The UK Government has announced four tech scale up businesses as winners of the Unicorn Kingdom Pathfinder Awards, with the firms working across categories such as AI and cybersecurity. 

The winning firms will now benefit from tailored growth programmes to scale up their business in the UK, as well as access to expertise from industry specialists, and support from the government’s Global Entrepreneur Programme. 

The finalists for this year’s prize were drawn from four categories, AI, Cybersecurity, Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) technology and Digital Trade Solutions, with the winning firms announced yesterday at LinkedIn’s HQ in London.

Among the winners are Bottobo in the CAM category, a firm specialising in developing robotics solutions to streamline industrial processes, and Massive Bio in AI, with an AI-driven platform connecting cancer patients to bio-pharmaceutical clinical trials.

Grubtech, which helps restaurants and grocery chains adopt omnichannel capabilities, won in the Digital Trade category, while CyLock came first in Cybersecurity with their simple solutions to test IT systems’ resistance to cyber-attacks.

The Unicorn Pathfinder Awards, currently the largest global awards for tech scale up, builds on the UK’s Tech Rocketship Awards in 2023, which the government said resulted in £67.4 million of investment into the economy.

Minister for small businesses Gareth Thomas said: “We have a thriving tech sector worth over $1 trillion (£791 million), and our Pathfinder Awards are vital in encouraging more tech scale ups from around the world to do businesses here in the UK.  

“Not only does the UK have more unicorns than France and Germany combined, but our country continues to be a prime destination for tech businesses from across the world to come and succeed.”

The four winners will attend a roundtable at No10 today to discuss their success at the awards, and explore ways in which the UK can ‘maintain its position as a top destination for business’, with the government hoping to grow international investment into the UK’s tech sector as part of its new Industrial Strategy.

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A major part of that strategy is to position tech as the key driver of economic growth, as well as using it to transform public services. That means a focus on scaling up innovative firms working in emerging technology by providing more funding and support through initiatives like the Unicorn Pathfinder Awards.

Commenting on the firm’s award, Sancak Gülgen, Co-Founder of Bottobo said: “We really appreciate the support from the UK government for startups and future unicorns. The most important part is that they have a clear plan for the future needs of the technology and focus for us.”