Startup Database UK: How to Track Newly Formed Companies
A UK startup database is, at its foundation, a filtered, continuously updated view of newly formed companies drawn from Companies House. Every startup begins life as a fresh incorporation on the public register, carrying its name, formation date, industry (SIC) codes, registered office and founders. The work is turning that raw flow into a useful, categorised list — and then layering on the signals that tell you which young companies are actually growing.
What counts as a startup here
"Startup" is a fuzzy word. For data purposes it usually means a company that is recently incorporated and early-stage — typically the last one to three years, often in a high-growth or technology-adjacent sector. The register cannot read intent, but it gives you the objective markers: incorporation date, SIC codes and, over time, filing and ownership activity.
The raw material from Companies House
From the public register you get, for each new company, free:
- Company name, number and incorporation date
- SIC codes describing the activity
- Registered office address
- Directors and people with significant control (the founders, usually)
- Filing history as it accumulates
This is the spine of any startup database. What it does not include is funding, headcount or revenue projections — those require enrichment or modelling.
Filter to build your view
A raw feed of every new company is noise. Narrow it:
- By sector or theme. The most startup-dense areas of the register include AI, fintech, SaaS, cleantech and ecommerce. Broader sector pages like technology give the market picture.
- By region or city. Startup activity clusters — London, and cities such as Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol and Cambridge.
- By recency. Restrict to a recent formation window to keep the view "young".
Run those filters live on the CompaniesIQ search to get a current cohort rather than a stale export.
Reading early growth signals
Not every new company is going somewhere. The register hints at momentum through:
- Director appointments — bringing in experienced operators or a board.
- People with significant control changes — often the footprint of investment, as new shareholders cross the 25% threshold.
- Charges — secured borrowing, a sign of capital being deployed.
- Confirmation statements and accounts — confirming the company is live and trading.
For funding and high-growth specifically, see finding high-growth and funded companies.
Where the register stops
Be clear about the limits. Companies House will not tell you a startup's valuation, who its investors are by name beyond PSCs, its revenue, or its headcount. Specialist providers model some of this; CompaniesIQ stays close to the live official record and is explicit on its sources page about what is live versus reference data. For uses like sourcing deals, recruiting or selling into young companies, the combination of fresh formation data plus register-based signals is a strong, honest foundation.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find UK startups?
Filter the Companies House register for recently incorporated companies in high-growth sectors and regions. Tools that ingest new formations let you build a live startup view by sector, theme and city.
What data is available on a UK startup?
From the public register: name, incorporation date, SIC codes, registered office, directors and people with significant control, plus filing history. Funding, headcount and revenue are not on the register and require enrichment.
Can I see who funded a startup on Companies House?
Partly. New investors who take more than 25% of shares or voting rights appear as people with significant control, and secured lending shows as charges. Detailed round and investor data is not on the register.
Which sectors have the most UK startups?
Technology-adjacent themes dominate new high-growth formations — AI, fintech, SaaS, cleantech and ecommerce — though high-volume formation also occurs in consumer sectors like hospitality and beauty.