Introduction Introduction The UK is at an exciting intersection, where new business ideas meet new technological possibilities and a fertile startup environment. This is Bloomberg Business Innovators 2016, the companies and founders transforming how the UK lives, works and thinks. We’re seeing change in five key areas:

Changing Industries These innovators are driving sector-wide change, from finance to media, retail to manufacturing.

Changing Lifestyle These innovators are transforming the good things in life, from how we eat to the way we travel.

Changing the Environment The social and environmental impact of these innovators is changing the world around us.

Changing Thinking These innovators are changing the way we think about the world and how we engage with it.

Changing the Future These innovators are fundamentally impacting the world we will experience tomorrow. Contents Introduction 02

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Loaf 06 Darktrace 08 EVRYTHNG 10 Farmdrop 12 Deliveroo 14 Open Bionics 16 Blippar 18 Jukedeck 20 Pavegen 22 Bloom & Wild 24 Metro Bank 26 Open Utility 28 Pact Coffee 30 Entrepreneur First 32 Made.com 34 Boldmind 36 Appear Here 38 Digital Shadows 40 M Squared Lasers 42 Qubit 44 Signal Media 46 Seedrs 48 Brightbridge Ventures 50 Neighbourly 52 Onfido 54 Notonthehighstreet.com 56 Transferwise 58 Cambridge Quantum Computing 60 CityFibre 61 Rapha 61 Blaze 62 Sky-Futures 64 Purplebricks 66 Graze 68 Secret Escapes 70 RealityMine 72 Improbable 74 Crowdcube 76 BBOXX 78 RateSetter 80 Nutmeg 82 MyOptique Group 84 DueDil 86 Property Partner 88 Lyst 90 Grind & Co 92 Busuu 94 Flypay 96 Funding Circle 98 GoCardless 100 Heat Genius 102 Onefinestay 104 WorldRemit 106 Judges 108 Credits 109 Loaf Charlie Marshall

Founded: 2008 HQ: Loaf Shack, 255-259 Queenstown Road, Battersea, London SW8 3NP

Loaf is a retailer of comfy, tables, chairs, rugs and laid-back furniture. After lighting. The 80-strong team spending 6.5 years as an has almost doubled in the online business, October last year, and annual sales 2015 saw the company currently stand at £30 million, launch its first physical up from £20 million in 2014. showroom in Battersea, 2016 will see the company London. The company launch more showrooms – started selling just beds, dubbed Loaf Shacks – but has since expanded initially in the south-east its range to include sofas, of the UK.

loaf.com Changing Lifestyle Darktrace Jack Stockdale Founded: 2013 HQ: Broers Building, Poppy Gustafsson 21 JJ Thomson Avenue, Emily Orton Cambridge CB3 0FA Dave Palmer Nick Trim

Jack, Poppy, Emily and general counsel Rachel Haverfield at Darktrace HQ in Cambridge. Changing Thinking

Darktrace creates by more than 100% and enterprise cybersecurity doubled its number of technology that uses employees to 175 between machine learning 2014 and 2015. In July techniques to adapt 2015 the company also to new threats (such as raised $22.5 million in malware, ransomware, funding from US venture server hijacking or other capital firm Summit suspicious activity) – much Capital. Darktrace’s like the human immune customers include BT, system. The startup says Virgin Trains, Sisley it has grown revenues and AccorHotels.

darktrace.com Changing Lifestyle

EVRYTHNG Vlad Trifa Dominique Guinard Niall Murphy Andy Hobsbawm

Founded: 2012 HQ: Unit 4, 122 East Road, London N1 6FB EVRYTHNG is a platform that connects any physical object – whether that’s a bottle of alcohol or a bicycle – to the internet, managing real-time data relating to how the products are made, sold and used. The platform gives each object its own discoverable profile – a little like a Facebook page – that contains digital information associated with that product, whether it’s warranty information, entertainment content or a virtual representation that can be tracked in real-time for logistics purposes. The company attracted investment from Cisco, Samsung Ventures, Atomico and BHLP LLC, raising a further $7.5 million in June 2015. It has also worked with major brands including Coca-Cola, Diageo and Mars in multiple regions and has partnered with GOOEE to build a smart lighting system and Avery Dennison to make smart packaging labels.

evrythng.com Farmdrop Ben Pugh

Founded: 2014 HQ: J305 Biscuit Factory, Drummond Road, London SE16 4DG Changing the Environment

Farmdrop is an online attracted an additional marketplace that lets £500,000 funding from people buy food directly investors including from local farmers and Hoopla founder Alex producers. Consumers Chesterman and ASOS are promised fresher founder Quentin Griffiths. food – delivered the same In November, Farmdrop day it’s picked from the launched a smartphone field – while the producers app for consumers and get a better deal than they a range of alcohol would from supermarkets. products including craft The company launched beer, cider and gin. in 2014 after raising £750,000 through crowd- funding platform Crowdcube and has grown revenue by 230% year on year. In September the startup farmdrop.co.uk Changing Lifestyle

Deliveroo William Shu Greg Orlowski

Founded: 2013 Deliveroo provides a pick-up and drop-off deliveroo.co.uk delivery service for routes to ensure that HQ: Deliveroo, restaurants so that they deliveries arrive in an Roofoods Limited, don’t need to invest in average of 30 minutes. 22-24 Torrington their own fleet of vehicles In 2015 the company or online ordering expanded from just Place, London systems. The startup also operating in London WC1E 7HJ partners with premium to 52 cities across 12 restaurants – including countries, with daily those with Michelin stars orders increasing tenfold – that typically don’t since January. The provide delivery. The startup also raised $195 company has developed million in three rounds of a proprietary logistics funding throughout the platform to optimise year to help fuel growth. William at Deliveroo’s west London HQ. Changing the Environment

Open Bionics Samantha Payne Joel Gibbard

Founded: 2014 HQ: Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Ln, Bristol BS16 1QY

Joel at Open Bionics’ Bristol University HQ. Open Bionics creates on the Disney Accelerator custom prosthetic programme run by bio-electronic limbs for TechStars and gained amputees at a low price licences to create point – around $3,000 Disney, Star Wars and rather than $100,000 for Marvel-themed bionic a typical high-functioning hands for children. prosthesis. This cost The company also won reduction has been several grants and achieved through the use engineering awards – of 3D printing. Last summer, including the James Open Bionics won a place Dyson Award.

openbionics.com Steve, Ambarish and Omar at Blippar’s south London HQ.

Blippar Steve Spencer Ambarish Mitra Omar Tayeb Jessica Butcher Founders Founded: 2011 HQ: Blippar UK, 5th Floor West, 1 London Bridge, London SE1 9BG Changing the Future

Blippar uses augmented reality to make the physical world interactive using a digital overlay viewed via mobile phones and wearable devices. Initially the company focussed on enabling marketing campaigns but in January 2015 the company made a strategic push into education. That same year also saw the company raise $45 million in Series C funding, acquire AR and virtual reality app maker Binocular and invest in WaveOptics, a company that makes wearable smart glasses.

blippar.com Changing Industries

Jukedeck Patrick Stobbs Ed Rex

Founded: 2012 HQ: TechHub, 20 Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9AR Video creators can easily add soundtracks to their footage using Jukedeck’s artificially intelligent online composer, Jukedeck MAKE. The tool lets users create unique, customisable and – most importantly – royalty- free music for their movies in seconds. Within 18 months Jukedeck has gone from a team of two to one of twelve, and music generated using its composer has been featured in more than 1,000 YouTube videos. In December 2015 the company raised £2 million in funding in a round led by Cambridge Innovation Capital. In the same month it won a £30,000 cash prize in the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition.

jukedeck.com Pavegen creates flooring that harvests the kinetic energy of people’s footsteps as they walk over it to generate electricity. The tile technology – already used at Heathrow Airport and under a football pitch in Rio de Janeiro – is combined with a back-end system that stores and manages the renewable energy. Pavegen Laurence Kemball-Cook

Founded: 2009 HQ: 5-15 Cromer Street, Kings Cross, London WC1H 8LS

In July 2015, the company used crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to raise £2.06 million – 275% over its £750,000 target – to expand the company outside of the United Kingdom. The startup opened new offices in Cambridge and San Francisco and made a couple of high-profile appointments to its advisory board: former Apple head of Global Media and Entertainment Jeff Martin and former president of Interface FLOR Greg Colando. In 2016 the company will launch a sleeker version of its tile that is more efficient in terms of production cost and energy output. pavegen.com Changing the Environment Bloom & Wild is an online florist that aims to simplify the process of ordering and sending flowers. Its app and website streamline the process of sending a bouquet, while the packaging allows for flowers to be delivered through letterboxes.

Bloom & Wild Aron Gelbard Ben Stanway

Founded: 2013 HQ: The Plaza Unit 2.21 The Plaza 535, Kings Road, London SW10 0SZ

2015 saw the company increase its revenue sevenfold compared with 2014, with more than 1,000 boxes of flowers delivered every week. In July 2015 the company raised £2.5 million in Series A funding led by MMC Ventures, then in December it launched a two-hour on-demand delivery service in central London through a partnership with logistics company Shutl.

bloomandwild.com Changing Lifestyle

Aron at Bloom & Wild’s west London HQ. Changing Industries

Metro Bank Vernon Hill

Founded: 2010 HQ: One Southampton Row, London WC1B 5HA

When it launched in 2010, In 2015 the company Metro Bank was the first opened its 40th store, high-street bank to open won its 650,000th in the UK for more than customer and grew its 100 years. The company deposits to £5 billion – founded by American and £3.5 billion in lending. businessman Vernon Hill – The five-year-old prioritises customer company is plotting its service over price as part IPO for early 2016. of a vision to create brand ‘fans’, not just ‘customers’. metrobankonline.co.uk CEO Craig Donaldson in the vaults of Metro Bank’s central London HQ. Open Utility James Johnston Andy Kilner Alice Tyler

Founded: 2013 HQ: The Accelerator, 35 Kingsland Road, London E2 8AA Changing the Environment

Open Utility provides digital services for energy suppliers. In 2015 the company partnered with Good Energy to create Piclo, an online marketplace for renewables, which lets people buy and sell sustainable energy directly at prices they agree on.

Open Utility James Johnston Andy Kilner Alice Tyler Piclo was built with £500,000 of funding from the Department of Energy and Nominet Trust. It’s currently in the trial stage, but is expected to be brought to market in 2016.

openutility.com Pact Coffee Stephen Rapoport

Founded: 2012 HQ: The Mint Building, The Biscuit Factory, Bermondsey, London SE16 4DG

Caffeine lovers can has raised £5.6 million campaign to fund the receive freshly roasted in funding and its angel development of coffee beans by post using Pact investors include Songkick pods for machines, which Coffee’s flexible service. founder Ian Hogarth, is expected to launch in Roasting, grinding and Index Ventures’ Robin February 2016. shipping all takes place Klein and Transferwise within seven days to assist founder Taavet Hinrikus. the freshest brew. Since its In 2015 the company 2012 launch the company launched a Kickstarter pactcoffee.com Changing Lifestyle Changing the Future

Entrepreneur First Matt Clifford Alice Bentinck

Founded: 2011 HQ: The Lincoln Building, The Biscuit Factory, 100 Clements Road, London SE16 4DG

Entrepreneur First helps than $250m. In 2015, technologists meet with Entrepreneur First potential co-founders to raised an £8.5 million fund build companies from from investors including scratch through two six- Hoopla CEO Alex month programmes each Chesterman and Index year. Since it launched in Ventures’ partner Robin 2011, the incubator has built Klein to help build 200 more than 50 companies startups over the next currently valued at more three years. joinef.com

Made.com Brent Hoberman Ning Li Julien Callede Chloe Macintosh

Founded: 2010 Made.com sells design-led in Europe. In 2014 Made.com furniture at affordable prices, reported a 63% year-on- HQ: 100 Charing Cross Road, enabled by ordering direct year growth with revenues London WC2H 0JG from the makers and cutting of £42.8 million up from out middlemen in the supply £26.2 million in 2013. chain. Having already expanded from the UK to The Netherlands, Italy and France, Made.com entered the German market in 2015. The company also raised a further $60 million of funding led by Partech Growth Fund to accelerate its expansion made.com Changing Lifestyle

Ning at the Made store in west London Boldmind Nik Lacki Dagmara Lacka Charles Jepson

Founded: 2012 HQ: One Canada Sq, London E14 5AB Changing the Future

Boldmind has developed a surge marketing platform that lets retailers create dynamic campaigns based on current demand and other influential variables. For example, a car garage might keep track of the weather and offer a 50% discount on car washes – displayed on digital posters, apps and taxi tops – if there’s a 50% chance of rain. The discount can be reduced on the fly if there’s a sudden increase in demand. The startup has run a pilot with Canary Wharf and nine retailers including Waitrose and Itsu, and is negotiating trials with London’s transport authority TfL, Westfield and Kuala Lumpur airport.

boldmind.co.uk Appear Here Ross Bailey

Founded: 2013 HQ: Second Floor, 13 - 19 Vine Hill, London EC1R 5DW Changing Industries

Appear Here is an online VC funding from investors marketplace for short- including Balderton Capital. term commercial retail In late 2015, Appear Here spaces. People or brands partnered with the flagship planning a ‘pop-up’ London Topshop store to experience can book a offer brands the chance to location in the same way hold pop-up concessions they might book a hotel in the massively popular room. Since launching in shopping destination. 2013, the startup has found space for brands including Google, BBC, Diageo and Microsoft and has raised $10 million in appearhere.co.uk Digital Shadows Alastair Paterson James Chappell

Founded: 2011 HQ: Level 39, One Canada Square, London E14 5AB

Digital Shadows is a security and intelligence company that helps its clients detect and prevent cyberthreats. The startup’s software monitors the web (including the so-called ‘dark’ web) to identify any exposed personal, technical or organisational information that might be sensitive or proprietary to its clients. These ‘digital shadows’ can be exploited by cybercriminals to launch targeted attacks. 2015 saw the company close an $8 million round of Series A investment, double its team from 25 to 60 and increase its revenue by 200% since 2014.

digitalshadows.com James at the Changing the Future Digital Shadows HQ in Canary Wharf, London Graeme at the M Squared Lasers HQ in Glasgow

M Squared Lasers Graeme Malcolm Gareth Maker

Founded: 2006 Founders HQ: Venture Building, 1 Kelvin Campus, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0SP Changing the Future

M Squared makes laser technology more accessible and reliable for scientists and industry. It has developed a fully automated laser system – called SolsTiS – which delivers an ultra-pure light that allows scientists to probe complex quantum systems, including antimatter experiments and atomic clocks. The system scooped the 2015 Innovation Award from the Institute of Physics. In 2015 the company turned over more than £10 million, continuing 40% year-on- year growth for the third consecutive year. Meanwhile founder and CEO Graeme Malcolm was awarded an OBE for his contribution to science and innovation.

m2lasers.com Changing Industries

Qubit Emre Baran Graham Cooke Ian McCaig Daniel Shellard

Founded: 2010 HQ: 35 King Street, London WC2E 8JG Qubit uses data analysis to optimise customer experiences online and in store. The company’s technology combines tracking, segmentation, A/B testing and web personalisation with a deep understanding of individual customers to allow for more targeted marketing. As of 2015, the company works with 35 of the top 100 internet retailers in the UK (including Thomas Cook, Game and National Rail) and has seen triple-digit growth in its North American business. The workforce has also grown by almost 80% to 216 people across the UK, the US, France and Germany.

qubit.com Changing Industries

Signal Media uses machine learning technology to let people filter through more than 3.5 million digital, print and broadcast media sources in real time – Signal Media Miguel Martinez David Benigson Wesley Hall

Founded: 2013 whether that’s to track a brand or competitor or HQ: 16-24 monitor and analyse an Underwood Street, industry. In January 2015, London N1 7JQ the business closed a $3.3 million seed funding round led by Frontline Ventures and the product launched in beta in May. Since then the company has gained 25 customers (including Jamie Oliver Group and Headhunter NBS Group) and hired 30 staff members.

signal.uk.com

Seedrs Carlos Silva Jeff Lynn

Founded: 2009 HQ: 201 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JA

Seedrs is an online equity August 2015 saw the crowdfunding platform company raise a £10 million that tries to make it easy Series A round to fuel for individuals to become international expansion investors in startups. The during 2016 – particularly business has tripled its across Europe and the US. revenue over the last two years and successfully funded over 300 deals, with an average of £1 million being invested each week. seedrs.com Changing XxxxxxxxIndustries Dan at Brightbridge Ventures HQ in west London

Brightbridge Ventures Dan Cobley Mark Onyett

Founded: 2014 HQ: Accelerate West, 1 Hammersmith Broadway, London W6 9DL Changing Industries

Brightbridge is an incubator that helps to build fintech businesses. The venture arm of Blenheim Chalcot, Brightbridge provides capital and hands-on support to startups. In 2015 the company oversaw the launch of credit checker ClearScore.com, financing comparison site BusinessFinanceCompared.com and SalaryFinance.com, which lets employers offer low-cost loans to staff members. The headcount of the incubated businesses has grown from just two in January 2015 to 60 within 12 months.

brightbridgeventures.com Neighbourly Nick Davies

Founded: 2012 HQ: Engine Shed, Station Approach, Temple Meads, Bristol BS1 6QH Changing Thinking

Neighbourly is a social Marks & Spencer, platform that connects Starbucks and OVO Energy, local community projects revenues have increased with companies that want fivefold over the last 12 to make a difference by months, with staff numbers pledging money, resources rising from 8 to 22 in the and volunteer days. last 18 months. The startup The platform launched has also expanded to its in July 2014 and in 2015 first international market, extended its remit to The Netherlands. connect retailers’ food surplus to community groups and charities, feeding those in need. Through partnerships with companies such as neighbourly.com Onfido uses intelligent technology such as machine learning and computer vision to automate background checks, allowing businesses to verify customers and employees quickly, accurately and efficiently. Onfido Husayn Kassai Eamon Jubbawy Ruhul Amin

Founded: 2012 HQ: 4th Floor, 40 Long Acre, London WC2E 9LG

In the last 12 months, Onfido has opened offices in Lisbon and San Francisco and the team has grown from 15 to 70 people. At the same time the startup has expanded its client base to 1,000 including Deliveroo, Turo and Morgan McKinley. In February, the company closed a $4.5 million Series A funding round led by Wellington Partners.

onfido.com Changing the Future Changing Lifestyle

Notonthehighstreet.com Holly Tucker Sophie Cornish

Founded: 2006 HQ: NOTHS House, 63 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2NQ

Notonthehighstreet.com in 2015, up 22% from £127 is an online marketplace million in 2014. The company connecting more than is eyeing international 5,000 small creative expansion for 2016. businesses selling unusual or bespoke products (including jewellery, clothing, art and gifts) with shoppers. Annual turnover for the retailer was £155 million notonthehighstreet.com CEO Simon Belsham at the Notonthehighstreet HQ in west London. Transferwise Taavet Hinrikus Kristo Käärmann

Founded: 2011 HQ: 186 City Road, London EC1V 2NT

Taavet at the Transferwise HQ in east London. Changing Industries

Transferring money £500 million each month overseas can be expensive. through the platform, and Transferwise uses peer-to- the company employs peer technology to allow 450 people across the people to move money world. It’s already possible across borders for a very to send money to 55 low fee – up to eight times countries, but Transferwise cheaper than using a bank. plans to add New Zealand, The company has grown Hong Kong, Singapore rapidly over the last 12 and Japan to its roster months following a $58 over the next six months. million Series C funding round in January, led by Andreessen Horowitz. Customers are now transferring more than transferwise.com Changing the Future

Cambridge Quantum Computing Ilyas Khan Takis Psarogiannakopoulos

Founded: 2014 HQ: Cambridge Union Society Building, 9a Bridge Street, Cambridge CB2 1UB

Cambridge Quantum computational problems Computing is developing much more quickly than an operating system for a traditional silicon-based new generation of quantum computers. The startup super computers, using a has grown its team from simulated processor. two to 20 over the last Traditional computers use two years, and raised its bits as their smallest units first round of funding of data and must have (of $50 million) in August a value of 0 or 1. Quantum 2015. The company is in computers use qubits, the process of patenting a which can have a value of unique quantum algorithm 1, 0 or both simultaneously. that provides a secure This means quantum currency platform that it computers have the claims to be resistant to potential to solve massive quantum-based hacking.

cambridgequantum.com Changing the Environment Changing Lifestyle

CityFibre Rapha Greg Mesch Simon Mottram Mark Collins

Founded: 2011 Founded: 2004 HQ: 15 Bedford St, HQ: Imperial Works, London WC2E 9HE 18 Tileyard Road, London N7 9AH

CityFibre builds, designs and Rapha creates products, quadrupled since 2012 operates fibre optic networks content and services for and in 2015 the company across the UK offering gigabit road cyclists. In addition grew revenues by more connection speeds. It’s provided to clothing and cycle than 30% – as it has done the infrastructure for several accessories, the company each year since launch, ‘Gigabit Cities’, providing also has a travel service its CEO has said – and fibre connectivity for entire offering luxury cycle expanded its product communities including York, tours and a riding club of range to include Aberdeen, Edinburgh and 3,500 paying members sunglasses. 2016 will Glasgow. As of June 2015, who can access ‘club see Rapha sponsor a revenue for CityFibre was houses’ in key cities. women’s professional up by 115% year on year. These sell products, cycling team, Canyon/ In December 2015 the company serve food and drinks SRAM, which features spent £90 million acquiring and screen live racing. nine elite athletes from KCOM’s own fibre network, Staff numbers have six different countries. expanding its footprint by more than 300%. cityfibre.com rapha.cc Changing the Environment

Blaze Emily Brooke Philip Ellis

Founded: 2012 HQ: Runway East, 207 Old Street, Floor 9, London EC1V 9NR Blaze designs products the laser technology to keep cyclists safe and was trialled on London’s happy on the road. Its shared city bikes, and will flagship product is the be rolled out to all 11,500 Laserlight, a front lamp Santander Cycles in 2016. that projects an image The company says it has of a bicycle onto the seen a 300% growth ground to make the cyclist in revenue during 2015, more visible to cars. The following on from nearly second product is a rear 700% the previous year. light called The Burner, which exceeded its Kickstarter funding goal of £35,000 within 24 hours, eventually raising more than £150,000. In 2015 blaze.cc Inspecting oil rigs is a dangerous business, but one that Sky-Futures is disrupting through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones. Sky-Futures Chris Blackford James Harrison Nick Rogers

Founded: 2009 HQ: The Old Vinyl Factory, Blyth Road, Hayes, Middlesex UB3 1HA

The company’s UAVs, equipped with high-definition and thermal cameras, can help save time and cut the cost of manual checks that typically rely on shutdowns and abseiling humans. The company serves most of the major oil and gas companies, including BP, Shell and Statoil and has seen revenues grow an average of 350% annually over the last three years.

sky-futures.com Changing the Future Changing the Environment

Purplebricks Michael Bruce Kenny Bruce

Founded: 2014 HQ: First Floor, Cranmore Place, Cranmore Drive, Shirley, Solihull B90 4RZ Purplebricks tries to disrupt the traditional estate agency model by charging a low fixed fee (from £798) for the sale of houses – normally something that would cost homeowners thousands of pounds. It was founded by brothers Michael and Kenny Bruce, who ran the estate agent Burchell Edwards before selling to Connells in 2011. The online platform lets individuals oversee the viewings, sale and offers on their property 24/7, with support from local experts at key points in the process. The company listed on the London Stock Exchange 19 months after launch with a valuation of £255 million.

purplebricks.com

Michael at the Purplebricks HQ in Solihull. Graze Ben Jones Edd Read Graham Bosher Tom Newton Tom Percival Neil Thompson Brendan Kay

Founded: 2007 CEO Anthony Fletcher at HQ: 4 Heron Square, the Graze HQ in Richmond. Richmond, Surrey TW9 1EW Changing Lifestyle

Graze sends tailored snack boxes filled with foods such as nuts, seeds, fruits and baked goods to subscribers via regular post. The company uses bespoke software and production processes to make and distribute new product collections within 48 hours. Revenues at the company rose 29% to £68 million in the year ending 28 February 2015. In July 2015, Graze launched its range of snacks in WH Smith, later adding Tesco, Asda and Waitrose to its retail outlets. The company sold more than 3 million snacks this way by the end of that year.

graze.co.uk Secret Escapes Tom Valentine Alex Saint

Founded: 2011 HQ:Founders Floor 4, 120 Holborn, London EC1N 2TD Changing Lifestyle

Secret Escapes offers flash sales – with discounts of up to 70% – on luxury hotels and holidays to members who sign up for free via its website. The company grew its membership base from four million in January 2014 to 24 million by the end of 2015 while expanding to several new markets including The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy. In July 2015, the startup raised a further $60 million in funding from Google Ventures along with existing investors Index Ventures and Octopus Investments. September 2015 saw the company acquire German rival Travista. In 2016, the company plans to expand further into the US and Asia.

secretescapes.com RealityMine Garry Partington Rolfe Swinton

Founded: 2012 HQ: Warren Bruce Court, Warren Bruce Road, Stretford, Manchester M17 1LB

Manchester-based market- techniques across end of the year, when it research technology and different media platforms also raised £17.25 million data company RealityMine are most effective. Turnover in investment from Kennet analyses consumer has been growing rapidly, Partners to support behaviour – using their rising from £900,000 in international expansion. mobile phone as a proxy 2013 to £2.5 million in 2014. to track their habits and The company has doubled movements – to help staff in the last six months brands better understand from 45 in summer 2015 which of their marketing to more than 100 by the realitymine.com Changing Thinking

Garry at RealityMine’s HQ in Manchester. Improbable Herman Narula Rob Whitehead

Founded: 2012 HQ: 20 Farringdon Road, London EC1M 3HE

Improbable has developed developer Bossa Studios, company has doubled a software environment but the company is now its team from 40 to 80 for developers to build using its SpatialOS platform employees and raised real-time simulations of a to help companies build $20 million in funding from scale and complexity that large-scale models and Andreessen Horowitz. was previously impossible. simulations – for example The first application has of entire city systems – to been gaming through a solve real world problems. partnership with indie Over the last year the improbable.io Changing the Future Anyone with as little as £10 can become an investor through equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. Throughout 2015 some 166 businesses – including Sugru, BrewDog and Pavegen – were successfully funded through the site to the tune of £83.1 million. Crowdcube Darren Westlake Luke Lang

Founded: 2010 HQ: The Innovation Centre, Exeter University, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RN

In the same year E-Car Club, one of Crowdcube’s funded startups, achieved the world’s first equity crowdfunding exit when Europcar Group took a major stake. In June, Crowdcube announced that Numis had invested £6 million into the business along with American venture capitalist Tim Draper, London fund Draper Espirit and existing investor Balderton Capital.

crowdcube.com Changing Industries Christopher at the BBOXX HQ in west London.

BBOXX Mansoor Hamayun Christopher Baker-Brian Laurent Van Houcke

Founded: 2010 HQ: The Lightbox, 111 Power Rd, London W4 5PY Changing the Environment

BBOXX is a clean-energy company that designs, manufactures and finances innovative solar systems – both on- and off-grid – to improve access to energy across the developing world. The kits it creates combine solar panels, batteries and control units to provide electricity to power devices such as smartphones, laptops and lighting.

2015 saw the startup launch a range of accessories including a low-energy television, shaver, radio and phone charging hub. BBOXX currently serves more than 10,000 customers in Kenya and Rwanda and is adding more than 1,500 customers each month. In March 2015 the company announced a $3 million round of Series B funding led by private equity firm Bamboo Finance and Dutch eco fund DOEN Foundation. bboxx.co.uk Changing Industries

RateSetter Rhydian Lewis Peter Behrens

Founded: 2010 HQ: 55 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 3AS RateSetter is a peer-to- peer platform that lets investors lend money to UK individuals, businesses and property developers. The company pioneered the provision fund – made up of fees charged to those who take out loans – to cushion lenders in the event that a borrower misses a payment. In the 12 months to March 2015, RateSetter grew its revenues from £5 million to £12.5 million. In 2016 the company plans to launch an Innovative Finance ISA product, that will allow anyone to invest up to £15,240 through RateSetter, tax-free.

ratesetter.com Changing Industries

Got at least £1,000? Then you can build a managed portfolio – typically reserved for those with much larger pots of money – using Nutmeg’s online investment manager. Nutmeg William Todd Nick Hungerford

Founded: 2011 HQ: 80-84 Bondway, London SW8 1SF

In 2015, the company launched a pension service, which adds to the ISA business it already provides. It has also built a new back-end system that incorporates trading, reconciliation and settlement functionality. In 2015 staff numbers grew from 40 to 80, while in 2014 – the most recent financial report – customer numbers grew fourfold. In 2016 the company will add financial advice to its range of services.

nutmeg.com

Changing Industries

MyOptique Group James Murray Wells Founded: 2004 HQ: Elsley Court, 20-22 Great Titchfield St, London W1W 8BE MyOptique Group started In August 2015 the life 10 years ago as Index Ventures-backed Glasses Direct – a budget business bought German ecommerce website selling rival 4care and UK-based spectacles. It’s since Eyewearbrands, expanding expanded to sell contact its customer base. The lenses, sunglasses and company also raised a premium eyewear models £20 million round of through a variety of online funding from existing retail brands including investors as well as two Sunglasses Shop, newcomers: Harbert Netzoptiker, LensOn European Growth Capital and MyOptique. and Amery Capital.

myoptiquegroup.com DueDil Damian Kimmelman Justin Fitzpatrick

Founded: 2010 HQ: 25 Christopher Street, London EC2A 2BS Changing Thinking

DueDil (short for due diligence) is a web tool that helps users understand private companies, the people that run them and the markets in which they operate. The platform pulls together data from sources including company websites, news reports, financial statements and court judgements to give a well-rounded view of many firms. It’s designed to improve transparency and reduce the risk in doing business. In the last 12 months the company’s team has grown from 30 to 80 people, and more than 20 new features have been added to the site. duedil.com Changing Industries

Property Partner Daniel Gandesha

Founded: 2013 HQ: 1 Fore Street, London EC2Y 5EJ

Property Partner is a The site launched in residential real-estate January 2015 and the crowdfunding investment company raised £5.2 platform, letting individuals million in March that year. put as little as £50 into In October 2015, the firm houses, which they then set a record for the fastest jointly own with other ever equity funding project investors and can sell just by raising £843,100 in 10 like shares. The co-owners minutes and 43 seconds receive a proportional for a property in Hayes, monthly rental income west London. and benefit from any capital growth in return. propertypartner.co

Lyst Chris Morton Sebastjan Trepca

Founded: 2010 HQ: 48 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB

Chris at Lyst’s HQ in east London. Changing Lifestyle

Lyst aggregates fashion brands from luxury e-commerce sites into a personalised web or mobile feed and universal shopping cart. The site has grown 300% year on year for the past four years and is now used by 40 million shoppers annually. In April 2015 the company raised a $40 million Series C round to continue its international expansion. The company’s 120-strong team is based in London and New York.

lyst.co.uk

Changing Lifestyle

Grind & Co is an independent retail chain serving coffee and cocktails in unusual spaces with a killer soundtrack (figuratively, of course). Grind & Co Kaz James David Abrahamovitch

Founded: 2011 The last two years have seen the company expand HQ: 26 Ganton from just one site in Street, Soho, Shoreditch – complete London W1F 7QZ with a recording studio on the first floor – to five, with three more in the pipeline. In the same period revenue has increased fivefold, with the company serving more than one million cups of coffee per year. In June 2015, Grind & Co raised £1.3 million through equity crowdfunding site Crowdcube in order to fund a new coffee roasting facility.

grindandco.com David outside Shoreditch Grind in east London. Changing Thinking

Busuu Bernhard Niesner Adrian Hilti

Founded: 2008 HQ: 10 East Road, 3rd floor, London N1 6AD

Busuu is a social network 12 months have seen the that connects budding platform add 10 million new students to native speakers customers, bringing the of 12 different languages total user base to 60 million. including English, German, The company has also French, Spanish, Chinese, closed a Series B funding Arabic and Russian. It also round of $6.5 million with provides interactive courses McGraw-Hill Education and in these languages. The last doubled the size of its team.

busuu.com Bernhard at Busuu’s HQ in north London. Changing Lifestyle

Flypay Tom Weaver Chris Evans

Founded: 2013 HQ: 3rd Floor, The Spitfire Building, 71 Collier Street, London N1 9BE

Tom at Flypay’s HQ in north London. Flypay has developed company has signed up technology that lets British restaurant chains customers pay their own including Wahaca, Jamie’s bar or restaurant bill at their Italian and Gourmet Burger table, order more food, set Kitchen and acquired a up a restaurant tab or order million customers. In July ahead for takeaway – all 2015 the business secured through a smartphone £7m in Series A funding app. Within 2.5 years the from Time Out.

flypay.it Funding Circle James Meekings Samir Desai Andrew Mullinger Sam Hodges Matthias Knecht Christian Grobe

Founded: 2010 HQ: 71 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4AY

Funding Circle is an online marketplace that lets investors lend directly to small businesses in Europe and the US. Since launching in 2010, total lending has amounted to $1.8 billion. April 2015 saw the peer-to-peer lending startup raise $150 million in venture funding in a round led by DST Global, valuing the company at more than $1 billion. In November 2015 the startup launched its own investment trust – the Funding Circle SME Income fund – which it listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company has also made some high-profile hires including Jerome Le Luel, former chief risk officer at Barclaycard, and David Yu, former CTO and CEO of Betfair.

fundingcircle.com Changing Industries

James, Samir and Andrew at Funding Circle’s HQ in east London. Hiroki at the GoCardless HQ in east London.

GoCardless Hiroki Takeuchi Tom Blomfield Matt Robinson

Founded: 2011 HQ: 338-342 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7LQ Changing Industries

Founded by three Oxford graduates, GoCardless makes it easy for individuals and businesses to collect recurring payments – such as for subscriptions or memberships – via Direct Debit using an online platform. It does this with a transaction fee that’s lower than those offered by major credit cards, where vendors typically have to absorb a cost of 2% of the transaction. In the last year the company has hit the milestone of processing more than £1 billion in transactions. It has also doubled its active merchant base to 12,000 businesses and expanded to France and Germany, with plans to enter Sweden in 2016.

gocardless.com Heat Genius Alasdair Woodbridge Simon Turner

Founded: 2012 HQ:Founders The Jewellery Business Centre, 95 Spencer Street, Birmingham B18 6DA Changing Environment

Heat Genius is a smart heating control system. It learns when you use each room in your home, turning off radiators and other heat sources independently and automatically, resulting in greater control of energy and bills. Having been self-funded since launch, the company closed its first round of financing – £200,000 from a private investor – at the end of 2015. Turnover in 2015 has quadrupled and headcount doubled since 2014; both are predicted to double again in 2016. Heat Genius plans expansion into continental Europe, with the product being updated to allow for the control of air conditioning systems.

heatgenius.co.uk Changing Lifestyle

Founded: 2010 HQ: 300 St John Street, Onefinestay London EC1V 4PA Tim Davey Greg Marsh Demetrios Zoppos Evan Frank

Tim, Greg and Demetrios at one of their properties in north London. Onefinestay provides a In the last 12 months the curated marketplace for company completed homeowners to rent out a $40 million Series D their houses to paying growth financing round guests. Unlike other peer- from Intel Capital, to-peer rental sites, Quadrant Capital Onefinestay hand-picks Advisors and Hyatt high-end properties and Hotels. The company offers end-to-end rental launched in 2010 with management, with staff just six homes in its on hand to meet guests, portfolio and now lists accept the delivery of more than 2,500 packages and carry homes in London, out maintenance jobs New York, Paris and where necessary. Los Angeles.

onefinestay.com Changing Industries

WorldRemit Ismail Ahmed Catherine Wines Richard Igoe

Founded: 2010 HQ: Floor 2, 62 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6PA WorldRemit is a mobile- focussed money transfer service that lets customers easily send funds overseas for typically lower commissions than those offered by traditional services. In the past year the company has tripled revenues from £5.5 million to £15 million and it now handles more than 300,000 transactions per month. Funding-wise, WorldRemit raised $100 million in February 2015 in a round led by Technology Crossover Ventures.

worldremit.com

Ismail at WorldRemit’s HQ in south-west London. Judges

Special thanks to our judges whose time and wisdom has helped shape Bloomberg Business Innovators 2016.

Giles Andrews Sam Smith Co-founder and Founder and CEO, Executive Chairman, Zopa finnCap

Claire Braithwaite Lisa Smosarski Head, Tech North Founder and Editor, Stylist

Gi Fernando Matthew Taylor Founder, Freeformers Chief Executive, Royal Society of Arts, Eric van der Kleij Manufactures and Commerce Managing Director, ENTIQ Adam Freeman Saul Klein Former Managing Director EMEA, Founding Partner, Bloomberg Media Localglobe Caroline Hyde Manish Madhvani European Business Correspondent, Co-founder and Managing Bloomberg Television Partner, GP Bullhound Nate Lanxon Rohan Silva Head of European Technology News, Founder, Second Home Bloomberg News Credits

Words Editor

Olivia Solon Nate Lanxon

Pictures

Ana Cuba Jeremy Liebman Blaze; Appear Here; BBOXX; Brightbridge Ventures; Blippar; Bloom & Wild; Farmdrop; Improbable; Busuu; Crowdcube; Jukedeck; Loaf; Entrepreneur First; Open Utility; Grind & Co; Lyst; Purplebricks; Qubit; Made.com; Metro Bank; Secret Escapes. MyOptique Group; Notonthehighstreet.com; Carlos Jimenez Nutmeg; Pavegen; Deliveroo; DueDil; Property Partner; Graze; Heat Genius; Transferwise. M Squared Lasers; Neighbourly; Onfido; Ben McMahon RateSetter; Pact Coffee; Boldmind; Darktrace; RealityMine; Seedrs; Digital Shadows; WorldRemit. EVRYTHNG; Flypay; GoCardless; Isabel Sierra Open Bionics; Funding Circle; Signal Media; Onefinestay. Sky-Futures.

The data included in these materials are for illustrative purposes only. ©2016 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. 653198870 0116