Payhawk and Fast Growth 50 UK join forces to launch the ‘Finance 50’

Press release

The news:

• Payhawk is partnering with Fast Growth 50
• Payhawk and Fast Growth 50 announce launch of new 'Finance 50'
• Apply for Fast Growth 50 by July 2023

The Fast Growth 50 index is an extensively researched league table of the fastest-growing companies, led by its founder, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE. The aim is to identify 50 of the fastest-growing companies in each region and nation of the UK, as has been undertaken for the last 24 years in Wales. The top 400 performing fast-growth firms identified will be celebrated for their achievements and recognised as champions both in their region and across the UK.

The overall objective of the UK Fast Growth 50 is to identify the fastest-growing firms in each region and nation of the UK through a process driven by access to research that is not publicly available and by working with key stakeholders in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The UK Fast Growth 50 estimates that during the last two years, the 400 businesses identified across the eight nations and regions will have increased their turnover annually by £4 billion and created an additional 20,000 jobs every year during their growth. The programme will also make a significant contribution to the levelling-up agenda that is currently driving UK Government economic policy.

Payhawk was founded in 2018 by Hristo Borisov, Boyko Karadzhov, and Konstantin Dzhengozov, and is a fintech company that combines expense management software, seamless payments, corporate cards and invoice management in one solution. Now with HQ in London, and offices in Sofia, New York, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and Amsterdam, in 2022 Payhawk extended its Series B round of funding to $215m, becoming the first Bulgarian-founded unicorn. The company plans to become a catalyst for the Bulgarian startup ecosystem, and to continue attracting and retaining the top 1% of talent in the market.

It has been reported in a recent survey by Harvard Business Review and Payhawk that three-quarters (76%) of respondents said that finance departments play an important role in supporting their organisation’s business objectives. A large part of that is down to a change in business conditions over the years, giving rise to finance teams being more innovative and collaborative with other departments in such areas as environmental, social, governance and supply chains. In light of this, from the 400 identified in the Fast Growth 50 Index, 50 of the most exceptional fintech individuals, teams and companies will be identified in the ‘Finance 50’.

Applications for the Fast Growth 50 Index, and therefore the Finance 50, are open now and close at the start of July. The lists will be announced at the end of the year with the purpose of to recognise and champion the phenomenal entrepreneurial and fintech talent in the UK.

Hristo Borisov, Payhawk CEO and Co-founder says, “Payhawk is thrilled to collaborate with Fast Growth 50 on its expansion to find the top 50 fastest-growing firms across the UK. As a fast-growing company, ourselves - Payhawk’s value leapt by 75% between November 2021 to March 2022, to become the first Bulgarian-founded unicorn - we know what to look out for in the leading companies of tomorrow.”

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Founder of Fast Growth 50 Index says, *“We are pleased to work alongside Payhawk on the expansion of the Fast Growth 50 list, to include companies across the 8 regions of the UK. Payhawks growth - from its launch in 2018, to gaining unicorn status in 2022 - lends our search the knowledge of what to look out for in our emerging businesses.” *

The list is open to applications until the start of July 2023.

About Payhawk

Payhawk is the leading global spend management solution for scaling businesses. Headquartered in London and combining company cards, reimbursable expenses, and accounts payable into a single product, its future-facing technology enables finance teams to control and automate company spending at scale.

The Payhawk customer base includes fast-growing and mature multinational companies in 32 countries, including LuxAir, Gtmhub, and Wagestream. With offices in New York, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, and Sofia, Payhawk is backed by renowned investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greenoaks, QED Investors, Earlybird Digital East, and Eleven Ventures.

About Fast Growth 50

The Fast Growth 50 index is an extensively researched league table of the fastest-growing companies, led by its founder, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE. The aim is to identify fifty of the fastest-growing companies in each region and nation of the UK, as has been done for the last 24 years in Wales. By doing so, the top-performing fast-growth firms will be celebrated for their achievements and recognised as champions both in their region but also across the UK.

In partnership with UBS, the world’s leading global wealth manager, Fast Growth 50 will rank the companies based on turnover growth. Those named in their regional index will be celebrated at the Fast Growth 50 awards event to be held in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, and Manchester later this year.
For more information about Fast Growth 50: www.fg50.co.uk