £45m round – Wild Bioscience, an Oxford University spinout that develops improved crop varieties using AI and precision breeding, raised a £45m Series A investment. The funding round was led by the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), founded by Larry Ellison, CTO and chairman of Oracle.

AI recruitment agents Jack & Jill bag £15m after just 6 months – AI recruitment company Jack & Jill raised £15m in seed investment to build and expand in Europe and the US, just six months after its launch. The business was co-founded by Matthew Wilson and Saaras Mehan to address the frustration they felt with the inefficiency and bias in the recruitment system while building previous startups. 

November

Controversy as Lloyds acquires Curve for reported £120m – Lloyds Banking Group acquired digital wallets provider Curve in a reported £120m deal last month Lloyds and Curve that the acquisition had gone through, but not its value. It followed reports that Lloyds and Curve had agreed a £120m deal and that some shareholders were furious at the valuation.

Bridgepoint makes majority investment in Zuto – Manchester-based car finance FinTech Zuto landed a majority investment from Bridgepoint in November to accelerate the next phase of its growth. Zuto’s revenues are up 30 per cent year-on-year to £75m and the deal signalled an exit for long-term investor Scottish Equity Partners (SEP).

Leeds United sign with agency ahead of Elland Road upgrade – Leeds-based PR and events agency Pink Gorilla Hairy Lemon (PGHL) celebrated a major milestone after securing three new high-profile clients – including Leeds United FC.

Permira to take JTC private as £2.7bn deal agreed – Private equity firm Permira agreed a £2.7bn deal to take listed JTC private. The deal, which was agreed at the sixth time of asking, followed a bidding war with fellow private equity firm Warburg Pincus. 

Zilch to explore acquisitions as it raises £135m – London FinTech Zilch raised £135m in debt and equity funding to accelerate the growth of its consumer payments platform. 

BGF backs Cambridge spinout as Series A reaches £70m – T-Therapeutics raised a further £24m from backers including BGF and Tencent, extending its Series A round to £70m. The funding is set to accelerate the development of the company’s next-generation T cell receptor (TCR) therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

TMT ID secures £30m from BGF in first institutional funding – Mobile data and identity intelligence company TMT ID secured £30m investment from BGF ahead of plans to expand into the US. The London firm’s customer base has surpassed 260 organisations, ranging from small businesses to global technology leaders. 

December

KKR completes £4.7bn acquisition of Spectris – KKR completed the £4.7bn acquisition of Spectris plc. It followed a huge bidding war earlier in the year between KKR and Advent. Spectris CEO Andrew Heath will retire at the end of the year, with Andrew Williams set to take over as interim CEO.

LDC leads major funding deal for Gateshead’s Aspire – Aspire Technology Solutions secured a fresh round of investment led by private equity investor LDC, valuing the business at £200m. The provider of managed IT, cyber security and modern workplace solutions will now accelerate its plans and advance toward its £100m revenue target for 2030.

GoCardless sold to rival Mollie in €1.1bn deal – London FinTech GoCardless was sold to Dutch rival Mollie in a €1.1bn (£920m) deal. The figure is around half the valuation achieved by the payments platform in its latest funding round in 2022, which featured Balderton Capital, BlackRock and Permira. Hiroki Takeuchi is he CEO and co-founder of GoCardless

Nu Quantum raises £45m to scale quantum computers – Cambridge-based Nu Quantum closed an oversubscribed £45m Series A funding round to accelerate its push toward fault-tolerant, distributed quantum computing. The round was led by National Grid Partners, with participation from Gresham House Ventures and Morpheus Ventures. 

CapRelease secures £27m just eight months after pre-seed round – Logistics-embedded finance platform CapRelease completed a £27m combined debt and equity funding round to accelerate its growth across the UK and prepare for international expansion.