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Even with Britain’s exit from the European Union approaching fast, London is booming. The capital’s startups brought in £2.45 billion in venture funding in 2017 – the most of any city in Europe. And local standouts Revolut, Improbable and Deliveroo all reached $1 billion valuations in the last year. “The money is still flowing – that’s a good vote of confidence,” says Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates.
The fintech sector is the capital’s key strength, but there’s diversity, too. “Cyber, software-as-a-service [SaaS], AI, deep tech. Most cities have one or two specialities. People look at London and say, ‘Wow, it’s not just one or two, it’s multiple verticals,’” says Shaw. The capital’s high cost of living remains a challenge for some startups – particularly with local university cities of Cambridge and Oxford emerging as AI and health-tech hubs. But Shaw isn’t concerned. “The culture is here, the nightlife is here, the restaurants, the cafés – it’s expensive, but it’s a great place to run a business.”
Trouva
Trouva describes itself as “anti-Amazon”. More than 450 bricks-and-mortar boutiques use the platform to sell their products online. It manages sales, customer service and delivery, and its software lets owners digitise stock and track incoming orders easily. Launched in 2015 by Mandeep Singh and Alex Loizou, it has grown quickly – particularly on Instagram – and in November 2017 raised £7.6 million from Business Growth Fund, Index Ventures and Octopus Investments, among others, to expand in the UK and beyond. trouva.com
Elliptic
The crimefighting tenet "follow the money" is harder for cryptocurrencies – that's exactly why they’ve grown so popular among cybercriminals. Elliptic, founded by James Smith, Adam Joyce and Tom Robinson in 2013, wants to change that, by tracing transactions across the Bitcoin blockchain to isolate illicit activities. Clients include UK law enforcement, Europol and the FBI, and it has already lead to criminal convictions in numerous cases, and earned a spot in GCHQ’s first accelerator programme. elliptic.co
Fluidly
The success of founder and CEO Caroline Plumb’s previous business, FreshMinds, landed her an OBE. Her new venture, Fluidly, is designed to help small- and medium-sized businesses manage their cashflow. Its software-as-a-service platform helps entrepreneurs track invoices and manage collections, and uses machine learning to forecast future cashflow in order to flag potential problems. In September 2017 it raised a £2 million seed round led by Octopus Ventures, in order to expand its predictive capabilities and promote new capabilities enabled by open banking. fluidly.com
Onfido
When you want to rent a car or open a bank account online, chances are your identity will be checked by Onfido. Founded in 2012 by Oxford students Husayn Kassai, Eamon Jubbawy, Ruhul Amin, Onfido recognises more than 600 document formats - from passports to driving licences – which it combines with a face recognition AI to check identities for companies ranging from Square to Zipcar. It has raised more than $6 0million, with plans to expand rapidly in the US, India and Latin America. onfido.com
WHERE TO EAT: Hide, Ollie Dabbous’s new site, is London’s must-visit restaurant of 2018. With stunning decor, a 6,000-bottle wine list from Hedonism, and two eateries, serving a tasting menu or all-day cuisine.
WHERE TO WORK: Debbie Wosskow and Anna Jones have launched The AllBright, the UK’s first female-only members’ club in a stunning Georgian townhouse. With dining, gym, events and work spaces, it’s the perfect hangout.
TruRating
For businesses, getting customers to give feedback data can be at best imprecise, at worst, irritating. Georgina Nelson launched TruRating in 2013 with a simple solution: it asks customers to rank their experience from zero to nine using credit-card readers upon payment. Simple – and it generates more than 100,000 ratings per day with a 90 per cent response rate. And its online version allows companies to write their own questions for more in-depth feedback. Nelson’s goal: to provide accurate, real-time ratings for customers – a kind of Which? meets Rotten Tomatoes, for everything. trurating.com
Elvie
A leader in the growing femtech space, Elvie creates smart products for women’s health. Its first product, Elvie Trainer, is an elegantly designed, £169 Kegel trainer that pairs with a smartphone app to help improve the user's pelvic floor. Co-founded in 2013 by Tania Boler and Jawbone founder Alexander Asseily, the company raised £5 million in 2017 to expand internationally, and is due to launch a second product this year. elvie.com
Streetbees
Streetbees is bringing market research into the mobile age. Founded in 2015 by Tugce Bulut and Oliver May, the app lets companies commission surveys, photos and videos from more than a million users of its mobile app in 87 countries, and watch the results in real time. App users are paid for their responses – from $1 for a simple poll to $10 for recording a 60-second video. Corporate clients include Unilever, PepsiCo, Vodafone, and L’Oreal. streetbees.com
Bought By Many
Launched by Steven Mendel and Guy Farley in 2012 as a kind of Groupon for insurance – gathering large groups of individuals with specific needs to barter better coverage – Bought By Many launched its own products in 2017: pet insurance and travel coverage for those with serious medical conditions. Its customer numbers have rocketed – it now has nearly 500,000 members, with plans for more products in the near future. boughtbymany.com
Bloom & Wild
The flower-delivery sector is blossoming – in large part thanks to Bloom & Wild. Launched in 2013 by Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway, it pioneered hand-cut flowers sent in a letterbox-sized package, a neat design innovation that has helped it grow at a rate of 13,818 per cent, according to Deloitte. Having set down roots, it’s now looking to expand abroad, raising £7.25 million to grow customers in Ireland, France and Germany. bloomandwild.com
Zego
Zego wants to insure the gig economy. Founded by Harry Franks, Sten Saar and Stuart Kelly in April 2016, it offers pay-as-you-go scooter and car insurance plans for the growing masses of Deliveroo drivers that dominate city streets every lunchtime. In November 2017 it raised a £6 million Series A funding round, led by Balderton Capital, to expand its offerings – starting with coverage for private cars. zego.com
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
