As London's startup community awaits the result of Brexit negotiations - and its impact on single-market access - one might think tech would have ground to a halt. But growth continues: the last 18 months have seen billion-dollar valuations for TransferWise, Funding Circle and Improbable, and a near-unicorn valuation for Deliveroo. Property tech is a hot sector and banking remains vital, but, like the capital's citizens, its strength is in diversity. "The energy and excitement is fantastic - new money is flowing in and businesses created every day," says Martha Lane Fox, founder of doteveryone.
"Recent endorsements of the UK by Apple, Google, Facebook and Snapchat demonstrate that London is still attractive for global businesses," says Gerard Grech, CEO of Tech City UK. "We do not fear competition from the continent. Indeed, it can only be a good thing."
Monzo wants to make banking smarter. Founded in 2015 by Tom Blomfield, Jonas Huckestein, Jason Bates, Paul Rippon and Gary Dolman, it offers pre-paid cards connected to an app that tracks spending and lets its customers analyse their financial activity. But that's only the start: in April 2017, the company was granted a full banking licence, and raised £19.5 million in a Series C funding round to launch a full set of banking products, starting with a smarter current account. monzo.com
One of a growing number of UK property - or proptech - startups, Nested guarantees that it will sell your house within 90 days, or buy it themselves. Launched in 2016 by Phil Cowans, James Turford and GoCardless founder Matt Robinson, the company guarantees house owners 95 per cent of market value; in return, they take 20 per cent of commission on sales above valuation. Although it has only closed a handful of sales, to date, the startup raised £8 million in March 2017 from investors including Passion Capital and angel investors. nested.com
WHERE TO EAT: Borough Market. Business is booming at London's oldest food market, which is standing defiant after June's terror attack.
WHERE TO NETWORK: London's thriving startup scene is leading an explosion in networking events, from the ever-popular Founders Forum to VRLO and London.AI. And, of course, our own WIRED LIVE, coming to Tobacco Dock on November 2-4...
WHERE TO STAY: The Ned, 27 Poultry, EC2R 8AJ. Soho House's new £200m hotel and club complex has nine restaurants, 252 rooms and a member's club - and is the capital's best night out for celebrity spotting.
WHERE TO VISIT: The V&A, Cromwell Rd, SW7 2RL. The evergreen arts and design museum's new Exhibition Road Quarter encompasses a stunning courtyard and underground gallery.
The Sony hack; Ashley Madison; Yahoo!; the DNC - large-scale hacking and leaks are a regular occurrence. Digital Shadows wants to protect companies from such events. Founded in 2011 by Alastair Paterson and James Chappell, the startup's technology monitors more than 100 million sources to detect leaks, breaches and attacks. Several of the largest banks are clients, and in 2016 it raised £10.8 million to expand further into the US. digitalshadows.com
"A huge amount of new mothers feel incredibly isolated when they have a baby," says Sarah Hesz. Launched by Hesz and Katie Massie-Taylor in 2016, mush's "Tinder for mums" app lets new parents connect with others locally, chat, swap and sell items. After raising £650,000 on Crowdcube, the app has reached more than 40,000 UK downloads and is growing in the US, Canada and Australia. Parent-tech is a growing field: a rival app, Peanut, launched in February 2017, with sites like Mumsnet slow to transition to mobile. "Millennials are becoming parents, and they have different expectations," says Hesz. letsmush.com
In the future, your pizza may be delivered by a machine - and Starship Technologies wants to build it. Founded in 2014 by Skype co-founders Janus Friis and Ahti Heinla, the London- and Tallinn-based startup has built an autonomous, six-wheeled delivery robot. Sounds crazy? While drones need to fight new regulations (and gravity), Starship has already run tests in 16 countries, partnering with the likes of Just Eat and Domino's Pizza, and raised £13.4 million in funding. Advantage groundbots. starship.xyz
Need a film crew? Seenit will find you one in the crowd. Emily Forbes' content startup, launched in 2014, was founded on a simple observation: with almost everything being filmed on smartphones, why isn't that footage used more? Seenit's invite-only app, Forbes says, ensures it can offer high-quality footage from uploaders, while users can commission footage and edit in the cloud. The company says it already has more than 100 clients - including big names such as Unilever and adidas - and brings in over £2.3 million in subscriptions. seenit.io
Jason Trost knows the value of patience. Smarkets, the betting exchange he co-founded with Hunter Morris in 2008, has flown under the radar for years - but it's now soaring. Like Betfair, Smarkets lets users bet against each other (as opposed to the house) and charges what it says is an industry-low two per cent commission. The platform is expanding: it processed more than £1.1 billion in 2015, and trebled its users; one long-term bet that is finally paying off. smarkets.com
Another UK startup in the growing proptech scene, Habito wants to make it easier to apply for a mortgage. "I had a really terrible experience with a broker," says founder Daniel Hegarty. Launched in 2016, Habito is a digital mortgage adviser; customers speak with an online chatbot, inserting information like amount requested and employment information. "It means we complete applications much faster than traditional brokers." Habito scours more than 15,000 mortgage products to suggest the best option, and takes a commission from the eventual lender. In January 2017, the startup raised £5.5 million in a Series A round led by Ribbit Capital. habito.com
Founded in 2014, Ravelin analyses online behaviour in real time to reduce payment-related fraud. According to its clients - including Deliveroo, Karhoo, and Easy Taxi, its technology reduces fraud incidence by more than 50 per cent. The company has raised £4.3 million to date from backers including Passion Capital and Errol Damelin. ravelin.com
Human-resource departments are often opaque and outdated. Hibob wants to change that. Founded in 2015, the London- and Tel Aviv-based startup's online human-resource hub, bob, unifies everything from benefits and pensions to work documents, as well as providing companies with granular data about employees and corporate culture. Hibob has raised £19.5 million in Series A funding led by Battery Ventures to expand into foreign markets, starting with the US. hibob.com
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
