Founder: Tamara Rajah
Founded: 2015
Website: www.livebetterwith.com

There are more than two billion people around the world living with long term health conditions and Live Better With wants to make their lives, well, better.

Founded by Tamara Rajah in 2015, Live Better With is already improving the lives of people with cancer and dementia, and those going through the menopause by offering a whole range of services.

More than 200,000 people have signed up to its online community to share their stories, experiences, and to extend solidarity to other users. Meanwhile, it also offers a range of expert advice with its online content, which has been specifically tailored to help users and their carers. It also offers a support directory to help users find local support, offers on community services, and cancer travel insurance products.

However, it also runs an ecommerce service selling non-medical products. Currently, it has more than 1,500 products online ranging from skin creams to sleep aids. As with everything Live Better With does, the online store is extremely user friendly, listing products according to the symptoms they alleviate.

The most important thing you need to know about Live Better With, though, is that its users love it. 87% of its users said they can live better with a side effect of their treatment, 88% have said they’ve learnt something new and useful about their condition, and a whopping 90% of users would recommend Live Better With as a source of support.

While Live Better With can’t cure everyone, it’s certainly making each day that little bit better to live with.

Founders: Daniel Jefferys and Jack Jenkins
Founded: 2019
Website: www.resooma.com

Renting can be a chore – dealing with landlords and property agents can be slow, and not everyone can pay expensive deposits and other hidden fees.

Resooma, on the other hand, is an online platform that wants to make renting as easy as buying anything else online. It claims to have cut down the process from searching to signing from days to just twenty minutes.

Founded in 2019 by Daniel Jeffreys and Jack Jenkins, Resooma makes use of technology such as e-contracts and VR to help renters find their perfect home and sign forms in minutes rather than months. You can even add utilities and split bills using Resooma – which should help quell feuding housemates.

This use of tech makes Resooma a hit with young people who are used to next-day deliveries and on-demand content. And, with 16-25 year olds being the most likely to rent, it seems as if the sky’s the limit for Resooma.

Operating with a SaaS model, listing properties is completely free on Resooma, and nor does it take money from renters. Instead, the company charges B2B clients for each successful transaction. It also uses a commission service to charge for complementary services such as utility and insurance management.

There are more than 200,000 empty houses in Britain and Resooma’s hoping its simple end-to-end service will be able to fill them – one room at a time, if needs be.

Founder: Rachel Carrell
Founded: 2016
Website: www.korukids.co.uk

It wasn’t until Koru Kids founder Rachel Carrell had her baby that she realised accessing childcare in London was incredibly difficult. With the childcare sector being one of the last remaining sectors not to be disrupted by technology, she saw space for a company that used technology to provide a complete childcare solution – so Koru Kids was born.

Koru Kids allows parents to share childcare on a larger scale, making it easier and cheaper to have kids looked after. At the moment, it focuses on providing after school childcare in London, but with backing from big names in business – including Gumtree co-founder Michael Pennington – Carrell is determined to make Koru Kids the company parents turn to for kids of all ages.

Carrell and her team take no shortcuts. All of their decisions are heavily influenced by data, and all team members are experts in their field. Last year, over 130,000 people applied for nanny positions, but only 10% went on to become Koru Kids nannies. All nannies complete a special in-house training program and they’re all DBS checked.

This approach has led to great feedback from parents, fantastic media coverage, and several industry awards. This, combined with very healthy investor backing, means we’re confident that we’re going to see further success from Koru Kids in the future.

Founder: James Beddows
Founded: 2016
Website: www.rideto.com

Riding a motorbike has an enduring allure for millions of Brits. However, the process of actually getting there is rather less thrilling – working out what licence you need, completing mandatory training, choosing a bike, and getting insured can dampen the enthusiasm of even the most fervent motorcycle devotee.

Finding himself in this position in 2016, James Beddows set out to make things easier. The result is RideTo, an online platform that combines advice and bespoke functionality to make it easier than ever to go from novice to qualified motorcyclist. And, in just four years, RideTo has become the UK’s number one platform for new riders.

The ability to easily find the right training course in a couple of clicks is central to RideTo’s appeal – the platform has partnered with schools and instructors in 80 UK cities, and users can book in seconds. For aspirant riders, this means an unprecedented amount of choice in one place, and for instructors, it means less time worrying about admin and more time doing what they do best – sharing their motorcycling passion and expertise.

Once training is completed, RideTo still supports riders every step of the way, with advice on insurance and buying bikes, as well as a jobs board for those who want to make a living on two wheels.

After an initial entry at 97 on the Startups 100 list for 2018, RideTo has already zoomed up to 69 in 2020 and – with plans for European expansion – expect this dynamic startup to continue motoring along the road to business success.

Founders: Guy Harrington
Founded: 2018
Website: www.glenhawk.com

The short-term lending market is extremely valuable (c. £4.5bn) but plagued with issues, such as high fees, unapproachable lending teams, a lack of transparency, and questionable ‘loan-to-own’ approaches. In 2018, Guy Harrington decided to tackle these problems with a new company: Glenhawk (as featured in Startups 100 2019).

And boy did Glenhawk disrupt the market. The firm prides itself on being an ethical presence within a rather famously unethical industry, determined to combat all the problems that borrowers typically face. Most impressively, in April 2019 Glenhawk became the first bridging lender to launch a free valuation offering, as well as charging zero admin or exit fees.

This friendly approach to the bridging loan market went down a storm. Within 2019, the firm generated over £1.4bn of loan enquiries, and passed £100m of lending. What’s more, massive US bank J.P. Morgan has got involved, pledging to support Glenhawk’s new senior funding line.

If all goes to plan, Glenhawk will enter the homeowner mortgage market this year, and by the end of 2021, the company aims to have a UK loan book worth £200m. This support from J.P. Morgan is a big string to their bow.

Glenhawk is a true champion of transparency and fairness, and we’re all for it.

Founder: John Robertson
Founded: 2016
Website: www.shoply.co.uk

You know that feeling when you really want to shop local and support small businesses, but you just can’t be bothered? When that nice shop down the road sells exactly what you need, but it’s drizzling and you can just order the same stuff online?

This is not a new problem. It is at least four years old, hence why John Robertson came up with Drinkly way back in 2016. People will pay for convenience – that is a fact, and Robertson has taken this fact and absolutely gone with it.

Drinkly core focus used to be drinks-on-demand, delivering chilled beers, wines, and spirits to booze-thirsty households in Edinburgh. Within three years, it had broken its Edinburgh boundaries, sprouting in Glasgow and all the way down to London. December 2019 saw the company rake in a mightily lucrative crowdfund (£250,000), and by Spring 2020 Drinkly had spawned a brother: Shoply. At last, it was food and drink on the menu.

It’s the ideal collaboration. Charming, local high-street shops and independent businesses provide the goods, while Drinkly/Shoply provides the online sales platform. Millennials are tech-savvy but time-poor, and Robertson has plugged the gap.

There are over 20 retailers on Shoply, but the company is targeting a total of 150 by the end of this year. Cop that!

Founder: Ashley Friedlein
Founded: 2018
Website: www.guild.co

Imagine Whatsapp for businesses. Back in 2018, that’s essentially what founder Ashley Friedlein came up with. The future of work is only going to get more digital, more remote, more mobile, and Friedlein has concocted software to capitalise on this.

Guild is an online messaging app designed for companies who need something simple and affordable, but still secure enough for business use. Crucially, unlike workflow platforms like Slack and Teams, Guild can be used inter-personally across organisations. For example, any business with a subscription to Slack can (in most cases) only send messages to its own employees. Get Guild, and you can contact any other business in the Guild-o-sphere!

Guild’s starter plan is pretty generous, too – businesses who want to give it a try can get a one month free trial. Then, if they’re happy with their first whirl, they can make that whirl last a whole while longer, paying a monthly or annual fee based on the number of users they have.

Guild currently has hundreds of customers across a variety of different sectors, and you only need to take one look at Guild’s swish website to see that these guys really know their tech.

Founder: Merlie Calvert
Founded: 2017
Website: www.farill.io

Running a small business is tough, and one of the biggest challenges for any entrepreneur is understanding business law. Farillio is here to fix that, with a dedicated resource library that explains exactly what you need to know and leaves out all the jargon.

Farillio was founded by lawyer and serial entrepreneur Merlie Calvert in 2017, who saw that SMEs up and down the country needed help understanding contracts, navigating the complexities of HR, protecting their intellectual property (IP), and doing all the other things that require forms and official documents. So, with the help of some seriously clever folks, she built it.

The Farillio proposal is simple. For a set monthly fee, SMEs and freelancers get access to an online library that teaches you everything you could ever need to know about business law, and has loads of great advice on running a small business.

There are articles, videos and even GIFs, all of which guide you through the complexities of business law and government regulations from the perspective of a small business owner.

Even more importantly, the resources and templates on Farillio help businesses create their own official documents, everything from contracts to shareholder agreements. And, if a business gets really stuck, it can get legal advice on a pay-as-you-go basis.

With its mission to help the UK’s army of SMEs, we’re big fans of Farillio (this is now their second appearance in the Startups 100 list), and can’t wait to see which businesses this innovative startup will help guide to greatness next.

Founders: Elettra Bianchi Dennerlein, Dr Elena Touroni, Vasileios Touronis, Dr Tom Pennyback
Founded: 2018
Website: www.myonlinetherapy.com

While the awareness of mental health issues in the UK continues to steadily increase, visiting a therapist for support is still an almost unimaginable step for many people. Cost, social stigma, and accessibility continue to be key stumbling blocks for many people struggling with their mental health.

However, by offering private online sessions at a lower cost than seeing an in-person therapist, My Online Therapy is breaking down all these barriers in a drive to help tackle the nation’s mental health crisis.

Founded by Elettra Bianchi Dennerlein, Dr Elena Touroni, Vasileos Touronis and Dr Tom Pennyback in 2018, My Online Therapy is a straightforward, transparent provider of mental health support. Following an initial online questionnaire, users are matched based on their needs with a qualified and experienced psychologist, and, after a 30 minute taster session, move on to a programme of regular virtual appointments.

These appointments are delivered via video chat or text live chat, depending on what the user feels most comfortable with. Another option is daily coaching, where the therapist will respond once a day Monday to Friday, and the user can get in contact whenever they need support. All these options have fixed fees, which are the same for all therapists on the platform.

With a strong commitment to professional standards, My Online Therapy offers all the benefits of a private therapy clinic in your home, and is poised to play a key role in helping the UK to address its mental health issues. With a growing user-base and high profile support from brand ambassador Professor Green, we have high hopes for this startup and the impact it can have.

Founders: Tom Pickersgill, James Doyle, Nick Groves
Founded: 2016
Website: www.broadstoneapp.com

Orka Technology Group was already making waves with its AI powered recruitment solution when it featured in the Startups Top 100 list last year (as Broadstone), and it’s only continued to develop that platform.

Founded by Tom Pickersgill, James Doyle, and Nick Groves in 2016, Orka aims to help workers find fair, flexible, temporary employment with large corporations – and it’s succeeding!

Orka uses artificial intelligence, data, and automations to connect organisations with a community of talented flexible workers. It works by downloading the Orka app, which lets workers create a profile and receive notifications about jobs with reputable organisations.

Orka operates within regulated industries, and its app reflects the needs that workers and employees face – its speedy background checks are a big part of getting work quickly and avoiding steep agency fees.

For workers, Orka offers security, structure, and opportunity – pay is instantly accessible upon completion of their shift, holiday is accrued, and PAYE contributions are taken care of.

A gamified element rewards professionalism and discourages no-shows, building value around workers’ merits rather than focussing purely on availability.

Orka has attracted five of the top 10 security companies in the UK as clients, and gained over 30,000 users in the UK looking for shift-based work in regulated sectors. The demand is obviously there, and Orka has the tools to step up and answer that call.

In fact, Orka’s plan to grow its global presence in 2020 has turned up a strong focus on the North American market, and has announced integrations with both Exitracker and TrackTik – a sure sign that Orka is serious about promoting fair working across the globe!