Published: January 7, 2026 at 8:08 am
Faculty has become the first tech unicorn of 2026 after it was bought by Accenture in a deal worth more than $1 billion.
While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Faculty investors Apax Digital and Mercuri said it made the company a unicorn.
“Quadrupling revenues in four years, launching a successful AI software offering and becoming a unicorn – this is a great outcome for Faculty and showcases the strength of the UK’s AI ecosystem,” said Mark Beith, partner at Apax Digital.
Alan Hudson, partner at Mercuri, wrote on LinkedIn that Faculty was “the first UK tech unicorn of 2026”.
In three months last year Accenture cut 11,000 staff in a restructure with CEO and chair Julie Sweet warning that the figure would grow if staff did not retrain for AI. Its 800,000 employees are now referred to as ‘reinventors’ amid the pivot to AI advice.
“With Faculty, we will further accelerate our strategy to bring trusted, advanced AI to the heart of our clients’ businesses,” said Sweet in announcing the deal. “I’m pleased to welcome the Faculty team to Accenture and look forward to [co-founder and CEO] Marc Warner’s contribution shaping our technology vision and strategy as [our new] chief technology officer.”