2. Monitise

Founders: Alistair Lukies, Steve Atkinson
Website: www.monitise.com

When Alistair and Steve decided to launch Monitise, a system which allows its users to access their bank through their mobile phone, they had problems getting it off the ground. The pair quickly discovered that without a large amount of collateral, banks would refuse them, so they teamed up with tech giant Morse, who agreed to incubate them. “All of a sudden two guys with an idea and a good business plan were perceived as senior people in a £300m company with all of the things banks look for to be comfortable that what you’re doing is appropriate. That worked quite well for us,” says Alistair.