BusinessCloud has revealed the UK’s top young tech talent on its ‘35 Tech Entrepreneurs Under 35′ list.
Nominations came flooding in from tech talent aged 17 to 35, with many already having started several businesses before they hit their 30th year.
Thanks to the incredible response to the call for nominations we were also able to create a second ‘ones to watch’ list for the young entrepreneurs that were still starting out on their journey but showed great potential.
The shortlists were based on entrepreneurial spark, a keen eye for business and the determination to push boundaries with technology.
The talent across both lists encompasses an impressive range of areas from FinTech to AI to property, with all displaying a resume that would make the most established business leaders envious.
Fresher fairy godmother Makaela Richardson launched her business Free The Fresher while still at university. For £50 it ships seasonal packages to students with everything they need, from accommodation essentials to school supplies.
In just two years the company has over 70,000 members grossing over £2.4 million in revenue, with Richardson winning numerous young entrepreneur awards.
Phoebe Hugh is changing the way insurance works with Brolly.
Powered by AI, it helps people understand what insurance they need, finds the best policies and then helps manage them simply and easily.
Taking a step in the right direction is Laurence Kemball-Cook’s Pavegen, a clean-tech company which uses floor tiles to convert the kinetic energy of footsteps into electricity and data.
Since launching in 2009 it has installed more than 200 projects in 30 countries and worked with the world’s most iconic companies, including Adidas and Coca-Cola.
Since 2013 Tara Flynn has driven Ratio’s annual turnover to £8.8m, helping over 27 million customers find suitable credit products.
Flynn’s efforts have been recognised through numerous awards, notably Ratio’s feature in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.
Sean Brown’s eCommerce start-up Mercarto allows anyone to launch an online store in minutes.
His previous venture Hatch, an influencer marketing platform, was brought in-house by social media marketing agency Social Chain.
Anderson, Mike (29) – Padoq
Serial entrepreneur Mike Anderson’s first venture Jolly Goods was sold in 2017. He then started award-winning digital agency Nothing But Epic, which now employs 10 staff and is on track to turn over £500,000 in 2018. His latest venture Padoq is a networking platform for communities launching in May 2018 following a £400,000 fundraising round.
Appleson, Jordan (23) – Hark.
Jordan Appleson’s first role was head software architect at SEO agency Branded3 where he designed and built a market analysis platform, which was a considerable factor towards the eventual sale of the company. He then moved on to start monitoring platform Hark. and has been running the growing business and gaining footholds in various industries since then.
Asim, Muhammad (29) – Marq Millions
After being named ‘Youngest Successful Business Entrepreneur’ by the Government of Pakistan in 2010, Muhammad Asim came to the UK to launch Marq Millions at 22. The FinTech company’s flagship product Arro Money uses AI to help users set up a bank account in three minutes, in partnership with the likes of Barclays and Mastercard.
Barrett, Chloe (28) – DigiDentistry Educational Resources
With two start-ups to her name already, Chloe Barrett created 3D dental learning tool DigiDentistry in 2016 – off the back of that she was selected to join the UK/India innovation mission showcasing how the software is solving problems in the market. DigiDentistry has the potential to expand into the NHS, as well as education for other sectors.
Barton, Ed (28) – Curiscope
Forbes 30 under 30 alumnus Ed Barton founded Curiscope in 2016 with a mission to provide extraordinary experiences for people to learn, discover and explore the unexplorable. The company created Virtuali-Tee, a T-shirt which takes you on a guided tour inside the body using AR. It is one of the most viewed VR experiences on YouTube with over 28 million views.
Bentley, Asa (30) – CreditLadder
Asa Bentley set up CreditLadder in 2016 to help tenants add rent to their credit history. Working in partnership with Experian, his company offers the reading of on-time rental payments to improve users’ credit. It has featured on the likes of Money Saving Expert and Radio 4.
Bishop, Miranda (29) – Talking Social Media
Social guru Miranda Bishop founded social media training and consultancy firm Talking Social Media at 24. The company helps businesses use the power of social platforms to engage online communities and increase sales. She has also co-founded a mentoring organisation for women in tech, digital and entrepreneurship called Re:Program.
Bridge, Oliver (29) – Cornerstone
Oliver Bridge launched his first eCommerce business biggerfeet.com when he was 15 before founding shaving subscription service Cornerstone at 24. Set up with a £5,000 loan, in four years it has grown into an award-winning business with a team of 30 and 170,000 customers. The company’s rapid growth has been funded by £8 million investment.
Brown, Sean (28) – Mercato
Sean Brown’s eCommerce start-up Mercarto allows anyone to launch an online store in minutes. His previous venture Hatch, an influencer marketing platform, was brought in-house by social media marketing agency Social Chain. A former dive instructor and passionate marine conservationist, Sean also founded and directed Social Chain’s product innovation and eCommerce division before leaving to launch Mercarto.
Budiselic, Marko (26) & Tomicevic, Dominik (26) – Memgraph
Memgraph CEO Dominik Tomicevic is the Bill Gates’ Imagine Cup winner for 2011, having developed game-changing technologies using data-processing. CTO Marko Budiselic is an expert in graph databases who created database technology to power a cutting-edge recommendation platform at a multinational media company.
Coley, Sam (25) & Pearce, Steve (26) – TickX
Described as ‘Uber for events’, Sam Coley and Steve Pearce founded events price comparison site TickX with £750,000 raised off their own back after turning down three offers from the Dragons on Dragons’ Den. The company now plans to launch across Europe with a recent £3 million investment round and its AI-powered chatbot.
Corrigan, Ben (26); Plein, Jonny (26) & Simha, Vikram (33) – Pouch
Pouch’s three co-founders Ben Corrigan, Jonny Plein and Vikram Simha started the money-saving platform to make voucher codes easier to redeem. Since then they have won the Mass Challenge Accelerator, received five offers on Dragons Den and raised more than £340,000.
Davis, Louis-James (29) – VST Enterprises
Louis-James Davis’ technological innovation and business leadership was commended when he was named Made in Manchester’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2018. Alongside setting up his business VST Enterprises he is a dedicated philanthropist and ambassador. From his work to rebuild the Zimbabwean economy, Davis has also recently been honoured as Science and Technology Ambassador for Zimbabwe.
Edson, Chris (30) and Gibbs, Mike (29) – OurPath
Chris Edson and Mike Gibbs created OurPath to help people manage and prevent lifestyle diseases like diabetes. Their three-month online programme uses cognitive behavioural therapy alongside connected tech to help users build healthier habits. The founders believe their platform could save the NHS half a billion pounds in the next ten years.
Flynn, Tara (32) – Ratio
Since 2013 Tara Flynn has driven Ratio’s annual turnover to £8.8m, helping over 27 million customers find suitable credit products. Flynn’s efforts have been recognised through numerous awards, notably Ratio’s feature in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100. This year she has also been shortlisted for Entrepreneur of the Year in the Credit Strategy Women in Credit Awards.
Grimes, David (35) – Sorted
Since he started delivery tech company Sorted from his parents’ kitchen table back in 2010, David Grimes’ obsession with cutting-edge tech has been the driving force behind the Group’s rapid growth and innovation. He’s won numerous tech, business and entrepreneurship awards, including being named among the Top 100 fastest growing technology companies at the Northern Tech Awards in 2017.
Guerra, Natasha (30) – Runway East
In founding co-working and private offices company Runway East, Natasha Guerra has created space for thousands of tech start-ups to grow and thrive across three locations in London. She is also currently board director for ICE (the International Conclave of Entrepreneurs) and a pledger for Founders Pledge.
Gupta, James (26) – Synap
Founded when Gupta was just 23, Synap combines neuroscience research and AI to help people learn more in less time. Gupta also advises on several healthcare and education start-ups and received the prestigious ‘Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Award’ for his first company JumpIn, which was acquired by Addison Lee in 2013 for £180,000.
Hugh, Phoebe (28) – Brolly
Phoebe Hugh is changing the way insurance works with Brolly. Powered by AI, it helps people understand what insurance they need, finds the best policies and then helps manage them simply and easily. Hugh started her career at Aviva, where she worked as an underwriter and product manager before leaving to start her own company.
Jackson, Jamie (35) – 2J Commerce
Jamie Jackson left school at 16 with no formal qualifications to start working in digital. He officially launched eCommerce business 2J Commerce in 2011 and has grown the business from one member of staff to now 67 across UK, Ireland and India, continuing to play a very active role in the vision of the business.
Kemball-Cook, Laurence (32) – Pavegen
Taking a step in the right direction is Laurence Kemball-Cook’s Pavegen, a clean-tech company which uses floor tiles to convert the kinetic energy of footsteps into electricity and data. Since launching in 2009 it has installed more than 200 projects in 30 countries and worked with the world’s most iconic companies, including Adidas and Coca-Cola.
Khan, Aneeqa (31) – eporta
Aneeqa Khan set the bar high as the youngest hire for two private equity investment companies and has also worked for property giant Zoopla. A simple flat redesign was behind the idea for interior design marketplace eporta after Khan was unable to find the interiors products she needed online.
Leadbetter, Ian (33) & Reilly, Daniel (32) – Ruler Analytics
Award-winning duo Ian Leadbetter and Daniel Reilly created Ruler Analytics in 2016. The company makes sure all the information from companies’ initial sales calls is passed to the best person to close the deal and in 2016 received six-figure funding which will be used to triple the team over two years.
Marsden, Jonathan (32) – The Technology Group
Jonathan Marsden started his first business at 15 and has continued to build, sell and acquire businesses since then. The Technology Group offers managed communications and the company has doubled in turnover, profit and headcount year-on-year. With a strong emphasis on giving back to charity, it also successfully completed and integrated its first business acquisition in 2017.
Mealey, Nicholas (27) – Connex One
Named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Northern Tech Awards 2018, Nicholas Mealey’s company Connex One helps its clients engage and connect with their customers on a deeper level. Mealey set up the business with his brother Richard in 2013 and took on significant multi-million pound private equity investment from Belerion Capital last year.
Moroy, Christian (28) – Edge Health
Christian Moroy’s company Edge Health uses AI to help the NHS tackle some of its top challenges such as running surgeon operating lists more efficiently. The company launched in 2017 and within a year grew from three to five collaborators.
Nader, Dr Anas (33) & Ouyang, Dr Jing (27) – LocumTap
With a long history of success in the medical sector, Dr Anas Nader & Dr Jing Ouyang created LocumTap to help streamline the booming locum usage in the NHS using cloud, automation and analytics. The company has recently completed its latest fundraising round of £1.2 million, securing £1.4m to date.
Pickersgill, Tom (30) – Broadstone
Tom Pickersgill is disrupting the established security industry by introducing technology via his company, Broadstone. The company connects the best security companies with permanent and temporary staff via its app and has recently been invited to be part of the PwC Scale Up programme.
Richardson, Makaela (22) – Free The Fresher
Fresher fairy godmother Makaela Richardson launched her business Free The Fresher while still at university. For £50 it ships seasonal packages to students with everything they need, from accommodation essentials to school supplies. In just two years the company has over 70,000 members grossing over £2.4 million in revenue, with Richardson winning numerous young entrepreneur awards.
Rofagha, Max (30) – Finimize
Max Rofagha is the founder of Finimize, the start-up that’s making finance accessible for millennials backed by London-based VC Passion Capital. Rofagha has also co-founded an eCommerce start-up with 200 employees which he sold in 2015. He’s a mentor and was named one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 for 2016.
Samuel, Christian (25) – University Cribs
Christian Samuel started Paper Agency in 2013 and then University Cribs in 2014, which lets students view properties using VR. Last year the company secured £450,000 from angel investors and is also about to launch a household bill-splitting platform for students.
Sharma, Nakul (34) – Hostmaker
Taking the stress off Airbnb hosts, Nakul Sharma’s business Hostmaker is now the largest VC-backed homestay management service in Europe. Sharma and his wife put £50,000 of their own money into Hostmaker to get it off the ground and the company now operates in four of Airbnb’s biggest markets.
Shekerdemian, Nicholas (23) – Headstart Al
At 23 Nicholas Shekerdemian is a two-time founder and Thiel Fellow. At 19 he founded edtech marketplace Teaching by the Top, which grew to profitability within months. In 2016 he co-founded Headstart – a machine learning recruitment platform which services over six global enterprise organisations including Vodafone and BP.
Trachet, Claire (30) – wOndary
After spending six years working as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank in London advising blue-chip companies on life-transforming transactions, mentor and advisor Claire Trachet set up wOndary to empower travellers. The platform allows travellers find, save, sort, upload, book and share trip information in one place.
Wood, Devika (28) – Vida
Former cancer research scientist Devika Wood worked at Google before founding Vida, a platform which helps users source registered carers. She has also worked on the development of two award-winning health tech start-ups – Babylon and Medefer. Vida turned over £1.5 million in revenue in the first 10 months of trading.