One of the least surprising trends in BusinessCloud’s Founder 250 list is the number of AI businesses featured.
Nearly all the businesses on the list use AI – some more than others.
The UK-wide list celebrates 250 of the country’s best founder-led and founder-influenced businesses.
RSM UK is the headline sponsor of the Founder 250, alongside law firm CG, property specialist OBI and investor Mercia Ventures.
One of the country’s best-known names in AI is Sir Demis Hassabis, who is included on the list as the founder of Isomorphic Labs.
He’s best known as the founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.
Hassabis was a chess and programming prodigy before becoming a computer scientist, neuroscientist and video game designer.
In 2024, he was awarded a knighthood for services to artificial intelligence.
Two highly regarded names on the list are brothers Nick and Richard Mealey, who founded Connex One in 2013, now rebranded as ConnexAI.
In 2022, the company raised £93m in a Series C funding round, with GP Bullhound among the investors.
Another set of brothers on the list are Tobie and Morgan Hitchcock, who founded SurrealDB in 2021/22, an AI-native, multi-model database.
Earlier this year, SurrealDB raised $23m in a Series A extension, bringing its total investment to date to $44m.
Two of the other names on the list are Caroline Grey and Jonathan Horn.
They founded Treefera in 2022, which has grown into a global cross-functional team of engineers, data scientists, environmental specialists and commercial operators.
Grey previously worked at UiPath, while Horn was a managing director at J.P. Morgan. Treefera empowers organisations to fortify their supply chains and build resilience through first-mile visibility.
Judging criteria
To qualify for inclusion in the Founder 250 list, companies must have a significant UK presence, be cash-generative and have been founded no later than 2024.
Although not essential, judges were also looking for businesses with a clear purpose, including B Corp status, ESG strategies or a commitment to charity or social impact.
A second smaller ‘Ones to Watch’ list of founder businesses will be published later in the year.
Note: Every effort has been made to check the accuracy of the information on the list. However, if you spot any errors, please email us here.
| Founder name(s) | Company | Sector | Founded | Location | Region | Full profile | Female founder? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Towers | Happl | AI | 2020 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Caroline Grey & Jonathan Horn | Treefera | AI | 2012 | London | Greater London | Full profile | ✔ |
| Dr Peter Leek & Dr Ilana Wisby | Oxford Quantum Circuits | AI | 2017 | Reading | South East | Full profile | ✔ |
| Dr Robin Tuluie & Dr Jacomo Corbo | PhysicsX | AI | 2020 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Jack Rimmer | Robiquity | AI | 2016 | Manchester | North West | Full profile | |
| John Morton & Simon Benjamin | Quantum Motion Technologies | AI | 2017 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Jonathan Low & Jakob Cassiman | Scope | AI | 2024 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Mati Staniszewski & Piotr Dąbkowski | ElevenLabs | AI | 2022 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Nick & Richard Mealey | ConnexAI | AI | 2013 | Manchester | North West | Full profile | |
| Richard Potter, David Leitch & Atul Sharma | Peak | AI | 2015 | Manchester | North West | Full profile | |
| Sean Brown & Daniel Jones | Versori | AI | 2022 | Manchester | North West | Full profile | |
| Shawn Wen, Nikola Mrkšić & Eddy Su | PolyAI | AI | 2017 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Shelley Copsey & Karl Simons OBE | FYLD | AI | 2020 | London | Greater London | Full profile | ✔ |
| Sir Demis Hassabis | Isomorphic Labs | AI | 2021 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Tobie & Jaime Morgan Hitchcock | SurrealDB | AI | 2021 | London | Greater London | Full profile | |
| Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild, Prof. Matthias Niessner & Prof. Lourdes Agapito | Synthesia | AI | 2017 | London | Greater London | Full profile | ✔ |