It is often said that entrepreneurship runs in the British blood and the business statistics indicate exactly the same. The United Kingdom has been home to numerous startups and is now considered a magnet for business owners, particularly London acts as a hotspot for entrepreneurial minds with almost one-third of businesses of the country running in London and the southeast area of the United Kingdom.
The UK has been home to exemplary brands like Rolls Royce, Starling bank, and much more and it is even estimated that a startup is born every minute in the UK. Not just that, the statistics even indicate that 89% of UK startups successfully survive their first year
Best UK Startups to Watch
Let’s dive into understanding the UK startup scene in much depth by counting down the most promising startups to follow right now in the country. These startups are present in this list due to their exceptional business ideas and over-the-top execution of their business plans.
1. Hopin
Hopin is a London-based startup launched in 2019 which has seen a huge surge in its demand due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Hopin offers an online platform for large-scale events and it flourished immensely when events started shifting online due to lockdown restrictions. It allows people to attend social gatherings by enabling them to come together and have virtual conversations.
Additionally, it also provides a well-set-up infrastructure of stages, roundtables, tickets as well as sponsors. This application’s ultimate aim is to build an environment where people can not just interact virtually but also learn together.
Hopin’s team is currently working on uplifting its virtual toolbox and improving its service range. Having acquired the video streaming platform, StreamYard and recently launching a mobile application for a smoother experience as well, Hopin is on its way to expand as a multi-product company as well.
To add more to its accolades, Hopin recently bagged funding of $400 million and is one of the few startups in the world that are moving ahead at such fast trajectories.
2. Dija
A London- based digital grocery delivering application, Dija, has recently gained a lot of attention due to its super-fast delivery options. Dija currently delivers groceries as well as essential products in less than 10 minutes and if it is unable to deliver products in the set time frame, it rewards that customer with free delivery services for the coming 3 months.
Dija provides these lighting fast delivery options by setting up its own delivery fulfillment centers or ‘dark stores’ and then hiring its own delivery force to make these targets happen. Having set up centers in Hackney, South Kensington, and Fulham, Dija is all set to expand its roots in other parts of the United Kingdom as well.
Dija charges a minimal amount of £1.99 per order for its delivery services and makes further profits by buying commodities at wholesale prices and delivering them at affordable retail prices. Deja has an extremely versatile ecosystem and handles most of its proceedings itself, ranging from buying the products at wholesale prices to packing them and dispatching them with their own drivers and that proves to the cost-efficient business model for Dija.
But nevertheless, Dija has some obstacles to clear to have a successful future, Large supermarket chains who are a staple choice for grocery shopping for most residents is a huge competitor but what keeps Dija ahead of these chains is its super fast delivery and its partnership with technology. Other problems this start-up needs to overcome are handling low margins, having inconsistent basket sizes, and maintaining the fresh food quality but Dija’s team is all set to work harder to overcome every challenge that comes their way.
3. Cazoo
The digital world has made buying or renting a car as simple as buying groceries online and thanks to ventures like Cazoo that utilize their technical knowledge to promote a simpler lifestyle.
Cazoo is an online platform for people looking for cars, these cars are delivered to people’s doorsteps and the user can have access to their car in a timeframe of 72 hours. It also equips its audience with a 7-day return policy and 90 days coverage and they act as magnets for car buyers.
Cazoo’s team is determined to make the car buying process hassle-free and go through detailed quality checks of used cars. With the recent challenges of the pandemic and Brexit, the automobile sector has suffered quite a bit but Cazoo being an online platform is safeguarded from these issues.
Cazoo has become a unicorn startup in no time and shocked the world with its immense capabilities. It is now the UK’s leading car retailer platform that works online and has already achieved the target of delivering 1000 plus cars in the country.
Cazoo’s success isn’t fate’s play but countless hours of effort and hard work, Cazoo reworks on the used cars before delivering to new clients for a smoother client experience and today, Cazoo has no limits and is transforming the automobile industry and scaling it up to new heights.
4. Huboo
Huboo is a new-age startup based in the UK that provides fulfillment services to online stores and e-businesses. Launched in 2017, Huboo targets the needs of online businesses by promising to store their stock for them and deliver it as and when they want it to be packed and delivered.
Having raised an astonishing amount of £1 million in a seed funding round, this service never fails to cater to online businesses of all sizes.
By addressing the issue of storage and fulfillment, Huboo gives online businesses time to focus on other important sectors of the business i.e. product development or customer delight, etc.
Huboo received much attention because other online fulfillment service providers target large e-commerce giants and hence have expensive pricings and reaching out to them will be a hole in the pocket for medium-scale online businesses. Hence, Huloo comes into the picture and provides fulfillment services at pocket-friendly costs.
Huboo also generates extra income by customizing subscription-based and optional service models such as packaging and delivery. Huboo never steps back in upgrading to recent technologies and is all set to reach new goals by adding additional channels and growing sales.
5. Beacon
Beacon is a stop destination for all global trade needs and freight transportation services. They offer a variety of services including truck and air freight options, warehouse solutions, customs, global ocean trade and insurance as well.
Beacon utilizes a bunch of new-age tools to simplify the global freight experience for its users, the updated technology clubbed with artificial intelligence, data science, and cloud technologies does all the magic in providing a hassle-free experience. Beacon has also recently secured investment from some renowned names in the global entrepreneurial circle, like Jeff Bezos.
The orthodox freight forwarding methods seem inefficient when being compared with Beacon’s services, even the pricing seems legitimate when compared to analog freight forwarding methods. Beacon targets to provide a smooth process for exporters and importers around the world with a more up-to-the-mark freight service and also handles the supply chain finance efficiently. Importers often worry about advance payments and now with Beacon select consumers can receive finances in a limited time frame and also provide shipping discounts.
Now that Beacon has raised funding from great institutions, they plan to utilize those resources to improve the technology and finance sectors and also reach remote locations. With a huge shift on online platforms, Beacon is reaching new heights and definitely deserves a position on this list.
