23. Urban Massage

Founders: Jack Tang and Giles Williams
Founded: February 2014
Website: www.urbanmassage.com

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a qualified therapist come to your home within the hour to give you a relaxing massage? Wouldn’t it be even better if you could also book this therapist to come to your office or even, hotel? Well look no further because Urban Massage has made this all possible with its marketplace service.

Launched in February 2014 by Young Guns-to-watch Jack Tang and Giles Williams, Urban Massage enables users to book a ‘spa-quality’ massage experience online or via its app with real-time availability and promises that the massage therapist will arrive in under an hour.

A tech start-up at its core, the business has built its own online infrastructure which enables therapists to upload their availability and confirm or extend an appointment. It has also included built-in GPS tracking in the therapist’s app to ensure a safe working environment.

Dubbed the ‘Uber of massage’, the London-based start-up has already delivered thousands of massages across the capital and regionally (in locations such as Manchester and Glasgow) as it looks to shake-up the “out-dated” massage industry.

Since featuring in the Startups 100 index last year, the business has grown to a team of 25 and has expansion on the cards with its ultimate ambition being to both deliver an “unparalled experience” and “empower therapists”.

Having already scaled and sold their first venture – thestudentjob.com – to Jobsite in 2013, serial entrepreneurs Tang and Williams look set for even greater success with Urban Massage.