MiFinity, a payment services provider based in Belfast, has topped the second annual Sunday Times 100 Tech ranking of fastest-growing tech firms in Northern Ireland.
More than one million people and businesses send, receive and manage funds in 17 currencies using this company’s payment platform. Having started life in 2012, and formerly known as NXSystems, in 2020, chief executive Paul Kavanagh, 65, and chief financial officer Kieron Nolan, 57, led a management buyout of the business. The Belfast company had sales of £21.5 million in 2024, a quarter of them generated overseas.
The Sunday Times 100 Tech ranks the UK’s fastest-growing private technology companies, shining a spotlight on the entrepreneurs and teams driving their success. It is a sister league table to The Sunday Times 100, a ranking of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies.
The ranking is published online today at thetimes.com/100tech and will also be available as a supplement in the print edition of The Sunday Times this Sunday, January 18.
To qualify, companies must be independent, privately owned, and headquartered in the UK. For the purposes of this ranking, a technology business is defined as one that either sells its own proprietary technology or has developed proprietary technology that is essential to delivering its products or services.
The other NI-based firms in the listing are broadband specialists Fibrus, catalyst testing firm Catagen and Lisburn-based Camlin Group.
The research for The Sunday Times 100 Tech found that collectively the 100 companies on the list generated sales of £3.7 billion, up by £3 billion in the last three years.
In total these companies employ 23,100 people, having created 11,600 new jobs in the last three years. 81 companies on the list disclosed that they plan to make additional hires in the next 12 months, with 4,300 jobs planned in total.
Out of the 100 companies featured in the ranking more than a half (57) are based in London, with the rest spread throughout the UK. This includes 14 in the southeast, 11 in the east of England, 5 in the northwest, 4 in the southwest of England, 4 in Northern Ireland, 3 in Scotland, one each in Wales and West Midlands.
Nearly a fifth (16) of the businesses are founded or led by women. This includes the number one company in the software category, Michelle He is co-founder and chief operating officer of fintech firm Abound. Others include Clare Grey, co-founder and chief scientific officer of energy storage technology developer Nyobolt, Raj Kaur, co-founder and deputy global chief executive of bid writing software developer AutogenAI, and Thuria Wenbar, co-founder and chief executive of digital pharmacy Evaro.
Nearly three fifths (58) of the companies were founded in the last decade – in 2016 or after. Fuse Energy, No 1 company on the hardware list, is one of the youngest businesses on this year’s ranking, founded in 2022.
The oldest company on the list is Hampshire-based subsea technology developer Sonardyne. Started by engineer John Partridge, 86, in 1971, Sonardyne operates in a group alongside sister companies working in energy, environment and defence.
The majority (90+) of the companies have received external investment, raising a combined total of £11.3 billion (£3.8 billion for the software list, and £7.5 billion for the hardware list). The combined total is partly skewed by some companies that raised large amounts, including CityFibre, Netomnia, and Zenobē.
It also includes Synthesia, which is number 11 in the software category. It makes hyper-realistic AI-generated video for companies to use for marketing or employee training, and its “video agents” can hold real-time video conversations with users. The business was valued at around $2.1 billion in January last year when it raised $180 million, bringing total external investment to over $330m.
Synthesia is one of nine unicorns included in the list (*companies valued at more than $1 billion by their investors, potential buyers, or based on a multiple of their profits). Others include energy supplier Fuse, DNA manufacturing firm Touchlight, medical devices and service firm Huma, and battery storage technology developer Zenobē.
More than two thirds of the companies (70) of the companies trade internationally. Some generate nearly all of their revenues from outside the UK, including Cleo AI(No 19 Software, just opened to customers in the UK), Reacta Health (No 12 Hardware), Cycle Pharmaceuticals (No 22, Hardware).
Jon Yeomans, business editor of The Sunday Times, said:
“Despite a challenging economic backdrop, Britain’s tech sector continues to produce businesses of extraordinary ambition and momentum. This year’s Sunday Times 100 Tech highlights founders who are scaling at remarkable speed, creating thousands of jobs and exporting British innovation to the world. From fintech and AI to energy and life sciences, these companies show that the UK remains one of the most dynamic technology ecosystems globally.”
The research for the Sunday Times 100 Tech was conducted by our business reporters, in partnership with Beauhurst, a source of private company data. As well as a dedicated online hub and print supplements, The Sunday Times 100 Tech also hosts a series of networking events for participants.
The Sunday Times 100 Tech forms part of The Times Entrepreneurs Network, a cross-platform network staffed by reporters from The Times and The Sunday Times, which was launched in 2021 to provide advice, inspire and inform established business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs.