2023 Startups 100 | Kitchen Table shortlist and award winner

Imagine someone who has just come up with society’s next big invention. Chances are you’ll probably picture a smartly-dressed business person, perhaps gazing out at London’s skyline from a 10-storey office block.

Well, The Apprentice series finale, this is not. In reality, most entrepreneurs don’t have a million-pound office space. They have their lightbulb moment while browsing the supermarket aisles, riding the bus, or – like Steve Jobs – in a parent’s garage.

But what starts as a small side hustle can very quickly grow into a superpower – as the shortlist for our Kitchen Table award demonstrates.

Every one of our nominees featured on this year’s Startups 100 Index and began with little or no initial investment. Some simply bootstrapped (self-funded) their way into running a bountiful, fully-fledged business. Most have even developed their dream around other commitments, such as a successful career or childcare.

With the help of our guest judge Alison Loveday, senior manager at Scottish Enterprise, we’ve chosen a winner from our list of five outstanding nominees. Read on to find out who took the crown.

Introducing Startups 100 guest judge, Alison Loveday

As a senior leader of the High Growth Entrepreneurship team at Scottish Enterprise, Loveday has over 25 years of business development experience. She currently heads the delivery of Scotland’s flagship programme, Unlocking Ambition, initiated by the First Minister. Through it, she is building a supportive, innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem in Scotland, widening access to financial and business support for founders.

2023 Startups 100 | Winner of the Kitchen Table award

In recognition of the enterprise that began as a hobby and, through sheer determination and little-to-no initial funding, has turned it into a disruptive, scalable business.

Learn more about Bold Bean Co

It’s time to spill the beans.. congratulations to the winner of the Kitchen Table award for this year’s Startups 100 Index 2023: Bold Bean Co!

Amelia Christie-Miller started Bold Bean Co. quite literally, at the kitchen table. While hungover and studying abroad in Spain, she was eating creamy, tasty heirloom butter beans straight from the jar when she began to ponder the huge role that legumes will play in society’s inevitable shift to a sustainable, meatless lifestyle.

After three years of working in the food sustainability space with top London chefs, Christie-Miller launched Bold Bean Co with cofounder, Ed Whelpton. By turning her green expertise into a sustainably-packaged, premium food product, she and Whelpton hope it will get the whole country on board the bean wagon.

Loveday is a convert, telling Startups that the product and company “scream quality and passion [and] the knowledge and creativity of the founder will take the business far.”

Amongst its many BOLD achievements, Bold Bean has already secured major stockists such as Planet Organic, Selfridges, and Waitrose. Loveday sees plenty more partnerships on the horizon, praising the startup for “promoting the vital message of planet-friendly cuisine [to] get the ear of large retailers as well as home meal delivery companies.”

Loveday admits she found it extremely difficult to compare such incredibly different businesses, but she was instinctively drawn to the hungover brainchild.

“Although it is very early in their journey, everything about the product, the mission and the passion is right and hits all the bells for taking an ethically-led product to the mass market”, she says.

What does the Kitchen Table 2023 shortlist tell you about the state of startups in 2023?

Fledgling entrepreneurs might feel they don’t fit the stereotype of being a business owner. But our shortlist above proves that you don’t need a skyscraper office or a team of employees to birth the UK’s next startup success.

Because while our top five firms demonstrate a diverse range of products, business models and founder backgrounds – all of them share one common trait: a daring and disruptive idea.

“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, which endure, the ingenuity and perseverance of these startups is inspiring,” says Loveday. “They are proof that with a genuinely great offer, hard-work and a great team – anything is possible.”

In part, the recent wave of successful kitchen table businesses is due to the dismantlement of one of the biggest barriers for new businesses: raising finance.

Startups can find it difficult to gain access to capital through traditional lending sources. But there are a variety of emerging, alternative ways in which funding can be found. Loveday points to the trend of crowdfunding as an example.

Easily the most popular alternative funding source is self-funding, or bootstrapping. Historically, this method has unfairly been seen as disadvantageous to startups. But Loveday argues that bootstrapping is actually a shrewd choice for SMEs – particularly in the current climate.

“Historically there has been an over-reliance on public sector funds and grants. Whilst they have a place, the entrepreneurial mindset should always be a lean mindset,” says Loveday.

“Bootstrapping is integral to this. Even once a company starts to take on its first hires and expand its operations, the mentality of being resourceful, agile and lean will serve them well.”