25. Mozido, a mobile payment and wallet provider
Value: $1 billion (£640 million).
What it does: White-label mobile payment, shopping, and marketing products. Lets small businesses send out offers to customers and collect loyalty points.
Why its hot: The company is targeting emerging markets like Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Africa where a generation of consumers are skipping banking and moving straight to mobile money. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is an investor through his early-stage fund TomorrowVentures.
HQ: New York.
Founded: 2005.
Raised: $307.2 million (£196.2 million).
24. TransferWise, an international money transfer service
Value: $1 billion (£640 million).
What it does: Online international money transfer with cheaper fees than banks.
Why it's hot: The company has transferred £3 billion ($4.7 billion) since launch and is now doing £500 million ($783 million) a month. Sir Richard Branson and Silicon Valley VC fund Andreessen Horowitz are both investors.
HQ: London.
Founded: 2010.
Raised: $90.4 million (£57.7 million).
23. Jimubox, a Chinese peer-to-peer loan provider
Value: $1 billion (£640 million).
What it does: Online peer-to-peer loans for small businesses and consumers.
Why it's hot: The company is part of a wave of so-called "internet finance" companies that have sprung up across China in the last few years and is experiencing explosive growth.
HQ: Beijing.
Founded: 2013.
Raised: $131.2 million (£83.7 million).
22. Funding Circle, a peer-to-peer loan platform for small businesses
Value: $1 billion (£640 million).
What it does: Peer-to-peer marketplace for business loans.
Why it's hot: It has funded £775 million ($1.2 billion) worth of loans since launch and is currently growing its business in America.
HQ: London.
Founded: 2009.
Raised: $273.2 million (£174.4 million).
21. Qufenqi, lets Chinese consumers buy electronics in instalments
Value: $1.3 billion (£830 million).
What it does: An online Chinese electronics retailer that lets buyers pay in monthly installments.
Why it's hot: It's raised a huge amount of money in little over a year and is targeting China's fast growing aspirational classes. Like a lot of Chinese companies, it hasn't disclosed much more than funding but investors clearly see big growth potential.
HQ: Beijing.
Founded: 2014.
Raised: $225 million (£143.6 million).
20. Housing.com, online Indian real estate platform
Value: $1.3 billion (£830 million).
What it does: Indian online real estate platform that also provides home loans.
Why it's hot: Japanese technology giant SoftBank is the company's largest backer, recognising the potential of the property market in a country with 1.2 billion people.
HQ: Mumbai.
Founded: 2012.
Raised: $139.5 million (£89 million).
19. SoFi, a marketplace for student loan refinancing
Value: $1.3 billion (£830 million).
What it does: Peer-to-peer student loan refinancing, mortgages, and other types of personal loans.
Why it's hot: It has financed $3 billion (£1.9 billion) of loans to date and is rumoured to be planning an IPO in the next year.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2011.
Raised: $766.2 million (£489 million).
18. iZettle, makes card readers for smartphones
Value: $1.4 billion (£890 million).
What it does: Makes card readers for smartphones to let independent traders and small businesses accept payments.
Why it's hot: A "couple of hundred thousand" iZettle terminals are in use across Europe, according to CEO Jacob de Geer, and 46% of card readers in Sweden are iZettles.
HQ: Stockholm.
Founded: 2010.
Raised: $114.3 million (£72.9 million).
17. Xero, makes cloud-based accountancy software for small businesses
Value: $1.4 billion (£890 million).
What it does: Cloud-based accounting software for small businesses.
Why it's hot: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel was an early investor. Earlier this year CEO Rob Drury announced the company has 500,000 paying subscribers.
HQ: Wellington, New Zealand.
Founded: 2006.
Raised: Publicly traded.
16. Adyen, an online payment processor?
Value: $1.5 billion (£960 million).
What it does: Payment platform that accepts multiple forms and methods of transaction.
Why it's hot: Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, SoundCloud, and Netflix are all customers.
HQ: Amsterdam.
Founded: 2006.
Raised: $266 million (£169.8 million).
15. Oscar Health, online health insurance
Value: $1.5 billion (£960 million).
What it does: Digital health insurance for the post-Obamacare era.
Why it's hot: The company took just 16 months to break the $1 billion valuation mark and backers include PayPal co-founder Peter Theil, Goldman Sachs, and Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man.
HQ: New York.
Founded: 2013.
Raised: $295 million (£188.3 million).
14. FinancialForce.com, sells cloud-based accounting apps
Value: $1.5 billion (£960 million).
What it does: Makes cloud-based financial service apps, covering accounting, billing, revenue recognition, supply chain management, and more.
Why its hot: Tonnes of big enterprise companies use it, including Hewlett Packard and Lexmark.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2009.
Raised: $186.3 million (£118.9 million).
13. Zuora, software that lets companies take subscriptions
Value: $1.5 billion (£960 million).
What it does: Provides software that lets companies easily take subscriptions.
Why it's hot: Everyone from the Financial Times to cloud storage company Box, Dell, DocuSign, and ZenDesk use the service.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2007.
Raised: $242.5 million (£154.8 million).
12. Prosper, a peer-to-peer lending platform for consumers
Value: $1.9 billion (£1.2 billion).
What it does: A peer-to-peer lending marketplace for consumers.
Why it's hot: Almost $5 billion (£2.5 billion) has been lent over the platform. Backers include former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, famed Silicon Valley VC fund Sequoia Capital, and Credit Suisse.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2005.
Raised: $354.9 million (£226.5 million).
11. One97
Value: $2 billion (£1.2 billion).
What it does: Runs Paytm, an online platform that lets people pay bills and shop online. It's India's largest mobile marketplace.
Why it's hot: Paytm has 50 million registered wallets and handles 800,000 orders a day. Uber is a partner.
HQ: New Delhi.
Founded: 2000.
Raised: $585 million (£373.4 million).
10. CommonBond, a peer-to-peer student loans marketplace
Value: $2 billion (£1.2 billion).
What it does: Peer-to-peer student loan financing marketplace.
Why it's hot: The company is on track to do $500 million (£319 million) worth of loans by the end of the year and in June began securitizing loans. Former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit is an investor.
HQ: New York.
Founded: 2011.
Raised: $253 million (£161.5 million).
9. Klarna, online payment processing
Value: $2.25 billion (£1.4 billion).
What it does: User friendly payment systems for mobile and web.
Why it's hot: Last year it processed $9 billion (£5.7 billion) worth of transactions and it deals with 30% of all online payments in its native Sweden. Sequoia Capital, the Silicon Valley fund that backed PayPal, is an investor.
HQ: Stockholm.
Founded: 2005.
Raised: $282 million (£180 million).
8. Powa Technologies, makes mobile payment products
Value: $2.7 billion (£1.7 billion).
What it does: Mobile payment technologies both for online and in person purchases.
Why it's hot: The company closed a massive $76 million (£48.5 million) Series A funding round in 2013 and works with retailers such as Adidas, Reebok, Universal Music, L'Oreal, and Carrefour.
HQ: London.
Founded: 2007.
Raised: $176.7 million (£112.8 million).
7. Credit Karma, free credit scores
Value: $3.5 billion (£2.2 billion).
What it does: Provides free online credit reports, offsetting the cost of paying for them with targeted advertising of financial products.
Why it's hot: The company has 35 million users and Google Capital is an investor.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2007.
Raised: $368 million (£234.9 million).
6. Zenefits, free HR software for small businesses
Value: $4.5 billion (£2.8 billion).
What it does: Payroll, HR, health insurance, and compliance management software for small businesses. It offers its platform for free and makes money by charges health insurers a broker fee.
Why it's hot: Revenue grew from $1 million (£640,000) to $20 million (£12.7 million) between 2013 and 2014, leading TechCrunch to call Zenefits one of the fastest growing software companies of all-time.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2013.
Raised: $583.6 million (£372.5 million).
5. Lending Club, America's biggest peer-to-peer consumer loans platform
Value: $4.7 billion (£3 billion).
What it does: A consumer peer-to-peer loans platform, America's biggest.
Why it's hot: To date it has funded $11.1 billion worth of loans (£7 billion), with $1.9 billion (£1.2 billion) of that in the last quarter. The company had one of the largest tech IPOs of 2014, raising $900 million (£574.5 million).
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2007.
Raised: Public.
4. Stripe, online payment processing
Value: $5 billion (£3.1 billion).
What it does: Online payment processing, letting both businesses and companies accept payment over the internet.
Why it's hot: Fitbit, Pinterest, Twitter, Salesforce.com, Lyft, The Guardian, Kickstarter, and Reddit are some of the notable companies that use it.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2010.
Raised: $190 million (£121 million).
3. Markit, financial information and data provider
Value: $5.1 billion (£3.2 billion).
What it does: Financial information and data. The company began as a credit derivative pricing platform, which exploded in popularity in the run up to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Why it's hot: The company IPOd on the NASDAQ last year with stock shooting up over 50% on debut. Shareholders include RBS, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan.
HQ: London.
Founded: 2003.
Raised: Public.
2. Square, smartphone card readers, small business loans, and online payments
Value: $6 billion (£3.8 billion).
What it does: Originally focusing on smartphone debit and credit card readers, the company now has various different payment processing offerings and Square Capital, a small business financing operation.
Why it's hot: The company was co-founded and is run by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Citi are all investors and the company has major partnerships with Starbucks and Whole Foods.
HQ: San Francisco.
Founded: 2009.
Raised: $590.5 million (£376.9 million).
1. Lufax, Chinese peer-to-peer lender
Value: $10 billion (£6.3 billion).
What it does: Chinese peer-to-peer loans and financing platform, one of the countries largest. As well as operating online, the company has around 100 shops in 80 cities, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Why it's hot: Lufax has financed 20,000 loans worth a collective $2.5 billion (£1.6 billion) since launch.
HQ: Shanghai.
Founded: 2011.
Raised: $485 million (£309 million).
