25. Freetricity

Founders: Ben Way and Paul Williams
Founded: October 2010 (launched April 2011)
Website: www.freetricity.net

A start-up co-founded by serial entrepreneur and former Young Gun Ben Way with successful business leader Paul Williams will always have promise, but doubly so when that start-up has a viable plan to provide households across Britain with green energy for free. Listed in our 2013 Startups 100, Freetricity takes advantage of the government’s Feed in Tariff green energy incentive scheme to provide free solar panel installs to householders, who will also see their energy bills drop as a result.

The company embarked upon a £50m drive in September 2013 to provide 1,500 installs a month to those in fuel poverty; Freetricity has worked with housing associations and local authorities including Cross Keys Housing, Woking council and Colchester council as part of this drive. The company has now raised more than £100m in funding from backers including Lombard, Zouk Private Equity and Macquarie Bank – hugely impressive for a start-up, and a clear indication of faith in the Freetricity proposition. Its “revolutionary” new product Flexicell – set to allow businesses and householders to store solar energy for later use – is set to be launched within the next year, an innovation that could potentially propel Freetricity to new heights.