New UK Software Companies Are Up 63% in a Year. What Do They Buy First?

New software companies in the UK are being formed faster than any other large group on the register. In Company Explore's registration data, 41,401 companies listed SIC 62012 (business and domestic software development) in the 12 months to 18 October 2026. The year before, it was 25,370. That is a 63% rise, in a year when total incorporations fell by about 6%.

The growth runs across several related codes. Among codes with at least 2,000 registrations in 12 months, software and data codes take four of the five fastest-growing places. If you sell anything a young tech company needs, this is the fastest-growing group of buyers on the register, and 62012 added more registrations than any other code.

This post looks at the numbers, then at what a new software company buys in its first few months, who is best placed to sell to them and how to find them while they are still choosing.

How fast new software companies in the UK are growing

Here are the main software, data and IT codes, ranked by growth over the 12 months to 18 October 2026:

The only code in the top five that isn't software or data is 72190 (other natural sciences and engineering research), up 51% to 3,209. Add the four fast-growing codes together and you get 66,594 registrations in 12 months, against 40,746 the year before. Some companies list more than one of them, so the number of distinct companies is lower, but the direction is clear.

The growth is recent and still going. 62012 had 24,094 registrations in the last six months, against 17,307 in the six months before. Software publishing (58290) roughly doubled between the same two periods, from 2,925 to 5,978. A year ago, about 3% of new companies listed 62012. Now it is over 5%.

Compare that with IT consultancy (62020), which grew 4%. The founders arriving now are mostly building products, or at least describing themselves that way. Plenty of them will be one-person companies wrapping an AI model in an app, and a fair number will never ship. They still have to set up a business, and setting up a business means buying things.

For the wider picture across every industry, see our October 2026 registrations report.

UK tech startups in 2026: what they buy first

A new software company has almost nothing on day one. The order varies, but most founders work through the same list within a few months:

• Hosting and infrastructure: a cloud account, a domain, DNS and email on the domain. A software company needs most of this before it can show anyone a product.
• Payments: a way to take card payments or subscriptions, and a business bank account to receive them. A SaaS product cannot charge its first customer without both.
• Bookkeeping: accounting software, and often an accountant. A limited company has to file accounts and a corporation tax return, so the founder needs records from the first invoice.
• Brand: a name check, a logo and a basic style. Some founders start with something they made themselves and replace it later.
• Landing page: a site that explains the product, collects sign-ups and looks credible to an early customer.
• Legal templates: terms of service, a privacy policy, a cookie notice and, for B2B products, a data processing agreement. Any product that collects personal data needs a privacy notice under UK GDPR.

After that come the second-round purchases: analytics, customer support tools, email marketing, a CRM and insurance. These usually come once there are users to track and support.

Who can sell to new software companies

The list above maps onto a set of sellers who all benefit from the same data:

• Web designers and developers: a landing page is one of the first things a software company needs, and a founder who can build a product may have no interest in designing a marketing site.
• Logo and brand designers: a new company needs a name, a mark and a style before its first public launch.
• Accountants and bookkeepers: every one of these companies will need accounts filed. An accountant who understands subscription revenue and R&D work has an easy opening line.
• SaaS owners: developer tools, monitoring, billing, support desks and analytics all sell to young software companies. Our guide on finding SaaS leads covers how to target them.
• AI automation agencies: a small team shipping a product often needs help with support, onboarding and internal workflows.
• Lawyers and template sellers: terms, privacy policies and contractor agreements are needed early, and few founders want to write them from scratch.

The sellers who win are usually the ones who arrive at the right moment. A founder who chose their accounting software last month is hard to move. One who incorporated last week hasn't chosen yet.

How to build a list of new software companies

The register gives you everything you need to find them. Every limited company declares its SIC codes when it registers, and the incorporation date tells you how far along it is.

1. Pick your codes. For most sellers that means 62012 and 58290, with 63120 and 63110 added if your product suits platforms or data businesses. The SIC code directory lists them all.
2. Set the incorporation date. The last 30 days gives you companies still setting up. In the 30 days to 18 October 2026 the four fast-growing codes produced 6,719 registrations between them (with some overlap).
3. Add a location if you sell locally or meet clients in person.
4. Remove holding companies (64209 and 70100) and anything already dissolved.
5. Run the list through the B2B List Builder and export it. An enriched export adds the company's published website, email and phone, plus scored suggestions for the director's LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram profile. Check those suggestions before you rely on one.
6. Look at each website. No site or a holding page means a designer or developer has an opening. A live product with a pricing page means the founder is past setup and closer to buying tools.
7. Repeat every week. In the week to 18 October 2026, the four codes had 1,744 new registrations combined.

If you would rather not build the list yourself, a 1,000-lead dataset costs £49 on the pricing page.

How to approach a new software founder

Software founders read a lot of cold email and delete most of it. A message gets read when it is about their company and their stage:

• Mention what they're building, if their website says, and that they registered recently.
• Offer one thing that fits the first months, such as a landing page review, a fixed-price logo or a bookkeeping setup.
• Keep it short and skip the demo request. A founder in week three is busy writing code and is unlikely to book a call with a stranger.

For limited companies at corporate email addresses, PECR allows B2B email without prior consent, provided you identify yourself and offer an easy opt-out. The GDPR guide on this blog covers the detail, including when a business counts as an individual.

Frequently asked questions

How many new software companies are registered in the UK?

In the 12 months to 18 October 2026, 41,401 new companies listed SIC 62012 (business and domestic software development), according to Company Explore's registration data. In the last 30 days alone it was 4,036.

Why are so many software companies being formed?

The register records what founders declare and gives no reasons. Our view is that cheaper AI tools, which let one person build and launch a product, explain much of it, along with founders choosing software codes for AI-based services. Some of the growth may also be companies picking 62012 for work that is closer to consultancy.

Which SIC codes do software startups use?

The most common is 62012 (business and domestic software development). Others include 58290 (other software publishing), 62011 (games and entertainment software), 63110 (data processing and hosting), 63120 (web portals) and, for service-led firms, 62020 (IT consultancy).

What does a new software company need first?

Usually a domain, hosting, a business bank account, a payments provider and bookkeeping in the first weeks, followed by a landing page, brand work and legal templates such as terms of service and a privacy policy.

To see this week's new software companies, open the B2B List Builder, choose 62012 and 58290 and set the incorporation date to the last 30 days.