The 27 fintech unicorns from around the world, ranked by value

Value: $1 billion (£760 million).

What it does: Consumer peer-to-peer lender.

Why it's hot: China Rapid Finance is one of the country's largest online consumer loans marketplace and has made 4.7 million loans over its platform worth over $4.7 billion. The company is said to be planning a US IPO.

HQ: Shanghai.

Founded: 2001 (although online lending did not start until 2011.)

Raised: $56 million (£42.6 million).

Value: $1 billion (£760 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 (£184.7 million).

Value: $1 billion (£760 million).

What it does: A cloud-based spending management tool.

Why it's hot: Coupa pitches itself as "savings as a service" — plug in its software and it will help identify savings in your business and help you manage costs. Salesforce manages 80% of its costs with Coupa.

HQ: California.

Founded: 2006.

Raised: $169 million (£128.7 million).

Value: $1 billion (£760 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 (£99.9 million).

Value: $1 billion (£760 million).

What it does: Online small business lending platform.

Why it's hot: Kabbage plugs into social media data and builds that into its credit scoring model and has a fully automated loan application process that can give a business a loan in as little as 7 minutes. Santander recently partnered with the platform.

HQ: Atlanta.

Founded: 2009.

Raised: $238.6 million (£181.8 million).

Value: $1 billion (£760 million).

What it does: Peer-to-peer marketplace for business loans.

Why it's hot: It has funded £1.37 billion ($1.8 billion) worth of loans since launch in the UK and £1.9 billion ($2.5 billion) globally. It is currently growing its business in America.

HQ: London.

Founded: 2009.

Raised: $273.2 million (£208.1 million).

Value: $1 billion (£760 million).

What it does: Online payroll management.

Why it's hot: Gusto, formerly known as ZenPayroll, offers cloud-based software that automates payroll and tax calculations for small businesses. 25,000 companies use it and it is backed by Google Capital.

HQ: San Francisco.

Founded: 2o11.

Raised: $161.1 million (£122.7 million).

Value: $1.1 billion (£840 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: $116.3 million (£88.6 million).

Value: $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion).

What it does: Makes cloud-based financial service apps, covering accounting, billing, revenue recognition, supply chain management, and more.

Why it's hot: Tonnes of big enterprise companies use it, including Hewlett Packard and Lexmark. It was spun out of Salesforce.

HQ: San Francisco.

Founded: 2009.

Raised: $193.9 million (£147.7 million).

Value: $1.9 billion (£1.4 billion).

What it does: A peer-to-peer lending marketplace for consumers.

Why it's hot: Over $6 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 (£270.4 million).

Value: $2 billion (£1.5 billion).

What it does: Online loans.

Why it's hot: The company has lent over £2 billion to more than 450,000 people since launch. However, it has recently run into some trouble amid a wider slowdown in the online lending industry and has been cutting back jobs and slashing lending targets.

HQ: Chicago.

Founded: 2012.

Raised: $654 million (£498.3 million).

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).

Value: $2 billion (£1.2 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. However, the startup has witnessed a spectacular collapse this year, with its value more than halving from $4.5 billion after it emerged it was selling insurance without a licence in multiple states.

HQ: San Francisco.

Founded: 2013.

Raised: $583.6 million (£444.7 million).

Value: $2 billion (£1.2 billion).

What it does: China's first online-only insurer.

Why it's hot: The company was set up by the hottest names in Chinese tech: Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent chairman Ma Huateng, and PingAn chairman Ma Mingzhe. The company is planning a $2 billion IPO in China this year, according to Reuters.

HQ: Shanghai.

Founded: 2013.

Raised: $931.3 million (£709.6 million).

Value: $2 billion (£1.2 billion).

What it does: Lets businesses quickly and easily offer credit to customers, letting them pay for goods and services in instalments.

Why it's hot: GreenSky works with partners including huge US DIY chain Home Depot and the likes of Room to Go and Mac Tools.

HQ: Atlanta.

Founded: 2006.

Raised: At least $150 million (£114.3 million).

Value: $2.25 billion (£1.7 billion).

What it does: User-friendly payment systems for mobile and web.

Why it's hot: Last year it processed $9 billion (£6.8 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: $291.3 million (£221.9 million).

Value: $2.3 billion (£1.75 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. Iconiq Capital, "a "billionaires fund" backed by the likes of Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg, has invested.

HQ: Amsterdam.

Founded: 2006.

Raised: $266 million (£202.6 million).

Value: $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion).

What it does: White-label mobile payment, shopping, and marketing products. Lets small businesses send out offers to customers and collect loyalty points.

Why it's 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 (£234 million).

Value: $2.7 billion (£2 billion).

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 Thiel, Goldman Sachs, and Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man.

HQ: New York.

Founded: 2013.

Raised: $727.5 million (£554.3 million).

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).

Value: $4 billion (£3 billion).

What it does: Peer-to-peer student loan refinancing, mortgages, and other types of personal loans.

Why it's hot: It has financed $10 billion (£7.6 billion) of loans to date and has almost 150,000 members. However, like most in the industry SoFi has been suffering from a slowdown in growth in the online lending sector.

HQ: San Francisco.

Founded: 2011.

Raised: $1.3 billion (£990 million).

Value: $5 billion (£3.8 billion).

Value: $5.9 billion (£4.5 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 a short time 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: $874 million (£666 million).

Value: $7 billion (£5.3 billion).

What it does: Online financial services.

Why it's hot: JD Finance is a spin-off from Chinese online shopping giant JD.com. It provides credit for consumers shopping on JD.com, as well as other financial services.

HQ: Chaoyang, China.

Founded: 1998.

Raised: $1 billion (£760 million).

Value: $18.5 billion (£14.5 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. It is controlled by Ping An Insurance, the country's largest insurer by value.

HQ: Shanghai.

Founded: 2011.

Raised: $1.69 billion (£1.3 billion).

Value: $60 billion (£45.7 billion).

What it does: Runs Alipay, China's biggest mobile payment network with 450 million users and 170 daily transactions.

Why it's hot: Ant Financial's Alipay is an absolute Goliath in China, where mobile payments are much more common. The company is a spin-off from Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, and does vouchers and credit as well as payments.

HQ: Hangzhou.

Founded: 2004.

Raised: $4.5 billion (£3.4 billion).