We had a look at 10 UK Tech start-ups which could make some waves this year.
1. Darktrace
Darktrace is a UK cyber security firm founded in Cambridge in 2013 which developed the world’s first operational Enterprise Immune System detecting emerging cyber-threats, giving companies the opportunity to defend against in-progress cyber-attacks.
The business reports that, since its’ foundation, revenues have grown by 600 percent year-on-year.
In 2016 Darktrace won a product award at the Info Security Global Excellence Awards.
But above all else, Darktrace made our list of 10 UK Tech start-ups to watch after doing exceptionally well since the UK’s decision to leave the European Union in June. The Financial Times reported that Darktrace has attracted more funding than any other UK start-up in the month after the Brexit-vote, raising $65 Million.
Darktrace is currently valued at $400 Million and has global offices in Cambridge (HQ), San Francisco (HQ), New York, Auckland, London, Milan, Mumbai, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington D.
2. Seedrs
Seedrs is an equity crowdfunding platform, headquartered in London, which launched in March 2009.
What sets the platform apart from other popular crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter is that it offers backers monetary returns on the company shares they invest in. It also allows users to invest as little as £10 to buy a stake in a company they want to support.
The company is currently valued at £11.3 million, up 288.26 percent from the previous year, according to CompanyCheck and recently announced that over £100 million had been invested through their platform.
On its advisor board sit well-known business personalities such as Logan Gree, CEO of Lyft, Mike Butcher, Editor-at-Large at TechChrunch and – since June last year – tennis pro Andy Murray.
3. Rentify
The four-year-old proptech start-up offers landlord tools for effective and simple property management, as well as providing other rental-focused services.
Last year the company raised £5.5 million and added close to £1.4 million earlier this year in a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. Its biggest backer is currently the London venture capital firm Balderton Capital – currently, the business is valued at £413.9k
In February last year the team at Rentify was joined by former head of strategy and initiatives at Google, Roxanna Zea, who acts as chief operating officer.
4. Mondo
The London fintech start-up was founded only last year.
Its CEO and co-founder, Tom Blomfield, co-founded the online direct debit provider GoCardless, another one of the many recent successful UK Tech start-ups, but left the business in 2013 to build Mondo.
Mondo is creating a branchless bank using a debit card system connected to a mobile app. The cards are controlled by the app which allows users to easily access all information and purchases.
Although the company has not yet fully launched, the proposition sounds promising and a version of the new card has been launched to Alpha testers already. So far, the business has already raised £7.2 million to fund its idea.
5. Divido
Divido aims to help customers pay for their goods by allowing people to pay for anything they buy in instalments over a one to five-year period, using an phone-based app.
The service aims to fill a market niche – most people are unaware that smaller businesses offer payment plans. Using the app, businesses are paid in full right away but Divido charges customers an initial and monthly fee to allow them to split the cost over a longer period of time.
Over 100 on and offline retailers have so far signed up to the service. Most operate in the furniture, bike and music retail sector but other areas include funeral services, fashion, healthcare and education.
The service supports by well-known e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and Magneto.In 2015 it received the title ‘European Innovator of the Year’ by InnoPitch (European Commission & European Parliament).
For 2016 the team at Divido has an ambitious expansion plan on the go. It aims to quadruple its turnover and double its team size – currently just 11 members.
6. Enigma Recovery
Enigma Recovery is a fast growing data recovery start up. Its team creates software such as data recovery and deletion programs for smart devices.
Their service is currently available for IOS as well as Android systems and other storage devices such as SD cards. In March this year it moved its’ offices to 30 St Paul’s Square, a prime London location, motivated by a growth in staff numbers.
The UK tech start-up is backed by global companies such as Kaspersky Lab and Mangrove Capital and has plans to expand on an international scale in the soon future.
7. LendInvest
LendInvest is a three-year-old peer-to-peer property lending platform. The business currently takes the number one spot on the Startups 100 2016 index for most promising UK start-ups.
The business idea is to connect investors, who are seeking new opportunities, with property entrepreneurs looking for short-term mortgage finance. LendInvest vows that it can process an application for funding in as little as two weeks, while current waiting times at high street lenders are around three months.
A year ago the company scored one of the biggest UK investments of the year. Beijing Kunlun, a Chinese technology firm invested £22 million in one of the most promising UK Tech start-ups.
Its current net worth stands at £993k, according to CompanyCheck, up 894.4 percent from the previous year.
The business has announced that it is intending to increase its staff headcount from 90 to 150 by the end of this year.
8. Hubble
Hubble is a UK start-up aiming to help other UK start-ups. It aims to connect companies, which currently have an excess in workspace in their offices, with small businesses in search of affordable and flexible office space in the UK capital, with the help of an online platform.
It charges a 5 percent fee of monthly rents on any successful deal, while big companies profit from monetising currently unused space and helping other start-ups find a place to begin their work.
WeWork, The Office Group and Regus, as well as companies such as Funding Circle, GoCardless and Songkick are some of the well-known users of the service so far.
Hubble recently secured the second place in the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ category at the Startups Rewards. This year, Hubble is hoping to increase its funding, having already successfully raised £500,000 from ‘angels’ such as James Caan and Brett Akker. Its’ goals are to double its’ 11-member-strong team size and expand its’ office space inventory.
9. PensionBee
The Fintech start-up launched by former Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley financial professional, Romi Sacoca, is an online pension manager which helps young to old work professionals who have changed jobs once or more manage their pensions online through one of three of PensionBee’s pensions plans.
Since the new Workplace Pensions Reform came into effect this year, pensions are a more widely discussed topic and how to easily manage pensions is a question on many peoples’ minds.
PensionBee came into the industry at just the right moment and is working with the well-known global investment managers State Street and BlackRock.
At the start of the year the company aimed to expand its eight-member-strong team to 17, a goal which has already been achieved. The company is hoping to accumulate 3,000 new customers this year and offer new and ‘exciting’ product improvements.
10. Elliptic
Elliptic is a promising three-year-old Fintech start up aiming to eliminate the dangers of digital currency transactions.
With bitcoins currently undergoing a fast-paced increase in importance around the world, while its security and issues are still highly debated, blockchain technology has become an increasingly valuable investment opportunity.
Blockchain is the permanent public ledger which records bitcoin transactions. Elliptic uses Blockchain to identify and any illegal activity for leading Bitcoin companies, financial institutions as well as law enforcement.
This year the business received an additional $5 million in Series A equity funding by the end of March to expand its services, bringing the total funding amount over to $ 7 million in three campaign rounds of equity funding (excluding funding from round one as amount was not disclosed).
Elliptic gained the title “Top Disruptive Start Up” by The Times in January 2016 and reached the Top 10 Global Emerging Star on the KPMG Fintech 100. In 2015 it won the Security Project of the Year Award (The Banker), as well as the Swift Innotribe Growth Stage Startup Competition.
The company is valued at £978,000 according to CompanyCheck, and has been able to expand its services into the US.
Katharina Fleiner 11/08/2016
