12. Social Chain

Founders: Steve Bartlett and Dominic McGregor
Founded: November 2014
Website: www.socialchain.com 

Being able to make anything the number one trending topic on Twitter in less than 30 minutes is a big claim, but one that social media marketing agency Social Chain has been able to back up in tests with Buzzfeed and Channel 5’s The Gadget Show.

Founded by young entrepreneurs Steven Bartlett and Dominic McGregor, the Manchester-based company works with social influencers in the UK to control online conversations and generate campaigns for its clients. And what an impressive roster of 30 clients it is, with names including Spotify, Microsoft, Puma, ASOS, Disney, Comedy Central, 20^th Century Fox and Topman. Alongside stellar clients, the numbers speak for themselves: less than two years after launch, Social Chain’s founders describe themselves as one of “the biggest media owners in Europe on social media”, boasting over 200 million people in its network across 300 different social media pages.

The business recently clinched a $2m investment from German talent management firm NVC, which it used to open its first international office in Berlin. After this initial taste for international expansion, Social Chain plans to launch operations in the US by the end of year and is currently in the process of building what it describes as “some pretty amazing tech”…