THE 25 HOTTEST START-UPS
From revolutionary apps and microbrewing to luggage transport and finding a trustworthy cleaner, we’ve left no stone unturned to determine the hottest 25 start-ups making waves at present…
1. BOUNCE, , Bounce is the new app launched by Nicko Williamson, the brains behind green taxi company Climate Cars. It’s a taxi app for minicabs which cuts out greedy companies and gives you a fixed fare with your nearest driver, slashing up to 40% off the cost of a black cab journey. Bounce has already made an impact getting rival black cab app Halo thinking about extending its service to minicabs. The cabbies won’t be happy.
2. UGOT, , Ugot is the brainchild of Joe Carnell, who aims to put a little bit of fun back into the health food market. He already has one eatery in York station with many more to come, starting with Newcastle later in the summer. His co-director is Jamal Edwards, the founder of SBTV, and with 400,000plus YouTube subscribers, they’ve no need to worry about marketing bills.
3. BEER52.COM, , Beer52 is a craft beer club with angel backing and predicted revenue of £1.15million in its first year, it’s growing fast. Founded by James Brown and Fraser Doherty, it’s a subscription-based platform that works with independent microbreweries to give members access to boxes of unique and specialty brews. It already has over 2,500 subscribers and counting.
4. HASSLE, Looking for a cleaner? Your main concern will be trust. Hassle allows Londoners to browse and book local, background-checked cleaners for their home with speed and ease. It has seen massive growth, and with the cleaning market worth a whopping £4billion a year, plus their successful fundraising through Accel Partners, it looks as if there is much prosperity to come.
5. HIRING HUB, , Headhunters aren’t the best-liked people in the world, but Simon Swan and Sara Jones might have found a solution. Hiring Hub is the online market place that gives the power back to employers, allowing them to ‘crowdsource’ candidates from competing agencies. With growth of 640% between February 2013 and 2014, it looks as if Hiring Hub is set to become a serious challenger to the traditional recruitment model.
6. WATSI, Watsi is a crowd funding platform for global healthcare that allows you to donate as little as $5 directly to life-changing medical care for people in need. Furthermore, 100% of the funds donated go to the medical care. Why so amazing? It has the potential to solve healthcare funding around the world. For more, check out founder Chase Adam’s inspirational TED Talk.
7. VON BISMARK, , Von Bismark is part of Microsoft Ventures. It has created a technology that brings e-commerce to the high street – weird? Think again. It allows customers to try on and buy the clothing they are looking for digitally. It allows retailers to have a digital stock inventory, and it looks as if this will be a win with both consumers and retailers. This really is ‘Back to the Future’ stuff.
8. MADE.COM, , You can hardly call it a start-up these days, but Made.com was launched only in 2010 by Ning Li, Brent Hoberman, Julien Callede and Chloe MacIntosh. Their aim was simple: to cut out the middle man and other costs like high street stores, with short lead times from design to sale of as little as four months. It seems to have gone from strength to strength – there are rumours of a possible listing on the stock market.
9. THE CHAPAR, Retailers are finally turning their attentions to men, and Chapar is a company taking that a little further. Chapar is a father-son run e-commerce shopping service that allows the fashion-conscious man a hassle-free tailored shopping experience. Each client gets their own stylist to put together outfits depending on the individual’s tastes; the clothing is then sent to the client who can decide what he wants to keep, and what he doesn’t want he can return for free.
10. AIRPORTR, , Calling all business travellers! Have you ever had to fly somewhere for business and go straight from the plane to a meeting? The biggest hassle is having to drag your luggage around all day. The solution is AirPortr, the revolutionary service that allows you to drop off your luggage at the airport and ensure its safe transfer to the place you are staying. Problem solved! They’ve just opened in London City airport, with expansion plans to follow.
To find out what the remaining 15 exciting start-ups are to feature on The Gentleman’s Journal’s list, see our Summer Issue – out now. Subscribe here…
Become a Gentleman’s Journal Member?
Like the Gentleman’s Journal? Why not join the Clubhouse, a special kind of private club where members receive offers and experiences from hand-picked, premium brands. You will also receive invites to exclusive events, the quarterly print magazine delivered directly to your door and your own membership card.
