Entries for the Startups 100 2018 – this year’s index of the UK’s top 100 most exciting start-ups to have launched in the last three years – officially closed at midnight on Tuesday 3 April, and excitement is now mounting for the index’s reveal on 21 May 2018.

Ahead of the reveal, we caught up with Michael Teixeira, CEO at MVF – which was ranked in third position in the Startups 100 2012 – to discuss the many impressive milestones that the business has hit since being listed, and how the ranking helped to enable these feats.

Founded by Titus Sharpe, Tom Morgan, Jules Hopkinson, David Walton and Simon Venturi in 2009, MVF is an award-winning, rapidly-growing customer generation firm, which Teixeira joined in 2012. Having acquired Startups.co.uk in February 2017, MVF is now our parent company – a stunning example of the tremendous growth it has experienced since we featured it as a young start-up six years ago.

So, what has the business achieved since the Startups 100 2012, and what did featuring mean to MVF? Read on to find out…

How big was MVF when it featured in the Startups 100 2012?

MVF’s inclusion on the Startups 100 in 2012 actually coincided with a pretty huge milestone for us – we hit 100 team members! At this point we’d launched our own business-to-business comparison site, ExpertMarket, and were gaining some serious momentum in the London tech scene.

That being said, we were much smaller than we are today, with revenues of just over £8m for the year to March 2012.

What did it mean to MVF be recognised by the Startups 100 index?

Being featured in such a prestigious awards programme was a real highlight for us, and genuinely helped to put our company on the map.

From the launchpad that was the Startups 100, MVF went on to take the number one position in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2013. So really, from 2009, when MVF was founded, to 2012 there was a huge period of growth, but we’re pleased to say our growth has continued since then!

In what ways has MVF grown since 2012?

Our revenue growth has remained strong – revenues are about nine times greater now than they were in 2012 – and so we are still ranking on high growth lists like Inc. 5000 Europe and the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, but we’ve also grown in many other really exciting ways.

In 2015 we opened our first international office in Austin, Texas to ramp up our US growth and we’ve continued to expand our customer generation services into more product areas and more markets (we generate customers in around 120 countries at last count!).

Today, we’re at almost 500 team members across the globe, and we’re proud to have been able to build a really great place for them work.

Most importantly, over this period we’ve made massive advances in our business model and technology platform to better serve our clients and drive return on investment for them, creating a strong foundation for our next stage of growth.

What does the next year hold for the business?

Well, this year kicked off with a bang; we acquired leading US tech news site Tech.co. This is really exciting for us as we continue to build our global audience and expand into even more new product areas.

We also achieved our highest ranking ever on the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list, coming in at number one for London and number two for the UK.

I think this year will see some major changes in the digital marketing sector, for example with Facebook being under political pressure to make policy changes, and regulatory changes such as the GDPR, and I’m excited about the opportunities this will provide for us compared with less sophisticated advertisers.

The capability we have built up over the last year means we are in a good position to launch into even more new product areas over the next year!

Why do you think start-ups should apply for the Startups 100 2018?

The start-ups sector is hugely competitive, particularly in tech, so it can be hard to really put your stamp on things and get noticed, perhaps now more than ever.

Even if you don’t make the final list, taking the time out to apply for these sorts of things can help you reflect on what you’ve achieved so far and what work you’ve still got to do to get to where you want to be.

Entries are rolling in for the Startups 100 2018 – the official annual index ranking the UK’s 100 most exciting start-ups launched in the last three years.

Alongside being the definitive countdown of the country’s best new businesses, an industry-renowned endorsement and an opportunity to impress investors, customers and prospective talent (and don’t just take our word for it), the Startups 100 is also the longest-running index of its kind.

In fact, this year marks a whole decade since the first Startups 100 went live in 2008.

Over the past 10 years, the buzz surrounding the index has escalated, and 2017’s index was bigger and better than ever before.

High-profile press outlets were quick to cover Startups 100 2017 – including Forbes and The Independent – with the index featuring more new entries than ever before for businesses from across the UK; from Scotland and Yorkshire to Bristol and Bournemouth, and featuring a diverse mix of 193 start-up founders ranging in age from 22 to 59.

Now, though, we’re casting our minds back even further than 2017.

To celebrate the index’s 10-year anniversary, we’re reflecting on 14 of the businesses we featured in the Startups 100 2008 and what they’ve achieved since we shone a light on them as largely unknown start-ups.

Many have gone on to become household names and industry giants, but all have enjoyed incredible growth. Read on for their success stories…

TrustedPlaces.com

2008 ranking: Number four

Then: Notorious for the fact that co-founders Sokratis Papafloratos and Walid Al Saqqaf were so dedicated to the business that it cost them their girlfriends, TrustedPlaces.com’s user numbers had quadrupled over the months prior to its feature.

Now: Just two years on from the Startups 100 2008, the online review site for pubs, restaurants, hotels, travel, home maintenance providers and more was attracting 700,000 unique users every month.

This didn’t go unnoticed, and in 2010 the business was acquired by Yell Group for an estimated £2m.

As part of the deal, Young Gun Papafloratos became Yell’s head of social products in the UK, while the tech and reviews developed and curated by TrustedPlaces.com were integrated into Yell’s offering. Papafloratos went on to co-found Togethera, Upshot and Penny.

Yotel

2008 ranking: Number seven

Then: Launched by YO! Sushi founder and former Dragon Simon Woodroffe OBE, Yotel was inspired by Japanese capsule hotels, marrying luxury and technology with space maximisation. 2007 had seen the hotels launch at Gatwick and Heathrow airports under the YotelAIR brand.

Now: Yotel plans to have opened 15 hotels across the world by 2019. The past decade has seen it open in two more airports – Schipol, Amsterdam and Charles de Gaulle, Paris – and in New York, Singapore and Boston.

The business has also signed deals to open more hotels in Amsterdam, London, Singapore, San Francisco, Miami, Edinburgh and Dubai.

Making a name for itself as tech-inspired, every hotel has electronic check-in and control panels for lights and air conditioning. As well as occupation sensors, Yotel New York is famously home to a robotic luggage concierge named the YOBOT.

Simon Woodroffe OBE: Yotel

Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Sauce

2008 ranking: Number 14

Then: Musician Levi Roots’ range of spicy Jamaican sauce was known for its musical Dragons’ Den pitch, which captured hearts with a memorable jingle in 2007. As a result, the sauces had launched in Sainsbury’s and Roots was hosting his debut TV series, Caribbean Food Made Easy.

Now: Surpassing his sauce’s fame, Roots himself has become a successful and diverse brand. His product range has expanded to include ready meals, meal kits, soft drinks, pasties, cakes, snacks, wraps and seasonings, and in December 2015 Roots opened his own restaurant – Levi Roots’ Caribbean Smokehouse – in Westfield Stratford City.

To date, the entrepreneur has published six cookery books and a business book, and has also launched a mobile app, Levi Roots Sunshine Food, which contains 65 searchable recipes.

Levi Roots: Reggae Reggae Sauce

Huddle

2008 ranking: Number 15

Then: Described as the Facebook for enterprise, Alastair Mitchell and Andy McLoughlin’s online collaboration and project management network had just secured £2m VC funding after undergoing the g2i investment programme.

Now: Used by over 160,000 organisations and with more than 1.5 million active workspaces and 26 million documents managed through its software, Huddle now has offices in London, San Francisco, Washington DC and New York.

Having gone on to take the number one spot in the Startups 100 2010, by 2012 the cloud-based service had raised approximately $40m funding. In 2017, the business was acquired by US private equity firm Turn/River for an estimated $89m.

SuperJam

2008 ranking: Number 18

Then: Scottish native Fraser Doherty had been making and selling his 100% fruit jams since the tender age of 14. When his business, SuperJam, made the Startups 100 2008, it had just been stocked in Waitrose and Tesco.

Now: SuperJam has now sold millions of jars in 2,000 supermarkets across seven different countries. The business has been entered into the National Museum of Scotland as an iconic Scottish brand, and its range has expanded to include 100% nut peanut butter and all-natural honey.

Doherty has found success as a public speaker and serial entrepreneur, having also founded Envelope Coffee and co-founded Beer52. Awarded Young Gun status in 2011 and an MBE in 2014, Doherty has penned a cookbook and a business book.

Moshi Monsters

2008 ranking: Number 26

Then: Started by Michael Acton Smith in 2006, the online platform on which children could design and raise virtual pet monsters in a closely-monitored space showed the all makings of popularity, with merchandise and accessories launching.

Now: If you have children or spend any of your time anywhere near a primary school, you’ll know Moshi Monsters. An ongoing craze, the website is active in 150 territories worldwide and now boasts a reported one billion users.

The franchise’s ever-expanding list of products includes a best-selling Nintendo DS game, countless toys (including McDonalds Happy Meal giveaways) and Moshi Monsters Magazine, which was reported to be the UK’s top selling children’s magazine in 2011.

Not to mention the feature film Moshi Monsters: The Movie, released in 2013.

Michael Action Smith: Moshi Monsters

MOO

2008 ranking: Number 27

Then: Having secured deals with Flickr, Second Life and Bebo, 55% of online printing service MOO’s business was coming from the US – and founder Richard Moross told us he was surprised by the growing international demand.

Now: Today, MOO prints premium business cards for millions of customers in almost 200 countries, with over 400 employees across six locations in the UK and the US.

While it also serves small businesses, MOO’s roster of larger clients includes Google, Buzzfeed, Monotype and Airbnb.

In 2015, the business received a £3m investment from Barclays, and in 2016 MOO reported revenue of £71m. Young Gun Moross, now an MBE, has been named in The Telegraph’s 1,000 Most Powerful People in British Business and The Guardian’s top 10 most influential people in digital media.

Ella’s Kitchen

2008 ranking: Number 32

Then: Inspired by founder Paul Lindley’s daughter Ella and his desire to combat childhood obesity, Ella’s Kitchen had secured a revenue-sharing deal with Viacom in February 2006. The start-up had gone on to sign Sainsbury’s as its first major stockist, appearing in 338 stores.

Now: Sold in supermarkets across Europe and the UK as well as in China, Canada and the US, Ella’s Kitchen has a presence in 16 markets and is said to have a whopping 30% share of the baby food sector.

Having sold to The Hain Celestial Group in May 2013 for £66m, the brand has reportedly achieved global turnover of $121m.

In late 2017, Lindley was a judge for the Startups Awards 2017, drawing on his experience of growing a small business into a global success.

Paul Lindley: Ella’s Kitchen

Bulldog

2008 ranking: Number 42

Then: Founded by Rhodri Ferrier and Simon Duffy, when we featured all-natural men’s skincare range Bulldog in the Startups 100 2008, it was stocked in Sainsbury’s and on course to turnover an impressive £500,000 in its first full year.

Now: Today, Bulldog sells its paraben-free, vegan grooming products across the UK, Europe, Asia and the US. In 2016, the brand signed a deal with major US retailer Walgreens which saw it stocked in 2,000 of the firm’s stores.

In the same year, Young Guns Ferrier and Duffy’s award-winning brand expanded its range of skin and body care products to include shaving and beard care products.

Far from its year one predictions, in 2014 it was reported that Bulldog had turned over £8m and was forecasting £11m revenue for 2015.

Notonthehighstreet.com

2008 ranking: Number 48

Then: It’s hard to imagine the retail giant as a start-up, but back when it first made the Startups 100 it was just two years old – though it had already experienced 600% growth in 2007, going on to host 800 sellers and close a round of funding in 2008.

Now: Notonthehighstreet.com now offers more than 200,000 products from over 5,000 independent sellers, and has gained a reputation as the place to find unique gifts for every occasion.

Along the way, the platform has collected countless accolades, including being named in LSEG’s 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain in 2015 and the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 more than once. In 2016, the business closed a £21m Series E round.

In recognition of their services to small businesses, co-founders Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish were awarded MBEs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list of June 2013.

Holly Tucker MBE: Notonthehighstreet.com

Zoopla

2008 ranking: Number 52

Then: Launched by Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain – formerly of the LOVEFiLM founding team – Zoopla was already being hailed as “the Wikipedia of the property market”.

Now: Since 2008, Zoopla has made no less than seven acquisitions to build and cement its market position, notably buying uSwitch in 2015 and Money.co.uk for a jaw-dropping £140m in 2017.

Avid football fans will recognise the business as the sponsor of West Bromwich Albion Football Club in 2012, with the company forming Zoopla Property Group in the summer of the same year. In June 2014, Zoopla was floated on the London Stock Exchange by Daily Mail and General Trust.

As of 2016, the business – which changed its name to ZPG plc last year – had a reported revenue of over £197m.

Tossed

2008 ranking: Number 66

Then: Started by Vincent McKevitt, Tossed’s salad bars were launched with a mission to bring exciting yet healthy food to market. In 2008, McKevitt had just been chosen as “the one to watch” in that year’s Courvoisier Future 500 shortlist’s food category.

Now: The Young Gun has proved that he was indeed one to watch. A mainstay of UK shopping centres and service stations and a beacon to drivers who want something healthier than Burger King, Tossed now has 16 salad bars across the UK and employs more than 150 people.

Most notably, however, the business made headlines in 2016 by opening the country’s first entirely cashless restaurant in Upper Thames Street & Coleman Street.

Tossed Holburn

pod

2008 ranking: Number 74

Then: With healthy fast food restaurant pod, founder Tim Hall wanted to promote healthy eating and sustainable production. In the two months prior to the Startups 100 2008, pod had achieved impressive growth which looked set to continue.

Now: If you live or work in London, chances are you’ve visited a pod store or found colleagues (or yourself) tucking into a pod lunch on more than one occasion.

With 23 shops and 300 employees across the capital, pod is a champion of nutritional eating at work and on the move, serving tens of thousands of customers per week. As well as in-store, pod also delivers food directly to offices and events across London.

Staying true to its ethical foundations, the business sources local food, minimises waste and uses sustainable and recyclable materials.

BrewDog

2008 ranking: Number 84

Then: Founded by James Watt and Martin Dickie, BrewDog aimed to bring quality craft beer to the people. Having previously sold at local markets, in 2008 the business’ growth potential was starting to show as it became Scotland’s biggest independent brewery.

Now: Now with 70,000 shareholders, BrewDog is famed for its wacky marketing stunts – including projecting nude photos of Dickie and Watt onto the Houses of Parliament, dropping stuffed cats from a helicopter and brewing at the bottom of the ocean.

With eight regular varieties, seasonal beers and its LoneWolf craft gin and vodka, the brand has opened bars across the UK, Europe, Brazil, Australia and the US; employing over 1,000 people.

In 2016 the business broke world records with a £10m equity crowdfunding campaign; the largest of its kind. Then, in 2017, the company hit unicorn status after raising £100m from TSG Consumer Partners. Earlier this year, BrewDog announced plans to build a $30m brewery in Brisbane, Australia.

Martin Dickie and James Watt: BrewDog

Where will your business be in 10 years? Join the ranks of these impressive businesses by applying to be featured in the Startups 100 2018 here! Entries close at midnight on Friday 23 March.

Two Startups 100-featured hosting management services are in the news this week, with Hostmaker expanding to three new European cities and Airsorted clinching £5m in Series A funding to support its own expansion plans.

Hostmaker expands to Florence, Cannes and Madrid

Launched by Young Gun Nakul Sharma in 2014, Hostmaker is a hospitality management service that helps over 1,000 homeowners manage their short-term rentals across London, Paris, Rome, Lisbon and Barcelona.

The company offers an in-house interior design service, “five-star hotel trained” operations staff, professional photography, daily pricing reviews and guest relations. It also looks after listings across Airbnb, TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

Hostmaker, which raised $15m in Series B funding in November 2017, will now launch in Florence, Cannes and Madrid later this month in order to capitalise on the growing European rental property market.

Sharma commented:

“We have continued our fantastic growth from previous years into 2018, and we are delighted to be able to announce these latest expansions. We will be rolling out the full service in the coming weeks and look forward to welcoming new customers and team members to Hostmaker.”

Airsorted lands £5m Series A

Founded in February 2015 by James Jenkins-Yates, Airsorted is a 24-hour hosting platform integrating guests booking and services from Airbnb, Expedia, Expedia, Booking.com and HomeAway.

launched in Paris, the company also operates in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Brighton, Bristol, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland.

The funding, which came from Pi Labs and Atami Capital, will enable it to embark on its ambition of expanding to 38 new cities by the end of 2019.

It will also help develop its automated technology including smart scheduling, auto-communication with guests and its API integrated channel management.

Jenkins-Yates said: “With our Series A funding and newly launched crowdfunding campaign, we want to expand our offering further to not only provide hosts with peace of mind when offering their homes to travellers, but also to guests by ensuring they have the most seamless stay possible.

“One of the ways we do this is by providing guests 24-hour check-in, which cuts out one of the many pain points associated with home sharing.”

We Are Colony, the two-time Startups 100-featured global streaming service, has been bought by sports media company Fantastec for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2013 by Sarah Tierney, Colony is an over-the-top video on demand (OTT VOD) service that allows film fans to gain exclusive access to content such as stills, deleted scenes, interviews, scripts, and reviews. It has registered users in 130 countries.

Fantestec is using new and emerging technologies to help fans better engage with their favourite sports, teams, and athletes, wherever in the world they are.

It was founded by Steve Madincea, a sports industry entrepreneur who has built and led sports sponsorship teams around the world.

It will now leverage Colony’s technology in its quest to serve sports fans, with new platforms and products to reach a worldwide audience.

Tierney, who was founder of BAFTA-winning television production company Clarity Productions, has become COO of Fantastec as part of the acquisition.

She commented: “In the face of enormous disruption across the film industry, we built Colony to empower content owners to easily reach engaged audiences around the world. Over the coming years, the sports industry will face similar levels of disruption from a globalising fan base along with rapidly changing tastes, demographics and habits.

“I am incredibly excited to join the Fantastec family and apply our advanced technology and comprehensive in-market experience to solving a range of challenges and opportunities in the sports sector.”

Madincea added: “What our first Fantastec acquisition means in practical terms is we can agree terms with any sport, team or athlete and have them up and running on a proven global OTT VOD platform very quickly.

“We feel this makes for a powerful offering as the rights holder defines the terms not the channel. The purchase of Colony aligns with Fantastec’s future fan vision to make engaging with sports more impactful via trailblazing technology.”

Recognising the 100 most exciting start-ups that the UK has to offer each year, the Startups 100 index has featured some truly exceptional businesses since it first launched in 2008.

For many businesses, their inclusion in the index helped to propel them to further success, with numerous featured start-ups having gone on to become household names, global industry leaders and unicorns.

To celebrate the launch of the Startups 100 2018 – for which entries opened yesterday – we’ve taken a look back at some of the index’s most promising and game-changing businesses. Prepare to be inspired…

2017

eve Sleep

Featured: 2016 (10th), 2017 (First)
Founded: January 2015 (launched February 2015)
Founders: Jas Bagniewski, Kuba Wieczorek, Felix Lobkowicz, James Fryer, Abid Ismail

When it took the top spot in last year’s index, eve Sleep – creator of the “world’s most comfortable” mattress – had seen tremendous growth since its 2015 launch.

In the year prior to snagging that coveted number one spot, the e-commerce-based mattress retailer had proved why it deserved the win: having grown revenues by a massive 355%, expanded to trade in 10 countries, and grown its team to 80 staff.

Not to mention that in May 2017, the start-up announced its IPO (initial public offering) on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Now, eve is still making in-roads. The business has raised £35m in its AIM listing and launched innovative partnerships with fellow sleep market brands.

It partnered with British label Folk Clothing to create a range of sleepwear and bedding (the first ever partnership between a fashion label and a mattress company, according to the start-up) in August 2017, and announcing a partnership with German department store Karstadt one month later.

Having launched a nationwide television advertising campaign late last year, eve is rolling out new products fast and internationalising at speed – and we predict that the business will continue to help customers to sleep soundly for a long time to come.

Well & Truly

Featured: 2016 (98th), 2017 (84th)
Founded: February 2015 (launched February 2016)
Founders: Sara Trechman and Maria Trechman

Retailing gluten-free, all-natural snacks, Well & Truly – which we had previously named one of 2016’s top new start-ups – made its second Startups 100 appearance in last year’s index, climbing 14 places to come in at number 84.

Since this listing, the start-up has continued to grow, launching a new product – sour cream and onion sticks – to compliment its existing range of tortilla chips and cheese sticks.

Well & Truly’s impressive roster of stockists now includes Tesco, Ocado, Whole Foods Market, Farmdrop and Amazon, alongside an active e-commerce channel.

Founded by sisters-in-law Sara and Maria Trechman, Well & Truly is one of the first truly gluten-freecrisp brands, and has proven that delicious yet healthy snacks can be a part of the booming free-from market.

In such a pioneering position, we can only expect this moreish start-up to continue to scale.

University Cribs

Featured: 2017 (95th)
Founded: November 2014 (launched October 2016)
Founders: Jack Jenkins, Daniel Jefferys and Christian Samuel

When University Cribs was featured in the Startups 100 2017, the business – which helps students search for term-time accommodation “stress-free” – boasted 150,000 fans across social media, while its site was working with 120 clients to advertise their properties to the thousands of students who use the site.

Now, University Cribs, whose team consists primarily of graduates, is only continuing its growth.

Four months after its Startups 100 2017 listing, the start-up clinched £450,000 seed funding from angel investors including Raffaelle Russo, director of Loc8Me; Dave Harvey and Tom Paine, co-founders of TeamLove; and the co-founders of Thor Companies.

The Welsh business now operates in 30 cities across the UK, with over 120,000 rooms listed for its users’ perusal, and in October 2017 the platform introduced a disruptive virtual reality element to its property viewing options.

This enables clients to use 360-degree photography and image-stitching to provide a VR representation of their property – which in turn gives students a more accurate view of the space.

Committed to making searching for accommodation easier for students, University Cribs’ new innovation – along with its position as the inaugural recruit of Jim Duffy’s Moonshot Academy accelerator – is certain to propel the start-up further into a position of leadership in the student rental market.

2016

Social Chain

Featured: 2016 (12th), 2017 (Ninth)
Founded: November 2014
Founders: Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor

It’s said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and Social Chain’s declaration that it can make anything the top trending topic on Twitter in under 30 minutes was bold to say the least.

Put to the challenge by both Buzzfeed and Channel 5, the start-up passed with flying colours, and its outstanding success helped cement its spot in the Startups 100 2016.

Having since expanded to operate in Manchester, London, Berlin and New York, the start-up revealed in July 2016 that it was behind the viral “Manchester: Welcome to Zlatan” billboard that celebrated the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United.

Viewed by 46 million people worldwide, the controversial billboard campaign received widespread coverage on the likes of ESPN and Sky Sports.

Later, during the Championship Play-Offs in May 2017, Social Chain generated 24 million impressions for client Sky Bet by pushing a catchy hashtag, sharing videos via Snapchat, offering prize tickets and filming fans’ reactions on the ground.

The final campaign video became the most-watched of that three-month period, beating videos from SportsBible, Manchester United and Manchester City.

It’s no wonder big brands are keen to get a piece of Social Chain’s viral magic, and the company’s star-studded roster of clients now includes the likes of Apple Music, DreamWorks, Amazon, FIFA, Universal, the BBC, Disney and more.

Having broken the top 10 in the Startups 100 2017, we predict Social Chain will make yet more headlines this year; with Bartlett having appeared in The Telegraph as ‘the Instagram King’ last August and the company being dubbed ‘Britain’s meme factory’ by The Guardian in January 2018.

Now, Bartlett has joined Startups.co.uk and Plusnet’s Plusnet Pioneers 2018 campaign, providing expertise, advice and inspiration to start-up entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Tails.com

Featured: 2016 (14th), 2017 (Fourth)
Founded: November 2013 (launched July 2014)
Founders: Mark Holland, Steve Webster, Karen Freeman, Kat Linger, Paul Cooke, Joe Inglis, Graham Bosher and James Davidson

Pet food business tails.com, which offers tailor-made chow for man’s best friend, had a 120% jump in sales following its Startups 100 2016 appearance, and was later able to run a national TV commercial and brand film, directed by BAFTA-nominated Gary Tarn and narrated by Sir Michael Gambon.

Not just impressing canines across the country, tails.com also had our Startups Awards judges wagging their collective tails in late 2016 when the business walked away with the coveted Product Business of the Year award and took home Highly Commended and Commended accolades in the Retail Business of the Year and Tech Business of the Year categories respectfully.

In 2017, the business’ regular customer count topped 65,000, and the service was able to expand to offer new products including wet food and treats.

It also took home Highly Commended awards in the Service Business of the Year and People’s Champion categories at the Startups Awards 2017.

With over 90% of customers giving tails.com a five-star rating, the company told Startups’ it was aiming for a £20m turnover by the end of that year.

Zipjet

Featured: 2016 (11th)
Founders: Florian Färber and Lorenzo Franzi
Founded: September 2014

In 2016, we named Zipjet as the 11th best start-up in the UK.

Serving tens of thousands of customers and with offices in London and Berlin, we expected even better things from the business in 2017 – and just two weeks after appearing on our list, the start-up’s founding duo Florian Färber and Lorenzo Franzi announced they’d launched operations in Paris!

Taking on competition from the likes of Laundrapp and Laundryheap, the Startups Awards finalist for App of the Year 2016 later acquired corporate dry-cleaning business Asteria Cleaners and launched a partnership with Unilever’s Persil brand.

In July 2017, Zipjet closed a second round of funding from German consumer goods firm Henkel, which has been a strategic investor in the company since August 2016. The start-up has also been backed by Rocket Internet, btov and a series of strategic investors.

Going from strength to strength as a kingpin of the on-demand market, the business says that it now cleans thousands of Europe’s suits, shirts and dresses every month.

LendInvest

Featured: 2016 (First)
Founders: Christian Faes and Ian Thomas
Founded: May 2013

Topping our list for 2016, LendInvest were worthy winners of the Startups 100 that year. But has the business built on its success since?

Having raised over £230m, the peer to peer (P2P) marketplace for property lending and investing certainly had the financial resources to strengthen its position in the market.

Aiming to double its development finance lending in 2017, the online platform reported a 133% jump in revenue to £32m in 2016 – generating a cool £3.4m profit.

Looking to give even more to its industry, in September 2016 the London-based company opened a non-profit property development academy in partnership with the University of Reading – and the first of its two-day courses was oversubscribed ten times over.

To match demand, LendInvest launched further courses in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Edinburgh in 2017.

Since featuring in the index, LendInvest has launched new tailored loan products as well as a growing range of borrower products, and has been touted as “the largest online property marketplace in the UK” by ARC Rating.

Now growing at speed, when we caught up with co-founders Christian Faes and Ian Thomas last year they told us the business had “made the move now from a start-up to a scale-up”.

Seenit

Featured: 2015 (94th), 2016 (64th), 2017 (24th)
Founded: January 2014
Founder: Emily Forbes

Less than 24 months after landing a spot on our Startups 100 2016 index, Emily Forbes and her video-collaboration platform Seenit have achieved a number of new milestones.

Now working with over 100 businesses, including BBC Worldwide, Benefit, Radio 1, Adidas, Coca Cola and O2, tens of thousands of individuals across 42 countries have been involved in projects through the platform.

Named one of Five to Watch in 2016’s Young Guns programme, Forbes had her lightbulb moment while attending a rhino hunting protest in South Africa, where she realised the power of harnessing raw amateur footage to fuel engagement between big brands and consumers.

Claiming to have reached and engaged an estimated 17,000,000 people, it’s hardly surprising that in December 2016 the start-up took home the coveted Disrupt Cup at TechCrunch Disrupt London’s Startup Battlefield. Seeing off 14 other start-ups, Forbes and co. were awarded $50,000 in investment.

Now, the start-up has expanded to the US, which – in the year since Seenit appeared in the Startups 100 2016 – brought with it a 112% increase in revenue, with Seenit content broadcast across BT Sport, NBC Universal and the BBC.

Within 12 months of being featured in 2016, Seenit’s team grew from 10 to 25, and the ambitious business looked set to double its workforce by 2018.

2015

Onfido

Featured: 2015 (12th)
Founded: August 2012
Founders: Husayn Kassai, Ruhul Amin and Eamon Jubbawy

Back in 2015, we wrote that Onfido had a great chance of becoming “the world’s go to destination for background checks”.

Fast forward to 2018 and the Startups Awards 2016 Sage Startups Business of the Year now boasts at being bigger than all of its competitors – combined!

Founded by Young Guns and Oxford University graduates Husayn Kassai, Ruhul Amin and Eamon Jubbawy, the London-based start-up raised $25m in Series B funding to crack the US in April 2016 – and secured further funding from Salesforce Ventures and Talis Capital four months later.

After raising a $30m Series C in September 2017, the business’ total raised topped $60m.

A sign of the business’ emerging global dominance, Onfido is now operating in 192 countries, helping bring financial services to the two billion unbanked individuals worldwide by helping them to scan and verify identity documents.

Deliveroo

Featured: 2015 (Third)
Founded: August 2012 (launched February 2013)
Founders: William Shu and Greg Orlowski

Following a Series F round that brought in $480m in November 2017, Tech unicorn Deliveroo has so far raised almost $1bn worth of funding and is now valued at $2bn – despite only launching in 2013!

When we documented the business’ progress here in early 2017, it had grown to operate in over 35 UK cities and over 40 cities globally since its Startups 100 2015 listing. But the restaurant delivery service has experienced yet more exceptional growth in the last year, and now operates in 200 cities across the globe.

Founded by William Shu and Greg Orlowski, former investment banker Shu spent the first eight months of the business’ existence making its deliveries on his scooter, gaining first-hand knowledge of the logistics of take-away deliveries.

A mere five years later the story is quite different – and Shu has become a prominent name in the gig economy.

In September 2017 the UK’s fastest growing tech start-up (according to Tech5) confirmed that it employed 30,000 riders worldwide.

Three months later a study from Capital Economics found that Deliveroo had created 7,200 restaurant sector jobs and also contributed £460m to the industry’s revenue during the 12 months prior to June 2017.

Though Orlowski left the company in February 2016, the London-based market dominator and on-demand phenomenon shows no sign of stopping its rapid expansion – especially having recently announced plans to launch in India.

Purplebricks.com

Featured: 2015 (First)
Founded: April 2014
Founders: Michael Bruce and Kenny Bruce

Seeing off some very strong competition, Purplebricks took our Startups 100 top spot in 2015. A “true industry disrupter”, the estate agent gives users access to a 24/7 property platform which provides real time updates on every aspect of the property transaction.

Were we right to rank Purplebricks at the top spot? Well, the numbers speak for themselves. In June 2016 the start-up reported that its revenues had risen by a massive 448% to £18.6m in just 12 months – a huge achievement for a business just two years clear of its launch.

And having raised over £58m with a listing on the Alternative Investment Market AIM in December 2015, In February last year the business raised a further £50m to fund its expansion into the US – with Purplebricks now operating stateside and in Australia.

And, even more impressively, the business recently gained unicorn status.

With a national TV campaign featuring Amanda Lamb under its belt and a staggering billion-dollar valuation, will Purplebricks continue to go from strength to strength? We believe you can bet your house on it!

2014

Love Home Swap

Featured: 2013 (31st), 2014 (12th)
Founded: October 2011
Founder: Debbie Wosskow

Inspired by 2006 rom-com The Holiday, Debbie Wosskow founded holiday home-swapping service Love Home Swap in October 2011. Seven years later, the site lists over 54,000 homes in more than 160 countries worldwide.

Early on in its journey, Love Home Swap acquired a couple of its start-up rivals – Canadian competitor 1stHomeExchange in January 2013 and Dutch rival HomeForExchange in December 2015 – and entered into a strategic partnership with Wyndham Worldwide.

In July 2017, RCI, a division of Wyndham Worldwide, acquired Love Home Swap for a staggering £40m.

In recognition of these achievements and more, in June 2016 Wosskow was awarded an OBE for her services to business in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2016.

Keen to inspire and support fellow female entrepreneurs, in October 2016 Wosskow launched a new venture, AllBright Crowd, alongside Anna Jones, CEO of Hearst Magazines UK.

A female-focused crowdfunding platform, AllBright will support Wosskow’s vision to make the UK “the best place in the world to be a female founder”.

PROPERCORN

Featured: 2014 (18th)
Founded: October 2009 (launched October 2011)
Founders: Cassandra Stavrou and Ryan Kohn

Taking inspiration from her co-workers, who would feel guilty snacking in the afternoon, PROPERCORN co-founder Cassandra Stavrou made the risky decision to quit her job to realise her vision of creating “a snack without compromise”.

We can now firmly say that the risk was worth it! Climbing in at number 18 in the Startups 100 2014, PROPERCORN now sells over three million bags of popcorn per month across 11 countries, including the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, and has been touted as both the fastest-growing non-tech start-up and one of the fastest-growing snack brands in the UK.

Gluten free, low calorie, vegetarian-friendly and 100% natural, Stravrou and co-founder Ryan Kohn seem to have cracked a legitimately healthy snack food.

In recognition of their success, the pair were inducted into the Young Guns Class of 2014, and in 2015 the business ran its own competition: PROPERCORN Platform, which saw start-ups compete to win financial backing and mentorship from PROPERCORN.

In 2017, the business launched another competition which invited winners to use free desk space at PROPERCORN HQ for a week.

In August 2016 the brand bagged £7m investment from Piper Private Equity and JamJar Investments. The following year, Stavrou participated in the Startups Awards 2017 as one of our esteemed judges – having won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award herself at the 2015 ceremony.

Shopological (formerly SalesGossip)

Featured: 2013 (91st), 2014 (66th), 2015 (55th)
Founded: June 2011 (launched November 2012)
Founders: Elizabetta Camilleri and Emilio Sanz

Formerly known as SalesGossip, fashion marketplace Shopological aims to help users enjoy “noise-free shopping” by bringing them tailored updates on sales, competitions and trends – but only from the brands that they love.

Aiming to save time-stretched shoppers the hassle of checking each retailer individually while helping drive sales for the businesses themselves, the multiple award-winning site now operates across the UK and sees around 2,000 new registrations a day.

With over two million registered users and more than 1,400 brands currently on-site, co-founder and inspiring woman Elizabetta Camilleri’s ambitions are high.

In September 2016 Camilleri told Startups that, over the next three years, she wants Shopological to top 50 million users in 50 cities around the world.

Having secured nearly £2m in funding since launch including a £1.1m round in January 2016, the business looks well on its way to this milestone.

2013

Crowdcube

Featured: 2013 (16th), 2014 (15th)
Founded: February 2011
Founders: Darren Westlake and Luke Lang

When Darren Westlake and Luke Lang launched Crowdcube in 2011, it’s fair to say that crowdfunding was an alien concept to most UK entrepreneurs.

Fast forward seven years, and it’s become one of the most popular forms of alternative finance.

With 630 successful raises completed and over £390m invested to date, Crowdcube has become one of the most popular UK crowdfunding platforms – alongside Seedrs – for innovative start-ups looking to raise funds.

2017 was a record-breaking year for the platform, with £90m successfully invested in 148 businesses – £9m of which was invested through Crowdcube’s new app. Last year alone, 32 businesses raised £1m or more – a ground-breaking number for the business.

In January 2016, Startups 100-listed Brewdog closed the largest ever UK crowdfunding round using Crowdcube – securing a whopping £10m, with the average investment standing at £3,600.

Raspberry Pi

Featured: 2012 (67th), 2013 (Second)
Founded: December 2008 (launched February 2012)
Founders: Eben Upton, Jack Lang, Robert Mullins, David Braben, Alan Mycroft and Pete Lomas

Making its second consecutive appearance in 2013, social enterprise Raspberry Pi wanted to get kids interested in coding to address the UK’s digital skills gap – and it succeeded!

Thanks to the company’s credit card-sized, single-board microcomputers retailing at just £15, children all over the world are now able to learn programming by simply plugging the Raspberry Pi into their television and keyboard.

Just four years after Raspberry Pi launched, its products’ manufacturer Premier Farnell was bought for a staggering £615m by Swiss industrial components manufacturer Dätwyler Holdings in June 2016.

That year was also an exceptional one for co-founder Dr Eben Upton, who was awarded a CBE for his services to business and education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Still scaling unstoppably, in 2017 Raspberry Pi passed the 12.5 million sales mark, making it the third best-selling general purpose computer ever.

Seedrs

Featured: 2013 (62nd), 2014 (41st)
Founded: May 2009 (launched July 2012)
Founders: Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva

Initially intended to help seed-stage start-ups raise finance, like Crowdcube Seedrs has become a hugely popular destination for disruptive UK start-ups who are in search of investment.

The platform has gone from strength to strength since being featured in the Startups 100, and last year was a record-breaking one for the business – with a total of £125m invested through the platform (a 44% increase on 2016) and 168 campaigns funded.

Seedrs, which now has offices in London, Berlin, Lisbon, New York and Amsterdam, also completed over 130% more campaigns of £1m or more in 2017 than it did the previous year.

Notably, tennis star Andy Murray – who sits on the platform’s board of advisors – backed more than 10 start-ups through the platform in 2017.

With 4,200 backers, in August 2017 challenger bank Revolut set the record for the most participants in a single crowdfunding campaign when it raised £3.8m through the site.

Think you have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of these pioneering, innovative and successful UK start-ups? Apply for the Startups 100 2018 index here.

Startups.co.uk is calling on the cream of the crop of UK start-ups to enter the prestigious annual Startups 100 2018 index.

This is the ninth year for the Startups 100 – the longest-running ranking of its kind – which celebrates the country’s most disruptive, promising, and exciting early-stage businesses launched in the last three years.

Awarded Silver Editorial Campaign of the Year by the British Media Awards, many Startups 100 alumni companies have gone on to achieve global success and have  become household names including Notonthehighstreet.com, Deliveroo, PROPERCORN and Hello Fresh.

More than just recognition in an industry-renowned index, Startups 100 companies can attract new clients, receive free PR on a national scale, and secure investment – many alumni companies have attracted investors via the Startups 100.

eve Sleep took the much-coveted top spot in the Startups 100 2017 index after achieving exceptional global growth.

Since its win, the business has gone on to cement its position as one of the most aspirational businesses in the UK, forming a partnership with Mothercare for Finnish-style baby boxes, and moving into a new vertical with fashion brand Folk for sleepwear and bedding.

Also named in the Startups 100 2017 index were some of the UK’s most promising up-and-coming brands including Monzo, MysteryVibe, Pip & Nut, and Bulb. Between them, the 100 businesses featured in the Startups 100 2017 employed 2,187 staff and had an average turnover of £1.64m.

To be eligible for the Startups 100 2018, your business must be UK-based, privately owned and must have launched on, or after, January 1 2015.

Your company will be judged according to the following criteria:

• An innovative USP
• Exceptional founders
• Employee numbers and contribution to the company
• Amount of funding raised or impressive organic growth
• Traction to date, including current financials
• Potential for growth
• Global ambitions

If you think your business has what it takes, enter the Startups 100 2018 here. The index will be announced on May 21 2018.

Megan Dunsby, projects editor of Startups.co.uk, commented:

“We’re proud to have identified some of the UK’s most exciting up-and-coming businesses over the last few years and celebrated the start-ups that showcase the rich and diverse entrepreneurial landscape that exists in this country.

“Whether it’s your maverick approach, funding success, or huge potential, if you think your business has what it takes to be included in the illustrious Startups 100 index we want to hear from you.

“In return you’ll receive widespread exposure and recognition. Don’t hesitate! Enter the Startups 100 2018 today!”

The deadline for entries is 23 March 2018. Don’t miss your chance to enter the Startups 100 and Tweet your support using #Startups100.

Startups 100-featured Climb Online, the digital marketing agency founded by Apprentice-winner and Young Gun Mark Wright, has launched an online training resource to help close the UK’s growing digital skills gap.

Climb Academy gives both learners and professionals the chance to improve their skills in search engine optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and social media management. Candidates who complete the courses are able to access marketing roles at a business or agency

Launched in January 2015, Climb Online is a digital marketing agency that provides clients with services in paid media, digital branding, SEO, data analysis and social media. It has offices in London, Essex, Manchester, and Bristol – launched after Wright read Startups.co.uk’s Start-up Cities Guide on why Bristol is the UK’s top city to start a business.

Its 400-strong client base includes the likes of Groupon, Be Wiser Insurance, Imagine Cruising, CV Library, Dickies, and Tropic.

In September 2017, Mark Wright told Startups.co.uk why he is “the most successful Apprentice winner there’s ever been”, after Climb Online surpassed £4m in turnover in January 2017. By December 2018, the agency is expecting to hit £7.5m.

Wright commented: “I can’t believe Climb Online is already three years old. The business has exceeded all my expectations, and our hard work continues to pay off. I love coming into work each day, watching my team develop and helping our clients achieve their growth objectives.

“If the last few years are anything to go by, we are building a business that is going to do great things in both the UK and overseas – whilst helping other aspiring professionals succeed within the digital marketing sector through the new Climb Academy.”

Lord Sugar added: “It’s been a brilliant three years for Climb Online. […] 2018 is set to be another excellent year with the launch of the Climb Academy, enabling us to support wider skills development, whilst providing us with an additional revenue stream.”