13. i-stay

Founder: Anneka Chauhan
Founded: August 2012
Website: www.i-stayput.com

It’s not surprising that i-stay; the “bag strap that stays put”, has featured in the Startups 100 for the second time given its rising position in the UK’s luggage market. Launched two years ago after founder Anneka Chauhan, a 2013 Young Gun, spotted a commercial opportunity for ‘non-slip’ replacement luggage straps and laptop bags, the company has attained strong growth in Britain and overseas. Within the last 12 months, it has signed a global IT distributor to its board for UK markets and has opened up several new channels with distributors in Canada, America, Sweden, Norway, and Demark. Trade is not the only area where the chiropractor-approved bag strap business has seen growth, and it now boasts six-figure revenues and a team of 16 employees.

The brand’s detachable webbed bag straps that spread the weight across the user’s shoulder, whilst minimising “the usual aches and pains associated with shoulder bags” have certainly struck a chord with users and reviewers alike; i-stay has featured on the pages of Computer Weekly, Daily Express, Business Traveller, and the Daily Mail, to name but a few. Aged just 27, Chauhan has big plans for the company and wants it to have a presence in all major countries over the next year.