Founders: Rishi Chowdhury and George Johnston
Founded: 2018
Website: incube.space

When founders Rishi Chowdhury and George Johnston noticed that property owners weren’t maximising their real estate’s potential, they formulated a business model that could help both the landowners and their tenants experience an easier and more beneficial work environment.

How does it work? The business provides cubes to transform spaces into functional working environments, without changing the structure of the building or room itself. Everything is supported by tech – the cube wall panels come with an inbuilt smart office technology stack, which can include anything from environmental sensors and voice assistants to space utilisation cameras and door access systems.

Incube Space are newcomers to the Startups 100 list – and for a newcomer to come in at number 42 is no small feat. They have won a couple other awards in their so-far short lifetime, including being nominated for Most Innovative Proptech Business at the UK PropTech Association (UKPA) Awards 2019.

Incube also took the initiative during the COVID-19 outbreak, quickly developing COVID-safe cube workspaces to help people stay safe while getting back to work in a volatile time.

As for their upcoming plans, Incube Space has its hands full with the COVID-proof cubes for now, but they are a company worth keeping tabs on. As they expand and assimilate more revolutionary and cost-effective workspaces, it may only be a matter of time before we see the new Incube workspace become the standard.

Founder: Justin Powlesland
Founded: 2015
Website: www.jhprecruitment.com

JHP Recruitment hit the veterinary scene back in 2015 after founder Justin Powlesland wanted to inject a bit more compassion into the industry. It started, like all good businesses, in his garage. And while his office may have changed, his approach hasn’t – he personally recruited vets who displayed the values he was looking for, and has grown his company on the foundation of these values.

And this approach works. Recruiting both locum and permanent vets, the team is now 16 strong and works with over 2,500 clinics in the UK.

JHP Recruitment came 86th in last year’s Startups 100 list, so the jump up to 41 is massive. In the past year, they’ve grown exponentially, once again winning the “Best Veterinary Recruitment Specialist – UK” at the LUX Pet Product & Services Awards, as well as the “Best Start Up Company” at the Express and Echo Awards.

There is another side to the business worth mentioning, and something which Powlesland is really passionate about – supporting charities. In 2019 their chosen charity was ‘Vetlife’ – which provides independent support to the veterinary community, a profession which has one of the UK’s highest rates of suicide.

Looking forward, JHP Recruitment is still on the climb, with international partnerships having been sealed in Australia, Dubai, and many other countries. With this level of growth, it’s possible that you might see them even higher in 2021’s Startups 100, so keep your eyes and ears (as well as your claws and tail) focused on JHP Recruitment.

Founder: Freddy Macnamara
Founded: 2016
Website: www.cuvva.com

Debuting at 40 in the Startups 100, Cuvva is a flexible, app-based insurance product designed to suit people’s on-demand lifestyles.

Cuvva’s story is simple. Freddy Macnamara spotted a problem, and set out to solve it. The problem? Totally inflexible car insurance. The solution? Flexible car insurance, available by the hour, and available via an easy to use app – which, by the way, is currently the most downloaded insurtech app in the UK.

While Cuvva has proven popular in the Gen Z and Millennial markets, its appeal is broader. Cuvva offers cover for temporary insurance purposes – for lending cars, driving new cars home and even sharing cars.

Crucially, Cuvva removes the complex paperwork, jargon and lengthy processes associated with the insurance industry – users simply need to download the app and insurance cover is available easily, and at any time.

In December 2019, Cuvva was responsible for selling 4.5% of the UK’s motor insurance – that figure goes to show just how much the market has been crying out for change. And speaking of change – during the Coronavirus lockdown, Cuvva drove a successful campaign encouraging traditional insurers to support customers stuck at home paying for annual car insurance by reducing premiums. This campaign resulted in 27 MPs signing its petition and the FCA putting measures in place, forcing insurers to offer refunds or payment holidays.

Cuvva’s mission is to close the insurance gap and provide customers the option to pay for only what they need. Can insurance be exciting and accessible? In our eyes, Cuvva has got both cuvva’d!

Founders: David Ripert and Laurie Ainley
Founded: 2018
Website: www.poplar.studio

Debuting at position 39 is Poplar. Founded in 2018 by David Ripert and Laurie Ainley, this startup offers a new generation of 3D and augmented reality (AR) tools.

With the goal of making 3D and AR more accessible, Poplar provides collaborative tools that make production affordable and quick for the marketing and advertising industries. Poplar automates production workflows, offering a self-service brief builder that works for brands of any size – from enterprise to SME.

Since launching in 2018, Poplar have built partnerships with major music labels, game publishers, entertainment studios, luxury brands and consumer goods manufacturers. Big name clients include Universal Music, Disney, Warner Bros, Walmart, alongside many others. Poplar has also built integrations with key social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

The first platform to offer on-demand 3D and AR experiences, thanks to a community of over 1200 global creators, Poplar also offers project and account management tools that are unique to their production model.

Poplar currently charges a transaction fee on each campaign produced through the platform, and testing is underway on a new Saas pricing model, where clients could access product features as part of a monthly subscription.

3D and AR experiences were once the stuff of futuristic sci-fi – thanks to Poplar though, they are fast becoming a tool for modern businesses of every size and situation.

Founders: Ibi Thomson and Matthew Chalk
Founded: 2016
Website: www.issoriachange.com

Change is a fact of life. Some people love it, some people hate it, and in the world of business, transformative change can be hard to get right. And even harder to manage.

Enter Issoria. Founders Ibi Thomson and Matthew Chalk have found a novel way to manage change – a hybrid approach. Marrying change management consultancy with change management staffing expertise, this niche agency has filled a very big gap in the market.

Having begun with over 2,000 consultant members, Issoria has grown to over 5,000 members on a referral-only membership basis. The team strives to offer a bespoke approach for every client, providing a tailored methodology suited to the size of the business, as well as the sector in which it operates.

Issoria receives revenue from time and material, or deliverable- and milestone-based consultancy fees; however, a key differentiator in their revenue model is the rewards program, which supports clients who have limited budgets to develop.

Working with massive brands like Jaguar Land Rover and G4S, Issoria has fast become a leading voice in the space, with a truly global footprint. Despite working with household-names around the world, the company is determined to maintain its lean, startup model, helping it to evolve alongside its clients.

Having featured in position 58 in 2019 and 51 in 2018, Issoria this year climbs the Startups 100 list to take position 38. Issoria itself is definitely changing for the better.

Founders: Suleman Sacranie and Atul Devani
Founded: 2016
Website: www.thegpservice.co.uk

Getting an appointment with a GP is easier said than done – especially with a global pandemic going on!

Suleman Sacranie and Atul Devani have created a solution: The GP Service. The GP Service has been created in partnership with the NHS and pharmacies, and offers patients access to a doctor, without even having to leave the house.

The GP Service essentially turns pharmacy consultation rooms into virtual GP surgeries, so patients can not only get a call with a GP (via the app), but also arrange for any medication to be sent directly from the pharmacy itself.

Currently, over 1,200 patients are being seen per day via the app and the platform is said to increase GP efficiency by 60%. It has 1,600 pharmacy partners on board, a B2B arm that supports companies such as Aliianz and Coop, and is fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission. When it comes to health – they have all of the important boxes ticked.

The GP Service is on a mission to be the first platform that provides an end-to-end connection between patient, doctor, and pharmacy. And since the NHS recently announced that 25% of GP consultations need to be online by 2022, it’s The GP Service’s time to shine!

Founders: Stephen Bourke and Alistair Murray
Founded: 2015
Website: www.echo.co.uk

Making the journey to your local pharmacy or GP is a pain – one that a lot of people simply can’t avoid.

Enter Echo. Founded by patients, Echo’s online repeat prescription service delivers medication directly to people’s homes within 48 hours of a GP’s approval.

Everything is run through a free-of-charge app, which also sets reminders – so people know when to take their meds, and when they’re running low.

Run by like-minded people who know the struggles that repeat prescriptions can bring, Echo certainly has the user’s best interest in mind. Having experienced the hassle of repeat prescriptions for long-term conditions, the co-founders of the company are now on a mission to radically improve the accessibility of medicine across the UK.

Having featured in the Startups 100 list twice before (in 2016 and 2019), we’ve seen first-hand just how innovative Echo is – always seeking new ways to evolve and improve. In fact, the company proudly holds the title of the fastest-growing pharmacy in Europe, with a 243% growth rate in 2019.

And really, what’s not to love about a startup that helps people across the country and has four office dogs?

Founder: Dr Richard Ahlfeld
Founded: 2016
Website: www.monolithai.com

Debuting at position 35 is Monolith AI, a London-based startup founded in 2016 by Dr Richard Ahlfeld.

Made up of a team of engineers, data scientists and software developers, Monolith AI’s product is an online platform which helps to simplify data access, provide context on collected data, predict future product behaviour and facilitate decision making.

Likened to J.A.R.V.I.S. in Marvel’s Iron Man films, Monolith AI combines artificial intelligence, tailored visualisation and high-performance computing to help engineers and data scientists accelerate product development.

Founded in 2016 by Dr Ahlfeld as a continuation of his PhD on uncertainty quantification, the company has kept on growing, gaining investment over separate funding rounds and expanding to a team of 20. In addition to making data-science accessible for engineers, Monolith AI has also gone further, developing state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms for 3D simulations.

Now working with a number of engineering companies in fields as diverse as automotive, defence, energy and even aeronautics, the sky really is the limit for Monolith AI.

Founders: Katie Buckett and Alex Pearmain
Founded: 2016
Website: www.onefiftyconsultancy.com

OneFifty Consultancy uses data understanding and human behaviours to help brands interact more effectively with their audience. The company has jumped from number 67 in the 2019 Startups 100 to 34 this year, and for good reason.

Founders Katie Buckett and Alex Pearmain believe that ‘being excellent at digital marketing doesn’t mean doing what’s come before, it’s doing what comes next’. For OneFifty Consultancy, this means harnessing the power of digital data and behavioural psychology.

The company charges its clients based on hourly estimates of tasks, across three tiers depending on the nature of the work. The number of clients has increased by 25% in the last year, and they vary in size and sector.

OneFifty has done away with corporate conventions like internal emails and regular catch-up meetings, a step which Buckett and Pearmain believe has helped the company become profitable after month one because ‘we free people to be the best version of them, not the version of a predefined role’. With clients like O2, American Express, and Mazda, we’d have to say this approach is working.

Founder: Alex Dyer
Founded: 2015
Website: www.tutorhouse.co.uk

Tutor House is an online marketplace where customers can find both virtual and in-person tutoring for students of all ages and abilities. Founded by Alex Dyer, a former psychology teacher, its mission is to make personalised education accessible to everyone.

And it does just that. Since its inception in 2015, Tutor House has amassed a healthy user base in the thousands and increased the average student’s grade by three after just 20 sessions. Crucially, satisfaction is also high, with 99% of its reviews being 5 stars.

Tutor House takes commission from each tuition session, and tutors themselves earn an amount that corresponds with the number of hours they spend teaching. Practical considerations, like discounted bulk bookings for long-term tutoring and DBS check requirements for face-to-face tutoring, have endeared Tutor House to a customer base that primarily consists of parents and students looking for A-Level or GCSE tutors.

Every tutor is interviewed before they can go live on the site, ensuring quality in an industry that is often unregulated. In addition, tutors aren’t just robotically assigned based on availability or location – customers are encouraged to choose between multiple tutor “matches” that aim to meet their precise needs. The company has also diversified its services to work with a number of schools and education providers.

Tutor House has jumped from position 77 on the Startups 100 in 2019 to 33 this year. With a safety-first and quality-first approach, you don’t need a degree to see that this startup is transforming not only the lives of its students, but also the education industry as a whole.