Appear Here triumphs at Startups Awards 2015 as winners are unveiled

The Startups Awards 2015 winners were revealed on Friday 27 November at an illustrious ceremony at the Vinopolis, London Bridge which saw retail letting platform Appear Here crowned the overall winner – taking the title of Simply Business Startups Business of the Year.

Now in its 12th year, the Simply Business-sponsored Startups Awards shines a spotlight on the country’s most exceptional and inspiring start-ups launched in the last four years and celebrates businesses with the potential to become household brands such as former winners Secret Escapes, Naked Wines and Notonthehighstreet.com.

Appear Here, an online marketplace for short-term retail space, took home the top accolade of the evening (chosen from the Awards’ category winners) for having scaled to over 1,000 sites, racked up deals with the likes of Google and Marc Jacobs, and having secured over $7.5m in just two years since launch.

The People’s Champion title; the award voted for by the general public, went to Cornerstone – a men’s shaving and grooming subscription service founded by young entrepreneur Oliver Bridge.

Other award winners on the night included mini-cab booking app Minicabit which was crowned App of the Year – a new award for 2015 – while Cassandra Stavrou and Ryan Kohn, the co-founders of guilt-free popcorn business PROPERCORN, were recognised in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category.

The winners were chosen by a judging panel of high-profile entrepreneurs and business leaders including Cath Kidston MBE, Dragons’ Den star Touker Suleyman, MyVoucherCodes.co.uk founder Mark Pearson and Notonthehighstreet.com’s Holly Tucker MBE. Find out what happened on the judging day here.

The Startups Awards 2015 winners are:

Simply Business Startups Business of the Year: Appear Here
People’s Champion: Cornerstone
App of the Year: minicabit
Crowdfunded Business of the Year: Berrywhite
Export Business of the Year: Frog Bikes
Franchisee of the Year: Schmidt Palmers Green
Innovative Business of the Year: Purplebricks
Lean Start-up of the Year: Nutriment
Product Business of the Year: Tropic Skincare
Retail Business of the Year: Gousto
Service Business of the Year: ForrestBrown
Tech Business of the Year: Purplebricks
Venture Funded Business of the Year: Appear Here
Women in Business Award: Swoon Editions
Young Entrepreneur of the Year: PROPERCORN

Startups.co.uk founder, David Lester, commented:

“In 2015 we also welcomed more entries than ever before, so this year’s finalists truly are the best in their fields. Huge congratulations to all of our participants, particularly our outstanding winners.

“This evening has shown what the UK has to offer in terms of high-quality and innovative start-ups, will drive the UK economy for years to come. I predict bright futures for all of our shortlisted and winning companies – watch this space..!”