Founder: Daniel Gandesha
Founded: 2014 (Launched January 2015)
Website: www.propertypartner.co

Property crowdfunding platform Property Partner is back with its third appearance in the Startups 100 index after leaping from 36 in 2015 to 16th position in 2016 and now, after experiencing exceptional growth over the last year, takes prime position at number 13.

Launched in 2015 by Daniel Gandesha, after he had struggled to afford a house of his own, Property Partner’s compelling concept treats the property market like the stock market.

It effectively allows investors to own part of a property, receive dividends and make an exit. It charges a one-off transaction fee of 2% on the purchase of investment and an industry standard rate of 10.5% of rental income for advertising, letting and property management.

As well as witnessing its investor base more than double in size, this last year has seen Property Partner grow its assets under management by 175% from £18.4m to over £50m, while primary investment into the platform has grown by 128% from £14m to £32m.

This growth has been supported by increased product development. Property Partner has just announced Bid Manager; a new tool that introduces “automated, strategy-based trading”. Designed to increase the number of shares in properties changing hands and to boost liquidity, the service allows investors to filter thousands of potential property investments that suit their objectives instantly. It also calculates what price investors should offer based on their desired yield.

Bidding has been available on the platform since August 2016, with 1,318 clients having made 8,361 transactions worth almost £2m to date.

Just over two years old, Property Partner is already revolutionising the residential property market with its innovative approach and continues to thrive and evolve – long may it continue.

Founders: Mark Wright
Founded: June 2014 (launched January 2015)
Website: www.climb-online.co.uk

Mark Wright laid claim to being the most successful winner of The Apprentice earlier this year after his digital marketing agency Climb Online hit £4m in turnover in its second year of trading – returning Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment after just nine months.

The 2016 Young Gun started Startups Awards-nominated Climb Online in 2015 after encountering the same problems “over and over again” during his experience as a digital marketing specialist.

Having experienced failings in customer service, a lack of training and a “severe lack” of brand or company culture, Wright set out with a mission to create an agency that “small businesses would want to work with:

“An agency that staff members are proud to be working for, and […] an agency that would work hard to deliver an excellent ROI for all clients, no matter how big or small”.

This mission is one that brands have bought into. Three years after launching, Climb Online – which ranked at number 22 in the Startups 100 2016 – now works with more than 400 businesses including Be Wiser Insurance, Groupon, Company Check, Dickies and Imagine Cruising and boasts an 83% retention rate.

Climb Online is now in the process of creating the Climb academy, which helps entry level candidates build a successful career in digital marketing and is due to be rolled out in August 2017.

It will also launch its first international operations this year, with the opening of offices in South Africa, Australia and Dubai. And all this is just the start of plans to be the largest provider of digital marketing solutions for businesses in the UK by 2021…

Founder: Nakul Sharma
Founded: December 2013 (Launched July 2014)
Website: www.hostmaker.co

Cracking the top 20 ranking in last year’s Startups 100 index, 2017 marks an even better year for hospitality management service Hostmaker as it moves up nine places in our list.

Founded in 2013 by Nakul Sharma, Hostmaker was inspired by Sharma’s travels with his wife to Rome, Rio and Jaipur. Inspired by the charm and care bestowed upon them by their hosts, the pair decided to give it a go themselves and become hosts for their home once they returned to London.

Underestimating how much hard work it actually was, the duo decided to channel their efforts into helping other hosts – and the seeds of Hostmaker were sown.

Offering two types of service to users, the start-up offers a full-management option – aka “hands off-hosting” – to help Airbnb hosts with everything from property photography, listing, pricing, reservations, guest communication and housekeeping to linen rental, in-person check-ins and maintenance.

The business also offers a “pay-as-you-go-service” which allows customers to book on-off services online such as help with checking-in or changing linen.

Growing to a headcount of over 150, across four different cities, Hostmaker currently supports over 1,000 hosts across Europe and has got investors on side. Just last February, the start-up took total funding to just over £7.5m after securing £5m in a Series A funding round led by Parisian venture capital fund Ventech and DN Capital.

So, after already building on 2016’s success, where does the future lie for Hostmaker?

As well as strengthening its position across current markets, Sharma says that Hostmaker has “a pipeline of interest from over 25 cities around the world” and will further invest in delivering superior income to homeowners through a new pricing algorithm.

Founders: Oliver Bridge
Founded: July 2014
Website: www.cornerstone.co.uk

Since launching in 2014, Cornerstone has picked up a number of accolades from Startups.co.uk including People’s Champion at the Startups Awards for two consecutive years and a ranking in last year’s Startups 100 index.

Now, Cornerstone can add one more title to its burgeoning awards cabinet with a second appearance in the Startups 100; taking the 10th spot in our 2017 list.

For Oliver Bridge – a self-confessed sufferer of sensitive skin and razor burn –his eureka business moment came whilst browsing the razor aisles one lunchtime.

Overwhelmed by the choice of expensive and ineffective products on offer, he felt there had to be a better way. His simple solution was Cornerstone: a flexible online subscription service with own brand quality shaving products and toiletries.

Submitting their information online, customers simply enter how often they shave and which products they would like  to receive their selection on a regular schedule through the post.

A 24-strong team, Cornerstone now has more than 110,000 customers in the UK – a huge increase on the 37,500 it had signed up at the time of last year’s index publication.

So, what do the next 12 months hold for the business? Bridge tells us that we will see the company expand its range of grooming products into face wash, moisturiser, 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner and deodorant, as well the launch of its first ever app.

Bridge isn’t shy about his business ambitions: “I want to completely destroy the men’s aisle at Boots and have every man in the UK getting their toiletries from Cornerstone over the web – never having to set foot again in a shop for bathroom products. My ambition is to sell the business for £100m by 2020”.

If Cornerstone’ success so far is anything to go by, this goal could well be within reach for the 28 year-old entrepreneur.

Founders: Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor
Founded: November 2014
Website: www.socialchain.com

Since its inclusion at number 12 on last year’s index, social media marketing agency Social Chain has gone from strength to strength with the launch of a Berlin office and its incredibly successful “Manchester: Welcome to Zlatan’ viral marketing campaign, which reached 46 million people worldwide.

Founded by Young Guns Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor, the Manchester-based “internet-breaking” social media agency claims to be able to reach a global audience of more than 305 million people across 400 online communities, using deep research and analysis to create powerful and engaging campaigns.

As well as owning a range of internationally-known media brands such as Sporf, Student Problems and Love Food, in just two and half years, Social Chain has amassed a truly enviable list of major global clients including the likes of 20th Century Fox, ASOS, the BBC, McDonald’s, Spotify, Deliveroo, Puma, Disney and Universal to name a few.

In September last year it embarked on the first step of its expansion into North America with the launch of a New York office.

With a team with an average age of 22, it’s clear that Social Chain knows how to connect with the younger generation in a way that more established media companies could only dream of. Just one of the reasons it’s on target to generate a staggering £8m for 2017…

Founders: Matthew Milnes and Michael Hubbard
Founded: September 2014 (launched November 2014)
Website: www.leadstream.co.uk

For financial services businesses, finding prospective customers who want to learn more about their brand and buy into their products can be a difficult task. As Matthew Milnes and Michael Hubbard discovered when they witnessed busy brokers being inundated with leads that were destined to go nowhere.

Deciding that the market was crying out for innovation, Milnes and Hubbard founded LeadStream; a start-up specialising in online customer acquisition for financial services companies.

Instead of simply selling companies leads, after a customer has filled out its web form LeadStream verifies the lead over the phone – confirming whether or not they would like to speak to a broker. LeadStream then transfers the customer to the best company for their requirements.

In short, brokers get connected to customers who actually want a quote for their product.

The innovative service, which has secured a ranking among the Startups 100 top 10, attracts around 1,700 customer enquiries per day, and has garnered 1,862 four and five-star reviews. With 92 brokers, finance companies and intermediaries using LeadStream to purchase meaningful leads, LeadStream’s buyer numbers have surged – rising a whopping 300% from January to November in 2016.

This rapid growth has been reflected across the start-up’s operations. In March 2016, the business had 16 operators verifying leads each day, and by October this number had grown to 27. In the same time frame, the start-up increased its gross profitability by a staggering 3,605%.

LeadStream’s ambitious plans for the next two years include diversifying its range of products, expanding into other insurance-specific sectors, and growing from B2C (business to consumer) lead generation into B2B (business to business).

As LeadStream’s founders comment; “our rate of growth over the last three years has been incredible and we don’t want this to stop.”

Founders: Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka
Founded: August 2015 (Launched April 2016)
Website: bulb.co.uk

Having both worked in the energy industry for a number of years, it’s no surprise that when Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka finally had their lightbulb moment they named their business Bulb!

A 100% renewable energy supplier, the concept for Bulb was borne out of a bid to rally against ‘the ‘Big Six’ who the duo criticise for implementing expensive rates and shoddy customer service.

Claiming to offer prices 20% lower than its large competitors, Bulb prides itself on its clear and transparent service via its online portal – in contrast to “the complex and opaque” experience offered by others in the space.

Maintaining a close relationship with their members, Bulb even pays the exit fee which is traditionally imposed on new customers when moving from a competitor.

With the UK now home to an estimated 29 million energy consumers, Bulb certainly has an extensive market to tap into and has already achieved significant scale through predominantly word of mouth marketing.

Having an above average share of young urban users – who Wood and Gudka say are normally overlooked by energy corporates – Bulb’s renewable credentials and vision is certainly ambitious.

Talking to Startups.co.uk last year, Wood and Gudka outlined their plans:

“We want to have democratised renewable energy, be helping people reduce their usage by enabling new technologies like electric cars and domestic solar. We want to provide an example to energy suppliers all over the world that there’s a better way to provide energy.”

Now serving around 30,000 customers with growth at a rate of 400% per year, we think Bulb has a very bright future ahead of it….

Founder: Avin Rabheru
Founded: January 2014
Website: www.housekeep.com

Housekeep’s inclusion in the Startups 100 2017 marks an astonishing fourth appearance in the prestigious annual index after ranking 81st in 2014, shooting up to 27th in 2015 and climbing to 26 last year.

This being its last appearance in the index – based on eligibility –Housekeep has cleaned up with its best ranking yet in sixth place.

Founded by Young Gun Avin Rabheru, a former venture capitalist (VC) with investments in over 40 high-growth companies, the on-demand home cleaning platform has demonstrated consistently stellar growth and a commitment to innovation throughout.

The platform delivers high-quality, vetted cleaners to time-poor professionals in London for £12.50 an hour, offering one-off, weekly or fortnightly visits. Of that fee, Housekeep takes a £4.00 commission, with the cleaner taking the rest. From just a handful of customers and two cleaners at launch, the company has grown to more than 20,000 customer accounts with 1,000 recurring subscription contracts.

Notably, Housekeep was also crowned Service Business of the Year at the 2016 Startups Awards; beating off stiff competition from Clearabee and Play Consulting.

Rabheru asserts that coming up with the idea for Housekeep wasn’t a “lightbulb moment as such” but a “carefully thought out piece of industry analysis and understanding of what type of company can be successful”.

Now, on the back of its continued success, the next 12 months will see Housekeep scale its service to more than 10,000 regular subscription customers and 1,000 cleaners.

Once its cracked the £1bn London market, the company has ambitions to sweep into new geographies – after all, there’s a world of homes out there to clean and Housekeep is just the company for the job.

Founders: James Cox and Steve Reid
Founded: 2015 (Launched February 2016)
Website: www.simbasleep.com

Launched at the beginning of last year, SIMBA Sleep is the fast-rising rival in the e-commerce mattress market. Entering the fiercely fought “battle of the beds”, SIMBA’s a direct challenger to fellow UK heavyweight eve Sleep and US champion Casper with an offering that claims to be “the most advanced mattress in the world”.

Despite spending up to a third of our lives in bed, for many of us, buying a mattress is an expensive and confusing process – James Cox and Steve Reid set out to solve this with their one-type-fits-all solution.

Some people like firm, some like soft, some like springs and some like foam. SIMBA’s technology combines a layer of both foam and springs, which it says adapts to the weight and size of a person and shapes itself to ensure they get the right support – even if they’re sharing a bed with someone of a wildly different size.

SIMBA says this technology is backed up by none other than the Sleep to Live Institute – an organisation that operates the world’s largest data bank of body profiles, mapping 18 points of the body on 10 million people, allowing it to work out a bell curve of 180 million data points.

Now backed by £17.5m in funding, after closing £5m last October and a further £9m round in February, SIMBA promises it will continue to innovate and evolve, as it looks to create a mattress that allows you to sleep longer and more comfortably than any other product on the market.

Creating what it claims is world’s most advanced mattress is “just the start” – the next year will see the company attempt to not just double, but triple output, as it accelerates growth across Europe, Asia and the Middle East…

Founders: James Davidson, Graham Bosher, Karen Freeman, Steve Webster, Joe Inglis, Mark Holland, Paul Cooke, and Kat Linger
Founded: October 2013 (launched July 2014)
Website: www.tails.com

Touted as the UK’s “fastest growing pet food brand”, tails.com is on a mission to “change the world of pet food for good” by providing dogs across the country with food individually tailored to their unique nutritional needs.

This innovative start-up was founded by a team of dog lovers who had never been certain they were feeding their pets the food they truly needed. They realised that a single generic option couldn’t possibly give each and every size, age, gender and breed of dog the best combination of nutrients for healthy development.

So, in 2014, tails.com launched with a tailor-made dog food subscription service – though getting established as a reliable brand while disrupting tradition and carving out a new section of the market was no mean feat.

However, within just one year the business appeared to be making a tangibly positive impact on dogs and their owners. The founders received hundreds of happy testimonials and photographs from customers who were thrilled with the positive changes they’d seen in their dogs.

It’s not too surprising, then, that tails.com now sends monthly packages to over 65,000 regular customers, has been able to expand to offer a range of products including wet food and treats, and took home the title of Product Business of the Year at the Startups Awards 2016.

Keeping customers at the heart of what they do, tails.com uses photographs of customers’ dogs in its marketing and communications – which has proved a winning idea, increasing sales and fostering a happy, interactive consumer base, over 90% of which give tails.com a five-star rating.

tails.com has big aspirations for 2017, with a goal of becoming a £20m-turnover company by the end of the year, and plans to expand internationally and launch a new range of treats and accessories. We predict that tails.com will be making man’s best friend happier for many years to come.