Ranking

Sifted 250: Wellness Marketplace Healf Tops Ranking of Europe’s Fastest-Growing Start-Ups

co-produced by AI07. October 2026, 14:07

Neko Health co-founders Hjalmar Nilsonne and Daniel Ek — Neko Health co-founders Hjalmar Nilsonne (left) and Daniel Ek. © Neko Health

A London wellness shop now outpaces every A.I. company in Europe. The Sifted 250, the annual ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing start-ups by revenue, puts Healf at No. 1 this year. The list was unveiled last week at the Sifted Summit in London, and it shows a generation of young companies that grow faster than ever with smaller teams.

How Healf Took the Top Spot

Sifted ranks companies by revenue growth over their latest three financial years, measured as a two-year compound annual growth rate. Only realized revenue counts. Sifted does not accept annual recurring revenue figures, and companies had to submit signed documentation to back up their numbers.

Healf, an online marketplace for supplements, wearables and other wellness products, was founded by the Manchester-raised brothers Lestat McCree and Max Clarke. According to the Sifted report, its revenue rose from €207,000 in 2023 to €47.7 million in 2025. That equals annual growth of about 1,400 percent, just short of the record set by the British fintech Allica Bank two years ago.

Neko Health of Stockholm, co-founded by the Spotify founder Daniel Ek, ranks second with its preventive full-body scans. The Belgian cybersecurity company Aikido Security from Ghent comes third. The London energy supplier Fuse Energy and the Prague fintech Flowpay, which lends to small businesses, round out the top five.

The Key Figures

Countries: Britain accounts for 31.6 percent of the companies and France for 12.8 percent. Germany and Sweden follow with 8.8 percent each.
Cities: London is home to 63 start-ups on the list, Paris to 28, Stockholm to 16 and Berlin to 15.
Growth: The average annual growth rate rose to 249 percent from 226 percent a year earlier. Making the cut at No. 250 required almost 111 percent.
A.I.: 56 companies count as A.I.-native, more than twice as many as last year.
Sectors: B2B software leads with 81 companies, ahead of fintech with 69 and climate tech with 36. Digital health is the most represented niche, with 16 companies.
Efficiency: Revenue per employee has more than doubled in two years to €337,000, while average headcount fell from 98 to 72.
Unicorns: 14 companies on the list are valued at $1 billion or more (about €855 million), including n8n, Parloa, Multiverse Computing and The Exploration Company.
Profitability: 58 of the 250 start-ups are profitable.

Leaner Teams, Bigger Rounds

The ranking points to a shift in how European start-ups scale. Companies reach meaningful revenue earlier and with far fewer people. Sifted highlights several lean operators, among them the Norwegian countertop garden maker Auk, which generated €21.2 million in revenue with 15 employees.

At the same time, big funding rounds have returned. Neko Health raised €603 million in July, and The Exploration Company closed a €387 million Series C in September, the largest ever by a European space company. The Berlin automation start-up n8n, ranked 26th, doubled its valuation to $5.2 billion (about €4.4 billion) after a strategic investment from SAP. Its chief executive, Jan Oberhauser, told Sifted that the company aims to reach one billion users with fewer than 1,000 employees.

Many of the fastest growers look across the Atlantic. Aikido Security set up its American base in Chicago, and the London health care marketplace Scan.com now earns 90 percent of its revenue in the United States.

Limits of the Ranking

The Sifted 250 only includes companies that apply or are approached by Sifted and agree to disclose their revenue. Sifted itself acknowledges that some of Europe’s best-known start-ups are missing because they do not share their numbers. The list therefore makes no claim to be complete.

The method also rewards percentage growth above all. A start-up that grows from €200,000 to €5 million ranks far ahead of a scale-up that triples its revenue from €100 million to €300 million. The number of companies on the list with more than €100 million in revenue fell from 18 to eight, and average revenue dropped from €25.3 million to €15.5 million. Finally, the ranking looks backward: The data covers past financial years and says nothing about whether the pace will hold.