Omnea, the AI concierge revolutionising modern procurement, has taken the top spot in our annual ranking of the UK’s most exciting startups.
As another tough year for UK businesses begins, with rising costs and regulations for any AI-related acquisition or investment, Omnea, a platform that enables companies to finesse the “grin and bear it” legacy processes of procurement, has won the 2026 Startups 100 Index, powered by Sage.
Now in its 18th year, the Startups 100 Index celebrates the UK’s most exciting businesses founded in the past five years. Our judging team named Omnea as winner in recognition of the firm’s innovative, AI-enabled approach to fixing critical blockers to business operations and growth.
It was the realisation that procurement is not only dreaded by businesses but actively avoided, even at the expense of innovation, that drove Ben Freeman and Ben Allen to create Omnea.
Using AI, the duo has streamlined and automated the process of buying goods and services for businesses by creating an AI-first procurement platform.
While not the first to tackle this problem, Omnea has fast become market-leading. Since 2024, it has grown its revenue by five times and tripled its headcount. Praise has come thick and fast, and further growth is planned with expansion in both the UK and US on the cards.
It was the effectiveness of the platform that made Omnea stand out to the Startups 100 judging panel. The team claims to have saved its customers well over 100,000 hours of manual work, and has taken the pain out of procurement – something that impacts nearly all businesses.
As Zohra Huda, Editor of Startups.co.uk, shares: “In spite of really tough competition this year, we felt Omnea earned the top spot with its mission to make life easier for businesses at a time when every UK business needs as much help as they can get. By taking care of the slog of supplier lifecycle and spend control, Omnea allows enterprises to focus on being entrepreneurial, the kind of win-win problem-solving solution that the Startups 100 Index and partner Sage champions.”
For Freeman, this award will be an impetus to keep innovating. “This recognition is a testament to the amazing people who make up Omnea and work tirelessly to deliver a great product and customer experience,” he told the Startups.co.uk team.
“We’re still in the early innings of the long, difficult journey of building an enduring company, and moments like this fill us with pride and energise us to push even harder. Procurement is part of the plumbing every company relies on – unseen, unglamorous, and mission-critical. We’re turning it into a competitive advantage,” he added.
The top five UK startups for 2026
What stands out among all of the ventures that made the Index this year is that they are tackling tough issues in a difficult economic climate and, despite this, they’re changing lives.
They are also a diverse group – solving everything from hormone health to turning waste carbon into jet fuel. What each of the founders share is that their idea is improving living standards for their customers and beyond. Two of the ventures are having a real world environmental impact; and two are improving healthcare options already.
The five startups that topped the rankings are:
- Omnea – the AI concierge for every supplier decision
- HIVED – a tech-first delivery network implementing responsible logistics
- MAGIC AI – an AI-powered personal trainer in a mirror
- OXCCU – the Oxford spinout turning waste carbon into clean jet fuel
- Lightyear – a low-fee trading platform helping people build long-term wealth
Huda adds: “The 2026 Startups 100 Index isn’t just a list, it’s a living, breathing roadmap for a new era of purpose-driven pragmatism. Yes, the economic climate remains challenging. But these top five businesses prove that UK founders have moved on from just disrupting markets – they are repairing them, from decarbonising the skies to closing the gender health gap. 2026 is shaping up to be a year where AI-native efficiency and environmental urgency create businesses that are both resilient and revolutionary.”
Speaking on the talent that this year’s Index celebrates, Nikola McNicol-Kenney, Sage’s VP for Small Segment UKI, comments, “Not only did Sage start life as a start-up we have supported these critical businesses for almost 45 years. Our goal is simple: put trusted and practical AI to work so finance runs itself. With Sage Copilot delivering real-time insight across accounting, payroll and payments, we remove friction, automate admin and get businesses paid faster, helping start-ups scale faster and grow with confidence.
“These businesses are shaping the UK economy, and we’re excited to back them every step of the way.”
We congratulate every one of the 100 startups that made the list and look forward to following their journeys in 2026, as well as thank all of those who applied in what is always a tough competition.
