The UK’s top climate tech companies are now worth a combined £42 billion, having raised more than £19 billion from investors by the end of last year, according to new figures from the Startup Coalition.

After a close examination of the highest valued British climate tech firms, the advocacy group’s latest ClimateTech Index found that the sector now employs over 26,000 people in high-skilled jobs across the country, with the UK proving to have the ‘raw ingredients’ to become a world-leading climate tech hub.   

That includes spinouts, with the report finding that more than 10% of the top 1,000 climate tech firms have emerged from UK universities, with the University of Cambridge leading the way at 20 spinouts, followed closely by Oxford with 18, with firms from the two institutions raising more than three-quarters of a billion.

According to the study, the UK’s geography is also driving climate tech success, with the country’s hills, rivers, beaches and close-knit communities allowing a variety of startups to take root from seaside towns to the middle of nowhere.

That has helped to spread climate tech success across the country, with the report finding that just 36% of startups in the sector are headquartered in London, compared to more than 70% of the fastest-growing fintech firms.

Startup Coalition found that there are now eight ‘unicorn regions’ throughout the UK, being home to startups collectively valued at more than £1 billion, three more than last year.

While London still counts the most climate tech startups (357), other regions are growing, including the South East of England (123), East of England (96), and Scotland (90).

Scotland, in particular, was found to be a hub for energy technology startups, with half of all Scottish firms on the Index working in this subsector at a value of £734 million, with Scottish climate techs worth a combined £1.6 billion, having raised £1.3 billion in investment.  

The report found that, overall, the top UK climate startups are seeing slow but sustainable growth, with the total value of indexed firms rising 5% year-on-year, however there are also some early warning signs.

The report found that fundraising for climate techs dropped by half between 2023 and 2024, driven by a decrease in the number of mega-rounds over £100m from six to just one last year, along with a similar drop in the number of large rounds over £50m, which fell from fourteen in 2023 to just four in 2024. 

Compounding the problem, climate tech grant funding in the UK fell 50% between 2023 and 2024, all of which has led to a late-stage ‘valley of death’ remaining prominent, with firms bunching at the Series A stage.

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With the scale-up of new technologies critical to the success of the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, Labour are hoping to turbo-charge climate tech success with the introduction of £4 billion in British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital, with the hope of crowding in £12 billion of private sector capital.  

“As we look ahead, the role of Government could not be clearer,” wrote Steve Race MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on ClimateTech.

“The success of climate tech demands long-term thinking, targeted support, and bold ambition. It also demands that we protect our leadership in the sector, not just by nurturing early-stage ideas, but by helping our best companies scale and stay.”