Founders: Benjamin Dyer and Chris Barling
Founded: January 2012 (launched April 2013)
Website: http://powerednow.com/

Having sold admin solutions to thousands of small businesses in their previous start-up, Benjamin Dyer and Chris Barling had all the necessary expertise to launch Powered Now, a business admin platform available in app and tablet form for the field trade world. The idea for the service was inspired by the pair’s experience of working with tradesman who struggled with the lack of solutions available to them; Dyer specifically recalls a builder that handed him an invoice on a Disney children’s notepad! The duo quickly realised that there was a growing demand for a solution that would computerise paperwork and red tape, and one that could be distributed quickly, and the company’s new infrastructure is now disrupting a previously limited market. Having launched its ‘game changer’ monthly subscription service just a few months ago, the business already has over 300 users and was recently awarded the accolade of best app at The Next Web conference. The company is now looking to secure investment to ramp up the commercial side of the business. 

Founders: Piers Mummery Christian McGuinness and Craig Holloway
Founded: December 2012
Website: www.brightmovemedia.com

Outdoor advertising is a huge industry, and you’d think there were very few untapped opportunities for advertisers to sell their wares, but the co-founders of BrightMove Media are capitalising on an opportunity offered by the humble London cab; selling digital advertising on LED screens that are fitted into licensed black taxis. Getting to this point hasn’t been easy: it took three years to achieve regulatory approval from Transport for London, and a significant amount of development has been carried out in-house. But the company now has a first fleet of 25 taxis, and is working with all of the major media planning and buying agencies in the UK. Having raised seed investment of £680,000 from business angels, BrightMove Media has big ambitions to scale the fleet size and eventually expand internationally. 

Founder: David Darling CBE
Founded: September 2011 (launched April 2012)
Website: www.kwalee.com

With a prestigious background in video gaming, it wasn’t going to be long until David Darling CBE turned his skills to another area of the digital arena, mobile apps. Kwalee, listed in the Startups Top 20 for 2012, creates original multiplayer games and supplies them for free as apps on smartphone and tablet devices (with additional in-app purchases available). Launched just over a year ago, the app producer is still in its early-stages but has already gained popularity for its two free games, Flip the Cat and Go Bang Social. The company is determined to make its mark in what is an increasingly competitive market and has its first flagship product, Farm Fighters, launching this summer. Keen to innovate, Darling’s exciting new farmyard warfare game where players battle with other farm animals utilises new mechanics and physics, giving it an edge over similar competition. With an additional four new games currently in development and due for release over the next year, Darling’s goal to create the best in multiplayer games seems to be within reach.

Founders: Alex Polyakov and Alexei Poliakov
Founded: February 2013 (April 2013)
Website: http://locomizer.com/

After more than 10 years of scientific research on cell behaviour in nature and humans, Polyakov and Poliakov came up with an idea to invent a new method of audience discovery. Locomizer and the nature-based algorithm behind it is the final product of that idea. Using its specialised algorithm, the company enables businesses to better understand their customer profiles by providing them with accurate user interest profiles generated by the places and surroundings where they spend their time. The concept behind it being that our real-life interests and preferences are a ‘product of our local footprint’. Launched only recently with £150,000 of seed capital from business angels, the company has already signed five major clients to its service and has a series of growth plans in place. Over the next year it’s looking to expand its engineering team which in turn will help develop the scale-up of its commercial infrastructure. It also has strategies in place to execute full-scale launches of its personal location data service with select commercial partners.  

Founder: Ryan O’Rorke
Founded: August 2012 (launched November 2012)
Website: www.flavourly.com

Founder Ryan O’Rorke was inspired to create Flavourly after witnessing his father – an artisan jam maker – experience difficulties getting his product to the nationwide market on a limited marketing budget. Flavourly’s subscription service delivers a selection of Britain’s finest independently-produced artisan foods direct to their customers’ doors or desks for a flat monthly fee, allowing its members to experience the best of local produce whilst giving much-needed exposure to small producers. The subscription service has proved particularly popular with women, who make up 84% of the site’s 3,400 paying subscribers, leading to Flavourly already generating profits of £62,000 since its launch in November. Having  also recently secured investment and a strategic partnership from the experienced heads of Kevin Dorren and Andrew Veitch, co-founders of the successful meal plan delivery service Dietchef, O’Rourke has an ambitious plan to grow the company into the largest fine food discovery and delivery platform in the UK. 

Founder: Andy Caughey
Founded: June 2011
Website: www.armadillomerino.com

Armadillo Merino was formed after founder Andy Caughey saw the extensive injuries suffered by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan when their synthetic body armour would melt onto their skin after being damaged by IED explosions. After wondering why more was not being done to protect them from these flammable materials, Caughey got to work. Armadillo Merino produces a range of protective undershirts, made from the wool of New Zealand’s famously tough Merino sheep that protect the wearer from impact and fire damage whilst still being comfortable and lightweight. Designed for ‘professional risk takers’ in all walks of life, from soldiers and firefighters to cave rescuers and smoke jumpers, Armadillo Merino’s product is now worn by thousands of customers in countries across the world. After recently concluding a large contract for the supply of 1,200 garments to the Italian Navy, the next 12 months will see Armadillo Merino – which outsources almost every aspect of its business operations – begin to focus on more institutional procurement as companies who have been trialling the garment begin to place orders for commercial quantities. 

Founder: Ali Meruani
Founded: January 2011 (launched November 2012)
Website: www.menuspring.com

For food lovers, London is one of the best places in the world – but Ali Meruani found that the almost limitless variety of cuisine found in the capital wasn’t matched by a similarly vibrant website. From this frustration came Menuspring – an online directory of more than 8,000 restaurants across London, with reviews, menus and pictures to help Londoners select the exact meal they want. For consumers, the site serves as an engaging product allowing them to browse in-depth menus and reviews. For restaurants, the site allows them to showcase their content to a wide audience; for £10 per month, they can create vibrant, dynamic, online menus using their own pictures or from a selection of more than 2,000 provided by the site. Menuspring also works with publishers, bloggers and food start-ups, giving them free menus and pictures in order to drive more traffic to the site. The next step is expansion across the UK and the launch of an exciting new product in the coming months. 

Founders: Phil Woodward and Jos Shepherd
Founded: July 2011 (launched November 2012)
Website: www.hipsnip.com

HipSnip’s offering is currently unique in the UK; it is a service that allows online retailers to embed Q&A functionality into their websites, giving shoppers advice on what to buy in order to drive more sales from them. The advice that shoppers receive comes from partnerships with major publishers, who also embed the tool into their site to allow their experts and wider communities to answer the questions posed by shoppers. The young business already has 12 regular clients, including international media group Future Plc and cycling community BikeRadar – the site launched the HipSnip-powered ‘Ask BikeRadar’ page in December 2012 and the section has since become, on its own, the 8th most popular cycling site in the whole of the UK. With £375,000 angel backing, the company is well placed to grow in the coming year, targeting more high-profile clients and raising yet more investment through a planned Series A funding round. 

Founders: Alice Hastings-Bass and Rebecca Glenapp
Founded: June 2011
Website: www.LUX-FIX.com

Last year, LUX FIX made our list as a promising start-up with an exciting proposition – discounted, hand-picked luxury brands for busy young professionals unable to spend hours browsing for the latest trends. The last 12 months have seen the young company begin to deliver on its promise, already organically growing its network to 20,000 members and working with more than 120 designer partners, including leading British names such as Hussein Chalayan, Clements Ribiero and Lara Bohinc. The company’s impressive rise to prominence in less than two years has attracted glowing endorsement from the likes of the Times, Wired Magazine and the Independent, setting it well on its way to becoming an industry recognised brand. LUX FIX has also garnered a growing following in the USA – 25% of its members are American and the company recently appeared on US TV channel CNBC as ‘one of the country’s most exciting start-ups’ with a further expression of support from actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The next 12 months will see LUX FIX continue to grow and focus on expanding its membership base internationally.