Britain is the tech leader of Europe, according to a new report.
Investment bank GP Bullhound found that of 47 European unicorn tech companies – those valued at more than $1billion – 18 were founded in the UK.
They include Asos, Transferwise, Zoopla and augemented reality firm Blippar, a new entry.
Sweden took second place with seven firms, while Germany and France followed with six and three.
The number of tech companies with unicorn status has risen in Europe in recent years.
The total has increased by 10 in the past year, and now the combined value of the companies across the continent has risen to $130bn – equivalent to £90bn.
GP Bullhound found that the average European unicorn has a reported revenue of $315m, with its total valued 18 times higher than this.
In America, average revenue is $129m and 46 times respectively.
According to the report, Spotify is now the most valuable company in Europe, being recently estimated at $8.5bn.
Despite these favourable statistics, almost half of these European big-hitters – including Spotify – are still technically unprofitable.
GP Bullhound highlighted the potential for other European tech companies to reach unicorn status in the near future; streaming site Soundcloud and Swedish payments service iZettle are hoped to grow in coming months and years.
Manish Madhvani, a managing partner and co-founder at GP Bullhound, said: “There has never been a better time to operate within the European market.
“I firmly believe that the right ecosystem now exists for one of the companies highlighted in this report to push forward and reach a $10bn valuation in the next few years.
“With time, Europe could even produce its first $100bn tech company.”
Madhvani continued: “Europe has yet to reach the dizzying heights of American giants such as Facebook and Google, but when you look at businesses in the $1bn to $3bn range, what we lack in quantity we more than make up for in terms of quality.
“All the data points towards a stable, maturing market that has avoided the excesses of the US in favour of sustainable growth. We are seeing a remarkable resilience in European technology markets.”