Top 656 Pre-Seed Startups UK (Free List)
Find the fastest growing pre-seed companies in the UK.
Top 656 Pre-Seed Startups UK (Free List)
Find the fastest growing pre-seed companies in the UK.
1 Explore 656 UK pre-seed startups and their founders, who have collectively raised £254.11M.
2 Easily sort, filter, and compare the UK's top startups — customise the list to your needs.
3 Discover top startups for investment, B2B sales, partnerships, hiring, and industry connections.
You can connect with fast-growing pre seed startups with the full list of recently funded startups from the UK.
UK pre-seed startup insights
The UK pre-seed ecosystem is where most new startup ideas first take shape, often around small founding teams, accelerators and early angel backing. London, Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester and Bristol are key hubs for pre-seed activity across software, deeptech and services.
Pre-seed in this context covers very early companies that have usually raised friends and family, angel, SEIS or small pre-seed rounds to validate markets and build first products. Many are still refining their business models and preparing for a full seed round.
Snapshot of the UK pre-seed landscape
- High volume of very early-stage startups across software, AI, fintech and deeptech
- Key hubs include London, Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester and Bristol
- Typical rounds are small SEIS or pre-seed cheques used to build and validate
- Investors include angels, syndicates, micro funds and accelerator programmes
- Most teams are pre-revenue or at very early customer validation stages
Use this page to explore the most active pre-seed startups in the UK, then review individual profiles for websites, investors, locations and recent funding rounds.
The startups in the above list have all raised just under £1M and we will be watching them closely as they move towards seed stages.
How can pre-seed startups get funded?
The term 'pre-seed' has gained popularity to distinguish the very early stages of startup development, often before a formal seed funding round.
During the pre-seed phase, founders typically focus on proving the viability of their business concept, developing a prototype, and gaining initial traction.
Pre-seed pitch deck
You may not have much traction at this stage but you will need to prepare a pre-seed pitch deck to show your plan to potential investors.
The best pitch decks generally have around 12-15 slides. And I tend to split these slides into 2 big sections:
section 1: What you are building and why you think it’s a good idea?
section 2: Why are you the right people to make this work?
Pre-seed startup investors
Funding at this stage may come from personal savings, angel investors, pre-seed VC investors or small grants. The goal is to reach a point where the startup is attractive to seed investors who can provide more substantial funding for further growth. And that is exactly what you can showcase in your pitch deck.
What funding round comes after pre-seed?
The funding stages for startups generally progress in the following order:
Pre-seed: At this stage, founders may use personal savings or funds from friends and family to get their idea off the ground. The goal is often to develop a prototype or proof of concept.
Seed: Seed funding is the next stage and usually involves external investors providing capital in exchange for equity. This funding helps startups expand and refine their products, conduct further market research, and scale their operations.
Series A, B, C, etc.: These subsequent funding rounds involve larger sums of money and are intended to help the startup grow, enter new markets, and achieve greater scalability. Each round corresponds to a different stage of growth.